Yes, the Kansas City Chiefs are 5-0 this season, but quarterback Patrick Mahomes is far from being in the running for NFL MVP.
Kansas City's offense is just average, scoring 23.6 points per game and ranking 15th in the league in that department. Mahomes has thrown just as many touchdowns (six) as he has interceptions (six) as he is operating with first-round rookie Xavier Worthy, 2018 fifth-round pick Justin Watson, a past-his-prime JuJu Smith-Schuster to go along with an aging Travis Kelce. He had to sit back and watch two of the top available receivers in three-time All-Pro Davante Adams and five-time Pro Bowler Amari Cooper get dealt to other AFC competitors in the Jets and Bills, respectively, on Tuesday. Both Rashee Rice and Maquise "Hollywood" Brown are out with injuries for the foreseeable future.
However, Mahomes maintains the Chiefs have enough wide receiver talent.
"I have extreme confidence with the guys that are on that football field,'' Mahomes said, via ESPN, on Wednesday. "They've won games, they've won Super Bowls, they've made plays in big moments and Brett Veach has done a great job of bringing players in that can step up whenever their number is called. Every time I step on that football field, I feel like we have the best ability to win, and I think that's a credit to Brett Veach and coach [Andy] Reid bringing in guys that really get after it and put in the work to be great every single day.''
Patrick Mahomes this season
| NFL Rank | ||
|---|---|---|
Comp Pct | 69.4% | 7th |
Pass Yards | 1,235 | 16th |
Pass TD | 6 | 19th |
TD-INT | 6-6 | 26th |
Passer Rating | 88.9 | 19th |
Worthy has had bright spots this season as he is only the second wide receiver since the 1970 AFL/NFL merger with multiple rushing touchdowns (two) and multiple receiving touchdowns (two) in their first five career games, something then-Steelers rookie Chase Claypool accomplished in 2020. Kansas City's receiving talent will be tested on Sunday when they visit the 2023 NFC champion San Francisco 49ers, whom they beat in overtime in last year's Super Bowl. The two teams also squared off in Super Bowl LIV to conclude the 2019 season, a game the Chiefs also won.
"Whenever you have two great football teams that meet up in the Super Bowl and meet up in all these big games, there's going to be a history between that and so obviously we've been able to win those games,'' Mahomes said. "But we know how good this football team is and we have a ton of respect for them and so it's not like one play couldn't have changed all these football games and so we're going with that mindset of we've just got to make the plays whenever they count.''