Patrick Mahomes: Chiefs ‘Can Fight Back From Anything'
The Kansas City Chiefs' 30-29 Week 5 win over the Las Vegas Raiders wasn't particularly pretty, but it did showcase plenty of heart from a team that has already displayed plenty of this year.
After finding themselves down 17-0 due to a combination of poor pass protection, untimely defensive mistakes and some questionable penalties, the Chiefs went on a 30-12 run to close out the game and did so by stepping up on offense. Kansas City's comeback marked the largest regular-season one of its kind under quarterback Patrick Mahomes, matching only the club's iconic playoff comeback against the Houston Texans from the 2019-20 season. Against the odds, the Chiefs were able to fight their way back into the outing and ultimately hung on for a narrow win.
This isn't the first time the Chiefs have been in a close game in against a division rival in 2022. Mahomes and company battled the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 2 and came away with an ugly win, proving to themselves that they have what it takes to get the job done even when they aren't firing on all cylinders offensively. Mahomes echoed a similar sentiment after Monday's Week 5 victory, saying the fashion in which the Chiefs came back was positive.
"I thought our guys responded," Mahomes said. "I was just talking with guys in the locker room, I was like, 'Sometimes, these games are the ones that build the true character of the team.' Whenever you come out and they kind of throw that first punch and hit you, and how you respond and go back and fight... that was good to see from this team."
On the stat sheet, the final numbers appear to be pretty impressive for Kansas City. Mahomes completed 29 of his 43 pass attempts for 292 yards, throwing four touchdowns in the process with a passer rating of 117.6. While all four of those scores went to tight end Travis Kelce, the future Hall of Fame pass-catcher was far from the only one to contribute in a major way. On the contrary, multiple receivers pitched in during the win.
In his best game as a Chief, Marquez Valdes-Scantling was targeted eight times and hauled in six passes for a team-leading 90 yards. Behind him, Mecole Hardman had four receptions for 73 yards and JuJu Smith-Schuster caught three passes for 33 yards on eight targets. Even wide receivers Skyy Moore and Justin Watson got involved, combining for three receptions for 25 yards between them. When asked about Valdes-Scantling's big game, Mahomes tipped his cap to his wideout and also praised the others as well.
"That was big-time," Mahomes said. "We needed it. We needed guys like Mecole, Marquez, Skyy and JuJu, we need those guys to step up in different games and make big plays. Today, it was Marquez that was the big guy that made a lot of big plays happen. That's stuff that we're going to need because obviously, people know that we're going to throw Travis the ball so in certain situations, they're going to double-team him. If we can show that we can win with other guys, that'll kind of take that away and then we can open up the entire offense."
Now off to a 4-1 start on the year, it's easy to forget that last year's Chiefs team — a much more cohesive unit in terms of returning and/or veteran talent — was 2-3 through five games. That fifth contest and third loss was a 38-20 blowout defeat at the hands of the Buffalo Bills, who Kansas City is slated to host on Sunday for a highly anticipated Week 6 matchup. If the Chiefs face any adversity in that outing, they're a decent bet to respond to it. According to Mahomes, after all, his teammates can fight back from anything.
"To me, it helps because you just don't know how guys are going to respond," Mahomes said of the Chiefs' win over Las Vegas. "We have a lot of the same players that have been in some deficit games but at the same time, we have a lot of new guys as well. For guys to respond and just to keep battling — no matter that we're down from 17 points — and show that we can fight back from anything, that's what you want to see out of any great football team."
