KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City Chiefs have become a staple of prime-time broadcasts in recent years, coinciding with quarterback Patrick Mahomes’ ascendance into the NFL stratosphere of elite players.
The Chiefs host another prime-time game Monday at GHEA Field at Arrowhead Stadium against the New York Giants, hoping to get back on track after a 3-4 start — and that’s especially true for Mahomes.
Two of Mahomes’ three worst career regular-season games in terms of QB rating came in October, a 62.3 rating in Sunday’s loss at Tennessee and 70.9 in an Oct. 10 loss against Buffalo — Kansas City’s most recent prime-time showing.
After introducing himself to a national audience with a left-handed completion during a stirring fourth-quarter comeback Oct. 1, 2018, at Denver, the Mahomes-led Chiefs lost five of the next six prime-time appearances.
Often, a struggling defense was a bigger factor in the outcome of those games, but Mahomes and Kansas City turned around their prime-time fortunes in 2019-20 with eight straight wins as the only game in a national prime-time broadcast window.
The Chiefs, who went 5-0 in primetime last season, haven’t fared as well in 2021 — losing both prime-time games this season, 36-35 at Baltimore in Week 2 and 38-20 against Buffalo in Week 5.
Overall, Mahomes is 10-7 in primetime, including a 5-1 record on Monday night, but the Giants game will be only the fifth scheduled Monday Night Football appearance in four seasons as a starter.
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Two games that were played on Monday night last season, wins against New England and Buffalo, were postponed from Sunday due to COVID-19 issues.
During his career, Mahomes has been remarkably consistent regardless of the prime-time spotlight — if anything, he’s even elevated his play marginally.
Mahomes’ prime-time completion percentage (68.2%) and QB rating (107.8) are slightly higher than his overall career averages for completion percentage (66.2%) and QB rating (107.2).
He’s thrown 43 touchdowns with only 11 interceptions in those games, a better ratio than his overall career mark of 132 touchdowns and 33 interceptions.
Overall, for those curious, Mahomes is 419 of 614 for 4,858 yards with 43 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. He’s also racked up 387 yards and two touchdowns on 66 carries with four fumbles lost in his 17-game prime-time career — not bad for a full season of games in the brightest spotlight.
Here’s the tale of the tape as Mahomes looks to continue his strong prime-time performance Monday and get the Chiefs back to .500:
New York Giants (2-5) at Kansas City Chiefs (3-4)
Series record (last meeting):Giants lead 11-3 (Giants, 12-9 in OT)
When (TV/radio): 7:15 p.m. (ESPN/WDAF-106.5 FM)
TV commentators: Steve Levy, Brian Griese, Louis Riddick and Lisa Salters
Spanish-language radio: KPRS-103.3 HD2
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