Quarterback Patrick Mahomes is doing it all, and that's really the best way to put it. He currently leads the NFL in passing yards (4,720) and passing touchdowns (37) among a variety of other statistics, and despite an offseason of change this past year, Mahomes has only seemed to improve during his fifth year as the Kansas City Chiefs' starter.
Mahomes has already secured his fourth career season with at least 35 touchdown passes, hitting that mark in Week 15. Only Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers have more career seasons with 35+ scores, and for what it's worth, those two future Hall of Famers combined to do so just twice through their first five seasons as starters. Mahomes, at only 27 years old, has done so four times in his five seasons under center in Kansas City.
Additionally, Mahomes is one of only four players in NFL history to tally 4,500+ passing yards and 35+ touchdowns in four or more seasons. In fact, since 2018, only six other quarterbacks have combined to hit those marks in a single season (doing so a grand total of seven times). Mahomes, meanwhile, has achieved it in all but one year as a starting quarterback.
He continues to lead the pack at his position amidst the greatest start to a career for any quarterback in NFL history, but while the highlights may seem effortless, Mahomes' stellar season is the result of his determination to constantly improve.
"I feel like every Monday, when he comes back in, he goes through and tries to validate what he thought happened on Sunday with the film, but then he resets immediately," said Senior Offensive Assistant and Quarterbacks Coach Matt Nagy. "[When he makes a mistake], no one is more frustrated at that moment and in those throws than him. He just kind of puts that in the back pocket, and he has to use that moving forward – whatever it is. [Maybe it's] the next game, the next play or the next time we play [that team], and he does a great job at doing all that."
That mindset has helped Mahomes rack up a league-most nine games this season with 300+ passing yards, which is three more than second place. He leads the NFL in passes of 25 or more yards (43) and passing first downs (245) while ranking second in passer rating (105.1) and third in yards-per-attempt (8.14).
The 2018 NFL MVP is having another season worthy of that award, and with two more touchdown passes, he'll record his most passing scores since tossing 50 during that 2018 campaign.
Mahomes' efforts have led to five-straight division titles under his leadership, extending the Chiefs' streak of AFC West championships to seven overall. He has simply been the top quarterback in the NFL since taking the league by storm five years ago, and while the numbers and statistics are impressive, they don't tell the full story.
Mahomes has seemingly rewritten what is considered possible at the quarterback position during his brief career. He can scramble or make unorthodox throws from the pocket, and his athletic ability is often on display in the biggest of moments. Examples of his unique qualities are endless, from his spinning touchdown pass against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and his no-look flip against the Denver Broncos to a full-extension scoring scramble this past week against Seattle.
"There's no way to practice that one," Mahomes said of his 3-yard touchdown run. "We do different things to try and put me in different positions to go out there and excel, but at the end of the day, when you get down there toward the end zone in the late parts of these football games, you just have to go out there and be a competitor."
Fifteen games into Mahomes' fifth season as a starting quarterback, that relentless competitive nature continues to set the standard at his position.
