Patrick Mahomes overcame the worst start to a game in his storied career to lead the Kansas City Chiefs to a 28-7 victory over the Washington Commanders on Monday Night Football.
Mahomes threw two interceptions on the first two Chiefs drives of Monday’s game, the first time that’s happened during his time in the NFL.
But after that slow start – Kansas City head coach Andy Reid called the first half “weird” – Mahomes and the Chiefs offense seemed to click into gear at Arrowhead Stadium.
A one-yard touchdown run from Kareem Hunt broke the deadlock with 5:46 left in the second quarter before the Commanders leveled the score with back-up QB Marcus Mariota connecting with Terry McLaurin. In the second half, Kansas City scored 21 unanswered points to romp to a comfortable victory.
Mahomes ended the game with 299 passing yards and three touchdown throws – one apiece to Travis Kelce, Rashee Rice and Hunt – and explained that, after a slow start to the year, the Chiefs as a whole are improving.
“It shows the growth that we’ve had as a team,” the 30-year-old told reporters. “Offense, defense and special teams, I think we’re getting better and better each and every week.
“Even though we didn’t start the way we wanted to today offensively, it showed that we can battle through adversity and still continue to play the brand of football that we want to play. We’ll have to continue to get better and better.”