Chiefs trade deadline move for Josh Downs unlocks MVP Patrick Mahomes of old

Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs' deep-strike passing game appeared dead and gone through nine weeks of the 2026 season. 

However, Chiefs general manager Brett Veach's NFL trade deadline acquisition of Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Josh Downs Tuesday afternoon brought the two-time NFL MVP version of Mahomes and the team's downfield passing attack back to life in Week 10. 

Entering Week 9, Mahomes was averaging an NFL-worst 5.6 air yards per pass attempt and had become the only quarterback in the last 20 years to average under 5.0 air yards per pass attempt in four consecutive games in the same season, per Pro Football Focus. That four-game dry spell coincided with the ankle dislocation for deep threat wide receiver Tyquan Thornton in Week 4. A week ago, Mahomes was grabbing his right elbow in pain after the New York Jets bent it backward, and on Sunday, the Patrick Mahomes of old returned. 

The introduction of Downs and his ability to threaten defenses out of the slot and down the field changed everything. Downs' 1,995 receiving yards out of the slot were the second-most in the NFL in his career since he entered the league in 2023 at the start of Week 10, trailing only Detroit Lions All-Pro wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown (2,160). 

Mahomes, as a result, marched into Atlanta like Union General William T. Sherman in 1864 and burned the Falcons' secondary to the ground at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, completing 22 of 35 passes for 348 yards, 5 passing touchdowns, and no interceptions in a 35-13 win for the visiting Chiefs. Sunday marked Mahomes' first game with at least five passing touchdowns since the opening week of the 2022 NFL season, the year of his second and most recent league MVP season. He averaged 9.3 air yards per pass attempt, his most since Week 4 at the Las Vegas Raiders, the game Thornton went down. 

Mahomes had not one but two touchdown passes of 20-plus air yards, which snapped a 20-game drought without a passing touchdown of 20-plus air yards. That was the second-longest such streak of his career. Downs' arrival coincided with a number of different droughts ending for the three-time Super Bowl MVP on Sunday.

It was clear Mahomes was throwing with a different level of confidence with Downs on the field. He rifled a dart of a back-shoulder touchdown to Downs from 18 yards out, and that set the tone for the rest of the afternoon. He finished with 4 catches on 5 targets for 53 yards, including that 18-yard receiving touchdown. The box score doesn't fully capture the gravity he brought to the Chiefs' passing game, which is more apparent on some of Mahomes' other highlight throws from Sunday's demolition in Atlanta.  

"It [was] good to see guys step up and make plays, especially against man coverage," Mahomes said in an understatement postgame, via Fox 4 News Kansas City. 

His next touchdown toss was a 39-yard effortless throw to fifth-round rookie wide receiver Cyrus Allen, and the Falcons had no safety help on the play. 

That was just a warm-up for Mahomes' 50-yard rocket launch of a pass down the middle of the field to wide receiver Rashee Rice, his longest pass of the day. 

His final touchdown throw of the day came on a classic Mahomes roll out into a deep strike score from 43 yards out to undrafted wide receiver Andrew Armstrong. 

The rest of the AFC, and the NFL at large, for that matter, are now on notice because the arrival of Downs awakened MVP Mahomes once again.