By: Brandon Silva
It’s no secret that the Chiefs haven’t looked like the annual Super Bowl contenders that we’re so accustomed to them being.
The blame for that has been tossed around, but Patrick Mahomes and the defense, especially Daniel Sorenson, have caught the most heat for the team’s early struggles. The Chiefs were resting at the bottom of the stacked AFC West for the majority of the season. That is until they went into Allegiant Stadium and took care of business, now they sit atop the AFC West throne.
For the first time since week 4, we got to see the vintage Patrick Mahomes that we’re so used to seeing make ridiculous throws and tearing defenses to shreds. He threw for an incredible 406 passing yards with 5 touchdown passes. He was able to complete 70% of his passes for the fourth time this season and broke the 40 fantasy point threshold for the first time. In the 3 previous weeks, he had totaled just over 31 points. With this incredible showing, Mahomes is now back where he was expected to be, position rank 1 for the quarterback position. Patrick wasn’t flawless by any means (and still made some risky decisions throughout the game) but from a fantasy standpoint that doesn’t matter at all as he finally started taking what the defense gave him instead of forcing a flashy play.
Football is more fun when Patrick Mahomes is playing at an MVP level. Mahomes was able to get all of his weapons involved this week as well, which is nice for anybody who has the supporting cast. Darrel Williams, Tyreek Hill, and Travis Kelce all also broke 20 fantasy points this week. The most intriguing part of Mahomes’ performance was how the touchdowns were scored. He threw 4 of his 5 touchdowns using play-action and selling the run. If I were to have Patrick on any of my fantasy teams, I would absolutely hold onto him. Players should receive some big offers over the course of this week to acquire the star quarterback, but I am a firm believer that he is back and ready to continue to torment opposing defenses. HOLD ONTO HIM!
He plays at home against Dallas this upcoming week and all signs point to that game being a shootout. If you’re in a good enough position to start looking ahead at playoff schedules, you would see that from Week 15-17, Mahomes doesn’t have the easiest going for the fantasy playoffs. He plays at the Chargers, then home against the Steelers, and finally at Cincinnati. This is no cakewalk of a fantasy playoff schedule by any means, but Mahomes will have to continue playing at an elevated level for the Chiefs to win those games. I wouldn’t let a schedule like this steer me away or incentivize me from trading the best fantasy quarterback in the league. Patrick Mahomes is back in the driver’s seat and is a player that anyone should want leading their team to victory.