Neither quarterback was very adept at passing in a Super Bowl rematch. However, Mahomes relied on his defense and legs to secure a significant victory. Patrick Mahomes had no intention of making contact.
The Kansas City Chiefs quarterback, however, scudded forward to cover the yard to the end zone as he scampered across the center of the pocket on fourth-and-goal.
Furthermore, the 225-pound father of three would not be deterred by a rookie safety striking his left shoulder.
Therefore, Malik Mustapha of the San Francisco 49ers was knocked backwards as Mahomes scored the game-winning touchdown while standing.
In reality, Mahomes stated, “I wasn’t attempting to lower my shoulder.” Since I was going to be in the end zone, I was attempting to take the blow. But man, that dad bod. Where he went down, I had enough weight on me.
“It just turned out well for me.”
In a 28-18 victory over the San Francisco 49ers, the Chiefs’ outcome appeared superior to Mahomes’ passing statistics.
On a day when he had the lowest passer rating of his 102 career games, Mahomes recorded his first 6-0 start.
Mahomes’ 44.4 passer rating was about half of his 88.9 passer rating this season, and far below the 102.9 passer he’s averaged across his career.
And still: His squad won by 10 points.
Mahomes and head coach Andy Reid, the two most credited architects of the Chiefs dynasty, are keen to give credit to everyone but themselves, in part because of the numerous contributions made by teammates and coaches.
And a portion of that is a reflection of Mahomes’ capacity to shape-shift his s𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁s to suit his requirements at the right time, in addition to his ability to consistently command defensive attention and respect.
No, the winning recipe is not the quarterback’s six passing touchdowns and eight interceptions this season.
However, is it really necessary for the Chiefs to win games using just one formula?
“Patrick had a couple turnovers himself, but they win those gritty games,” 49ers tight end George Kittle said. “[They’re] a team that knows how to win.”
Chiefs vs. 49ers featured no-fly zone
A chaotic passing game day was ironic.
An entertainment-forward league showcasing its defending conference champions would no doubt prefer a shootout filled with spectacular offensive highlights.
Rather, Brock Purdy completed 54.8% (17 of 31) throws for 212 yards, while Mahomes completed 59% (16 of 27) passes for 154 yards. On a day with swarming defensive fronts and wounded receivers, no passing touchdown made it through.
Mahomes had two interceptions and Purdy had three.
The quarterback for the Chiefs has enough experience to know two things: He had a bad passing day. Furthermore, neither of his interceptions was the consequence of bad mechanics or bad choices.
Kalia Davis, a defensive tackle, caught a pass that was tipped at the line of scrimmage and was intended for an open receiver. Conversely, 49ers defensive back Deommodore Lenoir took advantage of rookie receiver Xavier Worthy’s loss of footing.
“I was going to the right direction, the right spot, but you get unlucky sometimes,” Mahomes said. “I got to still clean it up and that’s stuff I got to work on. There’s too many interceptions that put our defense in bad spots.”
Mahomes credited teammates who led a 184-yard rushing day, Kareem Hunt netting 78 yards and two touchdowns while Mahomes ranked second with 39 and one.
The run game was sufficient to power a 4-of-5 day in the red zone. And Mahomes’ acrobatics, paired with three interceptions from the defense, were sufficient to get the Chiefs to the red zone.
Fox’s broadcast crew couldn’t resist their awe, whether it was a shovel pass that somehow traveled eight yards or a second-down scramble that went from a backfield tackle to a 33-yard gain.
As he saw Mahomes’ so-wrong-they’re-right plays, Tom Brady chuckled at how he violated every quarterback rule he had ever taught. The color analyst also mentioned that Bill Belichick was “at home right now ripping out his hair.”
The Chiefs’ longest play of the day was the result of Mahomes using a number of pump fakes and an apparent pact with the sideline devil, to which play-by-play analyst Kevin Burkhardt added his own “How did he do that?”
“I was just trying to get the first down then get out of bounds, but the dude overran it or kind of got a little bit of a block there so once I got on the sideline, it opened up and I was able to get down there,” Mahomes said. “I thought about cutting it back. But I’ll save that for the playoffs. And right now i’ll just continue to run out of bounds.”
What abnormal start to Chiefs’ season says about postseason viability
What else might the league’s lone undefeated team be saving for the playoffs?
A team that seems to be getting better around Mahomes should concern the rest of the NFL.
The Chiefs seem to have found a fountain of youth for Hunt at running back, and Steve Spagnuolo’s defense is as stifling and confounding as ever.
Even with a heavily depleted receiving corps, the 49ers posted their worst third-down mark of the season converting on just 2 of 11 attempts (18%). Only against the 5-1 Minnesota Vikings (2 of 10) had the 49ers otherwise dropped below a 40% success rate.
San Francisco trailed for more than 41 minutes of game time.
“There’s no way to sugarcoat that we got our ass kicked today,” 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan said.
Mahomes emphasized his need to improve, particularly in the passing game, for the Chiefs to reach the gear at which he believes they’re capable of performing. For a quarterback more than willing to take that accountability, knowing the room for improvement is within his control — and the Chiefs have the fast track to a postseason berth with the league’s best record — is encouraging.
Mahomes’ confidence shone through when asked about wins coming less easily to his team this season.
Their 6-0 record doesn’t feature blowouts. But it does include wins against their final two postseason opponents last season, the Baltimore Ravens and now the 49ers.
“I don’t want to say it doesn’t come easily because we’re winning games against good teams by a good amount of points,” Mahomes said. “I just don’t think that’s normal for us. There hasn’t been a lot of passing touchdowns, there’s been a lot of turnovers especially by me and so I think it’s just showing the versatility.
“It’s not just about me, it’s not just about the stats and the light show and things like that. It’s about team football. And I believe if we continue to work, we’ll get better offensively throwing the ball down the field.
“Until then, it’s just nice to know we have a great running game, great defense and we’re able to execute whenever it’s time to win football games.”
Dad bod and all.
