As Mahomes matches Brady milestone, he reiterates what makes him special
Kansas City Chiefs Patrick Mahomes takes the field before the start of a game against the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday, Oct. 18, 2026, at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Mo.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Safe to say the Kansas City Chiefs’ 22-6 win over the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday at Arrowhead Stadium made for a convincing margin of victory despite an unsightly journey to the finish - including no fewer than 18 points squandered, a fumbled punt return, and eight penalties for 89 yards.
Of all the flubs, though, one was all at once somehow the most surprising and … vital to the Chiefs’ victory.
Because when something goes awry for the indomitable Patrick Mahomes, he has a way of fixing it.
The Chiefs quarterback reaffirmed that defining knack Sunday in the making of his 100th win in 131 regular-season starts, matching Tom Brady for the most victories in NFL history through this span.
Now, there’s a galaxy yet to go in chasing Brady, especially when it matters most: in the postseason, during which Brady was at the helm for 35 victories and seven Super Bowl triumphs.
Mahomes is second only to Brady with 17 playoff wins and is a fourth Super Bowl victory away from tying Joe Montana and Terry Bradshaw for second place behind the former New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers star.
So Mahomes theoretically can see it all on the distant horizon even as he knows it’s all about right here, right now.
“If you can be mentioned in any category with him, it’s special,” Mahomes said.
Then he hit on the most salient point.
As he’s gone deeper into his career, he said, “I think I’ve gotten better and better at winning.”
Meaning finding a way, appreciating what he has around him, and embracing complementary football, for starters, instead of assuming he has to be all the difference himself.
“It’s not always pretty; it’s not always how I want it to be,” said Mahomes, who completed 23 of 30 passes for 272 yards but no touchdowns Sunday. “I want to throw three touchdowns, four touchdowns, and I want to put up big stats. But whenever your defense is playing like they are today, you can’t force it.
“And after I forced that one early in the game, I was just like, ‘Hey, listen, let’s figure out the best way to win the football game.’ And we were able to do that.”
The key sequence began with Jack Cochrane’s 48-yard interception return to set up the Chiefs at the Chargers’ 17-yard line. Leading 9-3, this was a prime chance for the Chiefs (5-0) to open up the lead against a winless team (now 0-6).
But Mahomes made an exceedingly rare play that looked reckless.
Even if it was more well-considered than it appeared, the result was the same: an interception in the end zone.
The play unfolded faster than he’d anticipated, he said. Next thing you know, he’s scrambling and falling back as he threw.
Or as he put it, “I did what you’re not supposed to do … I kind of was trying to throw it away, but at the same time, like, trying to give (Chiefs receiver Andrew Armstrong) him a chance.”
But that’s only part one of the sequence.
What came next was more telling.
When the Chiefs forced a punt and got the ball back, Mahomes was undeniable in any number of ways.
Here he was on second-and-7, for instance, running a true option for the first time this year as he continues to put 2025’s season-ending knee injury behind him in more ways than one.
Mahomes took it 10 yards for a first down, an affirmation of his condition - even if he lamented he still thinks “there’s some burst that I don’t have” yet.
Then Mahomes hit five straight passes before playing yet another role on Kenneth Walker III’s 2-yard touchdown run.
As a blocker.
Even with Walker running right, Mahomes was ready to lend some muscle on the backside.
“With Kenneth, you’ve got to be ready,” said Mahomes, who figured at least grazing L.A.’s Tuli Tuipulotu could be pivotal. “If I get him, (Walker’s) going to score.”
“I didn’t get a lot,” he added with a smile, “but I got enough.”
Kind of like the Chiefs themselves on this day.
Emphasis on "enough," especially after a dismal 2025 season that perhaps was further purged Sunday.
It was 10 months ago on this field against this very team, after all, that Mahomes suffered the injury that punctuated and embodied the lost season - certified that day with their elimination from postseason participation for the first time since 2014.
The aftermath conjured doubts about Mahomes’ recovery timeline.
And even whether the season marked a blip or the abrupt end of a dominant Chiefs era that featured five Super Bowl berths in the previous six seasons.
Almost instantly, though, the resolute Mahomes was seizing the days to make his way back.
Not just to show up, of course. But to be the best version of himself, he could be as soon as possible.
Now, the Chiefs are the only remaining undefeated team in the AFC and just one of three overall, pending San Francisco’s Monday night game against Washington.
And Mahomes is to a point where the knee injury apparently is an afterthought at most.
Heck, he hadn’t even considered that it was against the Chargers that he’d been hurt until he started looking at film last week.
When it came to that play, he said, “You speed it up pretty quickly.”
“We’ve moved on past that now,” he added.
As running the ball and blocking and otherwise throwing his body around suggest.
And as his sheer will to win - and infinite capacity to make it happen - was illustrated all over again on a day he kept pace in yet another way with the standard-bearer of NFL history.
Brady’s records do “give me motivation, but it’s still so far away,” Mahomes said.
Noting he’s 31 and Brady played until he was 45, Mahomes added, “The way he played the game, that’s how you want to play it. You want to be a competitor, you want to win, and you want to bring your teammates along. And that’s who I want to be as my career goes on.”
And certainly who he’s been so far.