Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes has a long list of accomplishments attached to his resume over the last six seasons he’s been in the league. There’s no question he’s one of the best QBs in the NFL.
Despite all that, Mahomes is simply not having his best season statistically, – he’s actually having his worst – starting the year with more interceptions than touchdowns through six games. Yet, his team remains a perfect 6-0. This scenario doesn’t happen quite often. In fact, it’s only occurred one other time in the last 30 years.
The last team that began the season 6-0 despite their QB having more interceptions than touchdowns was the 2015 Denver Broncos.
Patrick Mahomes and Peyton Manning (2015) are the only QBs in the last 30 years to throw more INT than TD while leading their teams to a 6-0 start
— FirstSportz NFL (@FirstSportz_NFL) October 21, 2024
39-year-old Manning had 7 pass TD and 10 INT in his 6-0 start in 2015, a season that ended in a Super Bowl 50 victorythree… pic.twitter.com/vMf3JBJj1Y
Manning began the 2015 campaign throwing 10 picks to just seven TDs before finishing the year by leading the Broncos to their most recent Super Bowl championship. However, Manning had the worst season of his 17-year career and retired the following off-season.
To say Mahomes is as bad as 39-year-old Manning is an overreaction, but it’s definitely something the three-time Super Bowl champ needs to clean up, which he acknowledged to reporters during his post-game presser on Sunday after defeating the 49ers 28-18.
“I’ve got to still clean it up,” Mahomes started. “There’s too many interceptions that put our defense in bad spots. So in order for us to even take another step, it’s going to be about me taking care of the football, [and] scoring those touchdowns in the red zone like we did today, and then letting our defense really eat and letting Spags be spags.”
Throwing 8 INTS to 6 TDs will be the talk this week that there may be reason to worry the Chiefs’ winning ways may come to an end. Mahomes reflected on his two interceptions as circumstantial and just plain old ‘bad luck’.
“The first [interception] Jody [Fortson] was open on the slant,” Mahomes recalled. “It was going to be a catch and tackle trying to just gain some back because we were in second and long, and their D-line made a good play. He got his hands up, knocked it up in there, and made a pick. Then the second one was just trying to go to my matchup with Xavier [Worthy].
Obviously, you saw the feet got tangled up there and he ended up losing his balance and falling down and that guy made a good play. I feel like in the interceptions; I was [throwing] in the right direction to the right spot. You just get unlucky sometimes.”
Mahomes isn’t having his best season if you’re only going by the stat sheet, but in the end, the only stat that matters is the win column, where the Chiefs are perfect so far.
