LANDOVER, Md. — Throughout his career, superstar quarterback Patrick Mahomes has often demonstrated his leadership skills in speeches on the Chiefs’ sideline.
A young Mahomes was a calming influence for his teammates in late September 2019 during a comeback victory over the Detroit Lions. The Chiefs’ largest comeback victory in their postseason history — as they erased a 24-point deficit in one quarter against the Houston Texans to ignite their 2019 championship run — began with Mahomes’ most fiery message of his career to his teammates. In brief moments this season, Mahomes has used his voice to motivate his teammates, whether it was with sharp or uplifting words.
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But what happens when the Chiefs’ best player is the one who makes a puzzling mistake?
Amid what can best be described as a perplexing season, a pivotal moment in the Chiefs’ 31-13 win over the Washington Football Team happened after their third turnover before halftime.
The third giveaway was perhaps the worst in Mahomes’ five-year career, occurring after he guided the Chiefs’ offense deep into Washington’s territory with less than a minute left in the half. With the ball at the 20-yard line, the first error was that Mahomes botched the clean snap from center Creed Humphrey. And instead of taking a sack, Mahomes threw a wild, ill-advised lob intended for star tight end Travis Kelce. But the ball floated in the air for three seconds, leading to perhaps the easiest interception in free safety Bobby McCain’s seven-year career.
#WashingtonFootball forces another turnover!
📺: #KCvsWAS on CBS
📱: NFL app pic.twitter.com/OczwC5WrpP— NFL (@NFL) October 17, 2021
Mahomes clapped his hands in frustration. The last offensive player to leave the field after the giveaway was Kelce, who put his facemask into the turf for almost 10 seconds. A few minutes later, the Chiefs were inside the visitor’s locker room at FedEx Field, trailing Washington by three points.
“It was bad,” Mahomes said of his interception. “The biggest thing was the guys kept believing in me. That was a big thing to me — (left tackle) Orlando (Brown Jr.), Travis, (star receiver) Tyreek (Hill). All those guys came right up to me and they were like, ‘You keep being you. We know who you are.’
“In the second half, I kept doing stuff, kept throwing across my body. I know those guys believe in me, and I’m going to keep fighting to the end.”
Mahomes listened to his teammates, recalibrated his aggressiveness and remained an improvising gunslinger to produce the best 30-minute stretch of his season. In the second half, Mahomes completed 19 of his 24 pass attempts for 175 yards and two touchdowns while not committing a turnover. Whether Mahomes used his rare arm strength or his nimble feet when scrambling out of the pocket, the Chiefs’ offense returned to its potent, ruthlessly efficient state following halftime, as the unit converted on eight of 10 plays on third down.
“The way we did it, even though it wasn’t pretty in the first half, hopefully it’ll get us rolling,” Mahomes said. “We had another bad first half and it could’ve spiraled, how this season has gone and the adversity we’ve dealt with. It was a lot of mental toughness to go back and believe in each other.
“For the defense to hold firm while we were struggling, that’s what it takes in this league. It takes everybody.”
.@PatrickMahomes connects with @Demarcus for the score! #ChiefsKingdom
📺: #KCvsWAS on CBS
📱: NFL app pic.twitter.com/x4OGvvoFTC— NFL (@NFL) October 17, 2021
Following their leader, the rest of the Chiefs (3-3) supported their quarterback with dominant, mistake-free execution that turned an unsettling battle into a much-needed easy victory.
The Chiefs’ defense, the beleaguered unit that allowed at least 29 points in the previous five games — which tied for the longest such stretch to start a season in NFL history — stiffened to hold Washington scoreless in the second half. Defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, with authorization from coach Andy Reid, made a couple of changes to the starting lineup. The biggest was free safety Juan Thornhill, a third-year veteran, replacing Daniel Sorensen, an eight-year veteran who is the team’s oldest defensive player at age 31. Linebacker Willie Gay also started over Ben Niemann.
“Sometimes it’s good for the other guys to take a step back to move forward,” said Reid. “I thought it was good for those guys to get in there and let them do their thing.”
The biggest play for Washington (2-4) was late in the second quarter on a 39-yard touchdown connection from quarterback Taylor Heinicke to tight end Ricky Seals-Jones. Two plays before the touchdown, Washington had converted a third-and-16.
For a few minutes after Washington’s touchdown, safety Tyrann Mathieu sat by himself in the middle of the Chiefs’ bench, atop a Gatorade cooler. His hands were covering his face. Then Mathieu became vociferous.
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“They love it when I go crazy,” Mathieu said, laughing. “I don’t know why, but my coaches like it. As a player, you’re trying to grow in this league. I felt like we put in a lot of good work this week and I thought the goal was to hold those guys to 10 points or under. I want us to play how we practiced.
“Defensively, you have to stay hungry. You can’t expect anybody to give you anything or put you in a great situation. I thought we took the field today with that attitude, not necessarily worrying about what the offense did.”
Although Mahomes has tried to avoid such negative plays this season, the Chiefs’ first possession in the third quarter was disrupted when he made the correct decision in accepting a sack. The Chiefs’ defense, though, didn’t miss many tackling opportunities and Spagnuolo was successful in generating pressure on Heinicke with blitzes to stifle Washington’s offense.
Mahomes led the Chiefs to a touchdown on three consecutive possessions with the type of highlights that opponents have become accustomed to seeing from him. Mahomes threw a hard fastball near the goal line for a 2-yard touchdown to Hill.
“I was just trying to get it to him as quickly as possible,” Mahomes said. “The play was kind of designed for Kelce, actually. Tyreek just kind of split (two defenders) and I put it on him.”
.@PatrickMahomes hits the @cheetah and the @Chiefs take the lead! #ChiefsKingdom
📺: #KCvsWAS on CBS
📱: NFL app pic.twitter.com/xkS3KgUy8P— NFL (@NFL) October 17, 2021
Mahomes’ best pass was one that didn’t count in the game’s box score. On a third-and-5 near midfield in the fourth quarter, Mahomes backpedaled, changed direction twice and scrambled to his right before unleashing an extraordinary, across-his-body pass to Hill for a 19-yard gain. The highlight, though, was nullified by a penalty from both teams.
But Mahomes’ daring attempt and feat energized the Chiefs.
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“It’s fun to talk about after,” Mahomes said, smiling. “I actually saw the flag (downfield) and I thought they were holding Kelce. So I rolled to the right and I threw it across my body to Tyreek. It ended up being a (low block) flag on Kelce. I haven’t seen it, so a little bit riskier than when I threw it, I guess. I knew there was a chance if I got it to Tyreek because everybody was going to the right side of the field and it was man coverage.
“When he got the ball, it was like an AND1 Mixtape. At one point, he stopped and I thought he was out of bounds. Then he kept running.”
Later in the drive, Mahomes scrambled to his left and threw an underhanded pitch to Kelce for an impressive 6-yard completion. Mahomes’ last pass attempt was a 24-yard touchdown connection with receiver Demarcus Robinson.
Backyard football. @PatrickMahomes #ChiefsKingdom
📺: #KCvsWAS on CBS
📱: NFL app pic.twitter.com/yJjv0SUa5i— NFL (@NFL) October 17, 2021
A week ago, following the Chiefs’ blowout loss at home to the Buffalo Bills, Reid said he was looking forward to when the play of the offense and defense would complement one another. The most significant factor in such occurring Sunday, Reid believed, was the attitude he noticed in his players once halftime was over: Enough is enough.
“Probably the best thing was the interception,” Reid said of the turnover that defensive tackle Tershawn Wharton forced to end the game. “The whole team ran down (the field) there (with him).
“That’s what this is all about. It’s an emotional game, so you’ve got to play that way. Things were kind of dead that first half. There’s one way to do it: You’ve got to reach down a little bit and go. I thought the guys did that.”
Injury update
Tight end Jody Fortson sustained a torn Achilles tendon in the third quarter. At the snap of the play, Fortson attempted to plant his feet and push off to begin his route, but he fell to the turf in a non-contact injury. Before Fortson was carted off the field, he received encouraging words and pats on the helmet from his teammates, including Mahomes, Hill, running back Darrel Williams, Thornhill and receivers Mecole Hardman and Demarcus Robinson.
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“He’s in good spirits,” Mahomes said of Fortson. “Hopefully it’s not as bad as it looked out there.”
Prior to the injury, Fortson, in his third season with the Chiefs after spending the previous two on the practice squad, had been one of the season’s most compelling storylines. Fortson made a leaping, 27-yard reception over strong safety Landon Collins to set up Williams’ 2-yard touchdown run.
One of the impressive parts about Fortson was that he thrived with the limited chances he had to make an impact. He caught each of his five targets this season for 47 receiving yards, including two touchdowns.
“I’m sorry for Jody and what happened to him,” Reid said. “He’s been doing so well.”
Go up and get it, @JodyFortsonJr. #ChiefsKingdom
📺: #KCvsWAS on CBS
📱: NFL app pic.twitter.com/vBhvUfBxHW— NFL (@NFL) October 17, 2021
Linebacker Anthony Hitchens sustained a right elbow injury in the second quarter after he tackled tight end John Bates in the middle of the field. The play ended with helmet-to-helmet contact, which led to Hitchens being penalized for unnecessary roughness.
“They’ll MRI (scan) it tomorrow and we’ll see,” Reid said of Hitchens’ elbow.
Early in the fourth quarter, fullback Michael Burton sustained an injury to his left pectoral muscle.
“We’ve got to do the same thing: an MRI on that,” Reid said.
For the second straight game, the Chiefs performed without star defensive end Chris Jones, who was inactive with a left wrist contusion. Cornerback Charvarius Ward also missed his fourth consecutive game with a quad injury.
Left guard Joe Thuney, with a cast over his fractured right hand, started and performed well in the 86th consecutive game of his career. Mike Remmers, a nine-year veteran, started at right tackle in place of rookie Lucas Niang, who sustained a minor hamstring strain last week.
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Reid also commended Kelce, who recorded eight receptions for 99 yards despite still feeling discomfort from a stinger he sustained last week against the Bills.
“Travis was hurting,” Reid said. “His neck was sore. But he worked through it and did a nice job. He’s a pretty savvy guy.”
(Photo of Patrick Mahomes after an interception: Geoff Burke / USA Today)
