Patrick Mahomes reminded the NFL why he’s elite, leading the Kansas City Chiefs to a critical overtime win against the Indianapolis Colts as the performance kept playoff hopes alive and sent a message to every contender.
Mahomes‘ scrambling instincts and urgent decision-making stood out, leading to Marcus Spears to claim he proved he remains a dual-threat quarterback, and that is playing like it’s the NFL Playoffs already.
“Pat is in playoff mode,” Spears told ESPN. “And the seminal thing I see from Patrick Mahomes, especially when they get into the playoffs, is there is no hesitation in him taking off with his legs.
“I know we’re going to talk about the run game… But he was decisive in going picking up first downs and I think this is a sense of urgency to the rest of his team that every single down, every single drive, every single third, second down is a critical play in the game.
“And you could see his sense of urgency by using his legs. Now people are going to look at it and say it’s four rushes for 30 yards, [but] it’s when those rushes happen and the critical times you need the first downs to extend drives.
“I’ve talked about this every year since we’ve been on TV about Patrick Mahomes in the playoffs. He reminds people that he’s a true dual threat quarterback – and I know his arm is phenomenal, we talk about the receivers being there and all of that.
“His legs are as effective and are as back-breaking when they have to have gains than anything else associated with the Kansas City Chiefs.”
Mahomes delivers clutch performance
Mahomes threw for 352 yards, rushed for 30, and set up Harrison Butker‘s 27-yard game-winning field goal as the Chiefs erased an 11-point deficit to claim a big win in the ongoing NFL season.
His rushing numbers for the year now read 318 yards on 52 carries for four touchdowns, with 222 of those yards and all four scores coming prior to Rice‘s return. He is also the fastest player in NFL history to register 35,000 passing yards.
The decline could be part of the “everybody eats” philosophy Andy Reid is deploying.
He looks to get Rashee Rice, Xavier Worthy and Travis Kelce involved in the passing game and that has seen the running game suffer.
Isiah Pacheco and Brashard Smith getting limited carries, although Kareem Hunt has now taken over the bulk of the work.
Hunt led the ground attack with 104 yards and a touchdown whilst Rice had eight catches for 141 yards, showing a more balanced offensive approach for the first time this campaign.
Chiefs back in the AFC West race with Colts victory
The win keeps Kansas City in the playoff mix, showing the league that Mahomes can carry the team in tight situations and why he is a two-time NFL MVP and three-time Super Bowl MVP.
Despite previous losses to AFC contenders, the Chiefs demonstrated they can compete in a tough conference as they remain alive in the race for the NFL Playoffs into the latter stages of 2025.
With a 6-5 record, the Chiefs remain off the pace of the likes of the 10-2 New England Patriots and 9-2 Denver Broncos (AFC West leader), but the win over the 8-3 Colts has now positioned them for a strong finish.
Although they have lost to both of them this campaign, the Chiefs have two more games to come against the Broncos and the Los Angeles Chargers as well as match-ups with the Houston Texans and Las Vegas Raiders.
They will be expected to win the latter two games whilst their clashes against Denver and LA will serve as chances to haul themselves back into the mix in the AFC West, as well as the NFL Playoffs as a whole. Their destiny is in their hands.
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