by ## Patrick Mahomes’ Strangest Match: A Look at the Unconventional
Patrick Mahomes has established himself as one of the most talented and exciting quarterbacks in the NFL during his relatively young career with the Kansas City Chiefs. However, with great talent often comes unpredictability, as Mahomes has been involved in some truly bizarre and unconventional games throughout his time under center. While he has led many brilliant performances and orchestrated impressive comebacks, some matches stand out for their sheer oddity and unexpected turns of events. Let’s take a deeper look at some of the strangest contests of Mahomes’ career to date.
The first that comes to mind is the now infamous “Pick-Six Extravaganza” against the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 5 of the 2021 season. In what was an extremely abnormal outing for the superstar QB, Mahomes threw a career-high five interceptions in the contest. Even more astonishingly, four of those picks were returned for touchdowns by the Raiders defense. It goes without saying that giving up that many pick-sixes in a single game is practically unheard of, especially for a quarterback of Mahomes’ caliber.
What made this performance all the more bizarre was that despite Mahomes’ struggles and the turnovers, the Chiefs were somehow still in the game late. They found themselves tied with the Raiders in the fourth quarter before the contest went to overtime. Most teams would have been out of the game well before that point after coughing up five interceptions, including four that went the other way for scores. But thanks to Mahomes’ never-say-die attitude and the talent around him, Kansas City clawed their way back to snatch an improbable victory in the extra frame.
The final score of the game was Kansas City 42, Las Vegas 36. So in the end, Mahomes’ career-worst outing statistically still resulted in a win. It highlighted his ability to rebound from adversity as well as the big-play potential of the Chiefs offense. But those five picks, including the four pick-sixes, make this easily one of the strangest and most unconventional games of Mahomes’ young career to date. It showed that even the best can have an off day, yet with Mahomes at quarterback, Kansas City is never out of any contest.
Another bizarre affair was Mahomes’ playoff battle with Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals in the 2022 AFC Championship game. In what was a back-and-forth shootout between two of the NFL’s brightest young stars, Mahomes and Burrow engaged in an epic quarterback duel. Mahomes had one of the best statistical performances of his career, completing 33 of 44 passes for a whopping 524 yards and three touchdowns through the air. He added another score on the ground.
It seemed like no matter what the Bengals did defensively, Mahomes had an answer. He was dealing, making pinpoint throws all over the field. The 524 passing yards he racked up set a new single-game record for any quarterback in AFC Championship history. Despite Mahomes’ Herculean effort, it still wasn’t enough to overcome Burrow and the upstart Bengals, who emerged with a thrilling 27-24 overtime victory on their home turf.
The game showed just how high the ceiling is for both Mahomes and Burrow, but it was an unusually high-scoring affair for what is typically a more defensive-minded conference title game. With two young gunslinger QBs slinging it all over the yard to the tune of nearly 1,000 combined passing yards, it made for a truly unconventional playoff classic. Mahomes’ record-setting day, though in a loss, further cemented his status as one of the NFL’s most dynamic players capable of the incredible.
Perhaps the strangest single game of Mahomes’ career, however, came during his appearance in the 2023 Super Bowl against the Philadelphia Eagles. After falling just short in the previous two Super Bowls, Mahomes and the Chiefs were hungry for their second title of the Mahomes era. They got their chance for redemption against Jalen Hurts and the high-powered Eagles in a battle of young quarterbacks. But this Super Bowl outing for Mahomes was unlike any other he had experienced.
While he threw for 182 yards and three touchdowns through the air, Mahomes was also intercepted twice and sacked an uncharacteristic five times by the Eagles ferocious defensive front. He struggled with pressure all game long and seemed uncharacteristically rattled in the pocket. This was a far cry from Mahomes’ usual ability to extend plays and make something out of nothing with his legs and improvisational skills. The Eagles defense had his number on this day and shut down Kansas City’s high-octane attack for the most part.
In the end, the Chiefs fell just short again, losing to Philadelphia 27-24. It marked back-to-back Super Bowl defeats for Mahomes and company in their quest for ring number two. Mahomes’ stat line was fine but far from his best, and he didn’t look like his typically elusive self under duress. While Super Bowls often come down to just one play, this was Mahomes’ most inconsistent and off-kilter performance on the NFL’s biggest stage to date. The five sacks and two picks made it arguably the strangest game of Mahomes’ illustrious career when considering the circumstances.
Of course, no discussion of Mahomes’ strangest games would be complete without mentioning his now legendary comeback performance against the Houston Texans in the 2019 AFC Divisional Round playoff game. In a contest that seemed all but over by halftime, Mahomes led the Chiefs on an unprecedented charge that will go down as one of the great postseason comebacks in NFL history. Trailing 24-0 at the break, Kansas City scored 41 unanswered points in the second half to stun the Texans and advance.
Mahomes was nothing short of brilliant after the break, throwing for 321 yards and five touchdowns to erase the massive first half deficit. He seemed completely unfazed by the scoreline and kept slinging it with confidence to methodically bring his team back. The comeback was so improbable and unexpected that it still stands as one of the most shocking results in recent playoff memory. To storm back from 24 points down on that stage showed Mahomes’ incredible poise, talent, and winning mentality.
While comebacks are always exciting, few have ever been as unlikely or strange as Kansas City’s epic rally against Houston that day. It truly encapsulated Mahomes’ penchant for the unexpected and ability to perform when the odds seem longest. Even leading big early leads aren’t safe with this Chiefs offense as long as Mahomes is under center. The resilience, confidence, and sheer will to win it took to pull off such a stunning reversal of fortune makes this performance one of the true outliers of Mahomes’ already illustrious career.
In the end, trying to classify any one game as Mahomes’ absolute “strangest” is somewhat subjective. Some contests saw him struggle and fall short uncharacteristically, like the 2023 Super Bowl, while others featured historic highs like the Texans comeback or record day versus Cincinnati. The pick-six bonanza against Las Vegas was truly bizarre, as was battling a blizzard against Denver. But what ties all of these unconventional games together is Mahomes’ ability to produce the unexpected, whether in victory or defeat.
No lead is ever safe with this Chiefs offense. No situation is ever truly hopeless. As long as Mahomes is under center, Kansas City fans know that magic can happen at any moment. While superstar quarterbacks are supposed to have signature wins, Mahomes has also cemented himself through some very strange and signature losses or struggles. But it is in overcoming adversity that his greatness can truly be appreciated. As his career progresses, there are surely more strange and spectacular games still to come from one of the NFL’s most dynamic and entertaining players.
