Patrick Mahomes Named AFC Offensive Player of the Week
The Kansas City Chiefs' Week 4 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers saw plenty of impressive performances, and one of them is being noticed on the national stage. For the second time this season (Week 1 was the first), quarterback Patrick Mahomes is being named the AFC Offensive Player of the Week.
Against Tampa Bay, Mahomes completed 23 of 37 passes for 249 yards and three touchdowns. The star signal-caller made several dazzling plays throughout the night, leading to tight end Travis Kelce referring to him as the Houdini of this era. Mahomes was in total command of the Chiefs' offense on the Sunday Night Football stage and outside of one interception, he had one of his better performances of the 2022 campaign thus far.
Through four games, Mahomes has led the Chiefs to a 3-1 start and ranks towards the top in the NFL in numerous statistical categories. Among quarterbacks with at least 100 pass attempts, the 27-year-old is tied for first in passing touchdowns, ranks first in first down percentage, second in passer rating and is sixth in passing yards. His 82.3 QBR is the best in the league heading into Week 5, ranking two points higher than his 80.3 figure in his 2018 MVP-winning campaign.
Per Harold Kuntz of Fox 4 News, this is the ninth time Mahomes has been named an AFC Player of the Week. That total is now the most by a Chiefs player ever. On Monday, Chiefs head coach Andy Reid spoke with the media and reiterated just how special his quarterback is, urging everyone to not take his jaw-dropping plays for granted.
I talked to the guys, like I mentioned last night, just don’t take it for granted. These things are special, some of these things we’re seeing from him, (Patrick Mahomes) so appreciate them but it’s unique so enjoy every one of them, but it’s not something that a lot of people have that advantage of being a part of. With that, I mean that throw was incredible. The throw to (Travis) Kelce is the one that might get looked over a little bit down the middle of the field. I mean that throw and that catch were ridiculous and there were a couple other ones in there that were really good.
I mean the one naked play where he kind of hung onto it on third down and threw it up to JuJu (Smith-Schuster), I mean that was another good one. He had a very good game and I know the stats show that and some of the things he’s done historically have made history and (he) will continue to do that. The best thing about him is he’s always trying to get better. That’s what I appreciate the most, Pete. I mean he’s not sitting there patting himself on the back. He keeps moving forward and wanting to get even better.
