Mitchell Layton/Getty Images
The Kansas City Chiefs just saved their 2021 season in 20 game-time minutes.
Already in a significant early hole at 2-3, Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs trailed a defensively stacked Washington Football Team 13-10 midway through the third quarter on the road. The offense once again was not crisp enough to compensate for a defense that surrendered an NFL-worst 32.6 points per game during the first five weeks of the 2021 campaign.
When Mahomes made a horrible decision on his second interception of the game, you got the feeling the wheels could come off against a flawed but desperate and talented opponent. And a punt on their first offensive series of the second half didn’t inspire much confidence that halftime adjustments would right the ship.
But then, something finally clicked for the defending AFC champions and their superstar quarterback.
Alex Brandon/Associated Press
After the WFT missed a 42-yard field goal that would have given it a 16-10 lead, we saw:
1. Chiefs touchdown
2. Washington punt
3. Chiefs touchdown
4. Washington punt
5. Chiefs touchdown
6. Washington interception
Game over. Chiefs 31, Washington 13 thanks to a 21-0 run in the final 20 minutes of regulation.
During that stretch, Mahomes completed 15 of 20 passes for 151 yards, two scores and a 129.4 passer rating as the Chiefs outgained Washington 209-39.
And this didn’t even count!
It’s almost as though Mahomes was scrolling through Twitter when Spotrac made a not-so-subtle statement about his struggles by tweeting the details of his contract during the third quarter. On social media, plenty of folks were asking if the league had finally figured him out.
Guess not.
Combined with a Los Angeles Chargers loss to the Baltimore Ravens, the recovery victory moves the Chiefs just a game out of first place in the AFC West. You couldn’t be faulted for deciding in the last few weeks that someone other than the Chiefs deserves to be the Super Bowl favorite in the AFC, but this performance looked like a turning point for Andy Reid‘s team on both sides of the ball as everything finally clicked in the second half.
The defense had surrendered a sickening 7.1 yards per play through five weeks, but that unit shut out Washington in the second half. Without top pass-rusher Chris Jones along with cornerback Charvarius Ward, and after being forced to bench Daniel Sorensen for Juan Thornhill in the secondary, they Chiefs gave up just 15 first downs and 276 yards (4.8 per play). Washington turned the ball over to K.C. twice, and it didn’t reach the red zone once all day.
That change in the secondary appeared to help, rookie linebacker Nick Bolton also had his best game yet in the middle, and the key was that they avoided splash plays. A 39-yard Ricky Seals-Jones touchdown was the only Washington play that gained more than 16 yards.
Their D might not put up performances like that every week moving forward, but it represents extremely promising progress for a defense that doesn’t often have to be great because the Chiefs score so many points.
Jones will be back, Tyrann Mathieu remains a superstar in the secondary, and they have enough talent elsewhere to settle into somewhat of a groove.
But more importantly, Mahomes—who wasn’t exactly a mess as he led the league in touchdown passes and was second in QBR entering Week 6—looks like he’s recovered from what, by his standards, was a miniature slump. He was the Mahomes we all knew and loved from previous seasons, complete with an uncanny ability to make nearly impossible plays out of structure.
Now, expect the Chiefs to build on this. A bigger test comes on the road next week against the Tennessee Titans, and you get the feeling Mahomes and Co. can’t wait to carry the momentum from Sunday into that potential statement game.
Prior to that recent cold stretch, the Chiefs were 21-1 in their last 22 games with Mahomes serving as starter. Don’t be surprised at all if Sunday in Washington marked the start of another run just like that.
Brad Gagnon has covered the NFL for Bleacher Report since 2012. Follow him on Twitter: @Brad_Gagnon.
