NFL Power Rankings No. 2: Patrick Mahomes, Chiefs
In many ways, the Chiefs’ Wild Card win over the Pittsburgh Steelers was a microcosm of their 2021 regular season, marked by silly turnovers and mistakes early that allowed Pittsburgh to take an unpredicted 7-0 lead.
But, just like the Chiefs’ regular-season campaign, everything turned around and into dominant fashion, including Patrick Mahomes doing Mahomes-like things seemingly at every turn.
NFL fans have become accustomed to Mahomes setting all kinds of records, and eventually, the career-type records will be there for the taking, too, once he gets a few more years under his belt. Yet, with so many accolades already achieved, it was truly remarkable to see Mahomes set a franchise record for most passing yards in a playoff game (404).
However, it’s this record that stands out:
Correction: The time span was 11:31, still the fastest in NFL postseason history.
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) January 17, 2022
The last player, regular season or playoffs, to do it that quickly was Tom Brady in 2009 (5 Pass TD in 9:44). The Patriots beat the Titans in Week 6, 59-0.
Mahomes’ final line was, err… pretty good in the 42-21 drubbing of the Steelers: 30-of-39 for 404 yards, five touchdowns against one interception, all for a 138.2 passer rating.
It was the kind of performance indicative of the moments he had during his 2018 MVP campaign, and that should spell all sorts of trouble for whatever teams Kansas City ends up facing for the rest of the playoffs.