Patrick

Mahomes

The theme of this dominance was: “Ope, let me just scooch on by you.” Mahomes took a first-and-goal from the 10 and ran it in without even being hit hard to put the Chiefs up 29-22 early in the fourth quarter. His first rushing touchdown came just after the two-minute warning in the first half, and he found Xavier Worthy in the air the drive before that to push the Chiefs to a 21-16 halftime lead. The Bills rallied to tie the game at 29, and sacked Mahomes on first-and-goal with 4:28 when Jordan Phillips picked up left guard Mike Caliendo and deposited him in Mahomes’ lap. But the Chiefs kicked a successful field goal to take the lead, stopped Allen on fourth down on their last drive, and Mahomes was able to drain the rest of the clock with a pair of flat passes to running backs Isiah Pacheco and Samaje Perine. Mahomes is dominant despite never appearing physically dominant. It makes him feel more unflappable than inevitable. He just knows too much about how to win an NFL football game, and really your team wasn’t that interested in winning anyway, right? The Chiefs will take on the Eagles in Super Bowl LIX two Sundays from now with a chance to become the NFL’s first franchise to win three titles in a row since the 1965-67 Packers.

And with that, the Chiefs have now made the AFC title tilt all seven years Mahomes has been starter. Stupefying. As was the case all season, it wasn’t necessarily a “convincing” win. It was also never really in doubt. Regardless of who wins Baltimore/Buffalo’s heavyweight fight Sunday, the talk all week will focus on the Chiefs’ supposed vulnerability. It’s just that, the next time we see it this season will be the first. Giddy up for what should be another classic.

Mahomes now gets multiple weeks off, with the AFC’s No. 1 playoff seed safely secured. The Chiefs also declared TE Travis Kelce, DT Chris Jones, OT Jawaan Taylor, RB Isiah Pacheco, CB Trent McDuffie and DE George Karlaftis inactive, though beat reporter Adam Teicher notes that there “will be others in uniform who do not play.” Kareem Hunt is likely to be included in the latter category. The team listed him as doubtful to play on Friday although he is not injured.

Carson Wentz will draw the start this week. Reid didn’t name every starter getting the day off, but our best guess for the list of names includes Travis Kelce, Isiah Pacheco, Kareem Hunt, DeAndre Hopkins, Xavier Worthy, and Hollywood Brown. Expect others to make the cut as well. The Chiefs are massive underdogs to the Broncos this week, all but guaranteeing Denver a spot in the playoffs.

Mahomes was given all day to throw even against the Steelers’ defense, and he took advantage of it. The ankle did not appear to be bothering him at all, and he found Travis Kelce, Justin Watson and Xavier Worthy for scores in the blowout win on Christmas. This was also the first time he hadn’t thrown an interception since the overtime win over the Buccaneers. The Chiefs have clinched homefield advantage in the AFC with the win, and it’ll likely be a very short day for Mahomes in Week 18 against the Broncos.

Mahomes played on his sprained ankle in last week’s win over the Texans and wasted little time displaying his miraculous healing powers. He rushed for a 15-yard touchdown on the Chiefs’ opening drive and ended the day with 33 rushing yards on five carries. He was listed as a full participant on the Chiefs estimated practice report, which was released on Sunday. Mahomes’ ankle injury seems like non-issue ahead of Week 17’s game against the Steelers.

He added a 15-yard rushing touchdown as part of a 5/33/1 rushing line. So much for that high-ankle sprain! Kansas City’s receivers continued to have issues with holding on to open throws, most notably when Justin Watson got his hand on what would have been a sure touchdown in the second quarter. There also remains quite a bit of miscommunication in the Kansas City passing attack. Mahomes kept churning the Chiefs down the field though, converting 7-of-13 third downs and making sure the line was just unmemorable enough to be only moderately fantasy useful. The Steelers will be another test of the Kansas City offensive line in Week 17, and Mahomes will be on the QB1 borderline against Pittsburgh.

Mahomes practiced in full this week despite suffering a high-ankle sprain in Week 15. While he may scramble infrequently, fantasy managers can expect to have their QB1 available. The game plan will surely be built around Mahomes getting the ball out quickly.

Reid isn’t coming right out and saying it, but Mahomes appears to be set to start on Saturday against the Texans. Reid said he wants to see how Mahomes responds to Friday’s practice, but Mahomes is undoubtedly trending in the right direction. The Chiefs’ QB1 was a full participant in practice all week, and Reid himself said Mahomes “moved around pretty good” when on the field. Fantasy managers can have a contingency plan in place if they deem it necessary, but everything is pointing to Mahomes being active, barring a surprise setback.

This is another gentle step in the right direction for Mahomes, who practiced in full on Tuesday as well. Fantasy managers should currently expect him to play though the game plan will likely be built around quick-hitting routes and a high-volume rushing attack. He remains a QB1 nonetheless.