Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes praised Travis Kelce for his record-breaking performance in the team’s win over the Washington Commanders. Mahomes highlighted Kelce’s impact on the offense and their continued connection on the field. By Emily Curiel| Monty Davis
The first touchdown pass gained only two yards and connected with a running back, but it stood as the most consequential offensive snap the Chiefs produced Monday night against the Commanders.
The second touchdown pass shifted the spotlight to the future Hall of Fame tight end, who used it to tie a franchise record.
The third touchdown pass traveled at last to a receiver, who altered his option route to move into the quarterback’s line of vision.
Together responsible for another Chiefs blowout, they were three strikingly different plays.
Well, not entirely.
There’s one similarity between them, fitting for a trend that has driven Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes to the top of the league’s MVP betting charts midway through the season. Those on the receiving end of the three touchdowns — running back Kareem Hunt, tight end Travis Kelce and wide receiver Rashee Rice, in that order — weren’t the intended targets.
Not initially.
On each of those throws, Mahomes first looked elsewhere. The play instructed him to look elsewhere. His first read wasn’t there, though, so he found another way.
He’s been doing a lot of that this year, more than any quarterback in the NFL, and particularly more than one quarterback last year:
Himself.
Mahomes leads the NFL in touchdowns (nine), yards (1,059), passer rating (120.1) and first downs (50) generated from non-first read throws, per FTN data. To put the dominance in full perspective: He has totaled 47.6 expected points added (EPA) when he progresses past his first read.
Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford has the second-highest total EPA at 12.1. Only three quarterbacks in the entire league have posted a number above zero.
Mahomes is lapping the field.
This year.
A year ago, Mahomes posted an 80.9 passer rating on those second-, third- or even fourth-read throws, which ranked 25th in the league. He finished eighth in yards and 15th in the NFL with just six touchdowns in those spots. Which means he already has three more touchdowns this season when looking at secondary options than he did last year. His EPA on those dropbacks in 2024: -41.14, 16th in the NFL.
It is his most improved trait from a year ago.
On Monday alone, it transformed a halftime tie into a laugher. Just take a look at the second-half touchdown passes:
• With the game tied, Mahomes wanted Hollywood Brown to his left on the fourth-and-goal snap early in the third quarter. It wasn’t there, so he scrambled out of the pocket to the right. Hunt, stuck in traffic four yards shy of the goal line when Mahomes took off, slipped through the line and rolled along with his quarterback and found an opening. And then Mahomes found him.
“He’s always keeping his eyes down the field,” Hunt said.
• The first read was open on his second touchdown. And Mahomes even quipped after the game that he should’ve thrown it to Xavier Worthy.
Kelce was his third read on that play — which is an unusual sentence in itself. Mahomes fired a bullet to the inside to force Kelce to adjust his route.
“It’s one of those on film that I should’ve thrown it (to Worthy),” Mahomes said, “but we scored a touchdown anyway, so it’s OK. If you don’t score a touchdown, it’s not as OK.”
He chose the third read.
Interesting.
• The third touchdown is still the most telling, deriving purely from a relationship between quarterback and receiver. Mahomes looked off one and then two options before stepping up into the pocket and spotting Rice — who sprinted on a shallow cross to ensure the two would lock eyes. The pass itself didn’t reach the end zone, but Rice hauled it in and carried it the remaining 11 yards for a score.
That’s three touchdowns that unfolded in contrasting ways but fit the theme. Mahomes kept his eyes moving — progressing — even while on the move.
That’s the part that grabs the attention of the players on the other ends of these throws. They stay ready for them, sure, even knowing the play isn’t necessarily intended to come their way. There’s a reason they’re out there, right?
But they so often benefit after the initial intent of a play breaks down — when Mahomes is still progressing through his reads just the same as if he was standing still in the pocket.
“It’s crazy,” wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster told me this week. “I think it’s impressive he can get outside and still see everything and make those throws. You saw it in the last game.”
We did, but we’ve also seen it all season.
There’s something else at play there, and it’s the very something that’s been at play in a lot of our look-how-good-this-offense-is-again coverage lately.
The offensive line is holding up.
The Chiefs have scored 28-plus points in five straight games for the first time in four seasons. Their point differential over those five games (+79) is the best five-game run for any team in the league this year. They trail only Indianapolis in points scored over that five-game stretch.
None of it works without a functioning offensive line. But this topic in particular — a quarterback progressing through his reads — really doesn’t work without a functioning offensive line.
There were times last season when Mahomes didn’t even have time to look at his first read. The Chiefs eventually adjusted their offense to account for it, throwing shorter and quicker than any team in the league. They had no other choice, and it did help their offense.
But it limited their quarterback.
The Mahomes statistics that I mentioned from a year ago should be placed into that context, to be fair, though some of this is on him, too.
“I’m feeling better at that this year,” he said.
It’s his feel, and it’s the real data.
He’s unleashed a trait he’s made far superior to any of his peers.
And superior to his old self.