Arrowheadlines: Patrick Mahomes could break two big records on Friday

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Patrick Mahomes can break two passing records on Friday | Pro Football Talk

Mahomes has 291 touchdown passes in his NFL career (245 in the regular season and 46 in the postseason), and can break the records both for the most in his first nine NFL seasons and for the most before turning 30 years old.

The current record for the most touchdown passes in a player’s first nine seasons is 293, set by Peyton Manning. Mahomes needs just two touchdown passes this season to tie Manning’s record and three to break

it. It’s safe to say Mahomes will break that record this season.

Mahomes’ 245 regular-season touchdown passes are tied with Dan Marino for the most by any player before turning 30. Mahomes turns 30 on September 17, so he needs to throw just one touchdown pass in either Week 1 or Week 2 to move ahead of Marino and own the record by himself.

Chiefs face travel chaos in Brazil, as hotel is ‘hours away’ from stadium | The Sun

It will not be smooth sailing for the Chiefs as they will be forced to drive two hours to Arena Corinthians before their game.

Speaking on the “New Heights” podcast, Kelce said, “I know the stadium’s two hours away from the hotel.

“That’ll be a unique experience driving to the game for two hours, the old college football way that we used to drive.

“We were dealt a hand, and we gotta play it.”

Despite the additional travel, the three-time Super Bowl winner believes that it will provide additional incentive to perform.

“It is what it is,” Kelce continued.

Justin Herbert delivers clear message of respect for Chiefs | A to Z Sports

Right before practice in São Paulo on Wednesday, Herbert admitted: The Chiefs are a great team who deserves tons of respect.“They’re a very good team. We’ve got so much respect for them as opponents,” Herbert said. “They’ve had so much success in the NFL for years, and it’s a great opportunity for us to go out there and test ourselves. We’ve put in a lot of good work in the offseason and through camp, so we’re just looking forward to going out there and having a great experience.”

To beat the best, the Chargers know they have to be at the top of their own game. Even then, especially after losing left tackle Rashawn Slater to a patellar tendon injury, it’s a hard proposition.

“We have to be at our best if we’re going to compete with them, and we know how good they are and how well they play,” Herbert added. “For us, it’s about having a great week of practice, which we’ve done so far, going out there and executing, and doing everything we can on Friday.”

What I’m seeing from the Chiefs: Patrick Mahomes going deep | The Athletic

Though K.C.’s offense did enough to help the team to a 15-1 start [in 2024], Mahomes continued a trend of throwing shorter passes overall, finishing the regular season with 6.3 air yards per attempt — ranking 25th out of 28 quarterbacks with at least 300 pass attempts, per TruMedia.

This continued a downward shift for Mahomes. His air yards per attempt, starting with his first season as a starter in 2018, have either decreased or remained steady every season of his career.

That trend will change this season. Count on it.

Mahomes isn’t just talking about getting the ball deeper downfield on pass attempts — he’s also having others hold him accountable since organized team activities began in May.

Chiefs offensive coordinator Matt Nagy said he and the QBs have come up with acronyms in the meeting room to remind Mahomes when he’s not testing defenses down the field enough. Though those short messages aren’t public yet (“I’ll leave that internal,” Nagy said Monday with a smile), they still reinforce just how much Mahomes is focused on rewiring his decision-making.

Nagy described it this way: If the Chiefs have a post pattern on a play and another route out to the flat, Mahomes’ goal is to stay true to his progression post-snap. He might not throw it to the deep route but must look there first before advancing to a potential checkdown.

There’s also been evidence that Mahomes is serious about this adjustment. He completed a 58-yard pass to Tyquan Thornton in the third preseason game against Chicago on the exact type of explosive play the Chiefs lacked last season.

NFL analyst makes shocking Chiefs prediction | Newsweek

Former New York Jets and Pittsburgh Steelers offensive guard Willie Colon said on Fox Sports 1’s “First Things First” that their run is ending.

“If we’re keeping it 100, this team was four points and a blocked field goal away from being 4-13 last season,” he said, adding, “they’re 11-0 in one-score games.”

Colon said he believes the Chiefs are having an “identity crisis” as they were previously “extremely dangerous” and “unpredictable” with “explosive plays.”

He said they were on another level with Patrick Mahomes and his “level of play,” but he just isn’t seeing that as much recently. Instead, he mentioned they seemed to get lucky more than anything else last season.

He also mentioned the team doesn’t currently have a top receiver due to various off-field issues with Rashee Rice. In addition, Colon said they rely too much on Mahomes these days to make things happen.

“On the field right now, it doesn’t look like the Chiefs that we grew to love and fear,” Colon said.

“We’re witnessing the end of an era. The Kansas City Chiefs are done,” he told his FS1 costars.

Why Your Team Sucks 2025: Kansas City Chiefs | Defector

The Kansas City Chiefs went 15-2 last year and made the Super Bowl. Do not let that distract you: They were f—-ing terrible. They were the luckiest team in the history of football. I am probably not exaggerating! Per the FTN Football Almanac, their overperformance in record relative to wins expected was the biggest since the merger.

But advanced stats cannot even capture just how unbelievably lucky the Chiefs were last season. Including playoffs, 12 of their 17 wins were by one score. They beat the Broncos on a blocked chip-shot field goal. They beat the Ravens because Isaiah Likely’s toe was out of bounds in the end zone. They would’ve lost to Tampa if the Bucs had just gone for a two-point conversion late in regulation. They doinked in a field goal to beat the Chargers.

Patrick Mahomes, his own decline accelerated by the team’s collapse around him, has been saved by an absolutely obvious, hilarious attempt by the league to prop him up. Give Mahomes credit: He is a tremendous flopper, a level of commitment to and excellence at the performance that I can only compare him to Rivaldo. The Chiefs could’ve lost to a shitty Houston team in the playoffs had Mahomes not drawn a ridiculous roughing the passer penalty. They could’ve lost to Buffalo in the playoffs had Dalton Kincaid remembered how to catch, or if Josh Allen had been a little better at selling quarterback sneaks. The refs would’ve given that spot to Mahomes, mind you.

Around the NFL

Roger Goodell teases Taylor Swift Super Bowl halftime show | NFL.com

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said during a Wednesday interview on NBC’s Today that Swift is “welcome” to perform the Super Bowl halftime show and teased that a show for next year’s game is “maybe” in the works.

“We would always love to have Taylor play,” Goodell said. “She is a special, special talent, and obviously she would be welcome at any time.”

The Apple Music Super Bowl LX Halftime Show is overseen by Jay-Z’s Roc Nation, and Goodell joked on Wednesday that he’s waiting on Jay-Z for an artist announcement.

“It’s in his hands,” Goodell said. “I’m waiting for the smoke to come out.”

Cowboys vs. Eagles: Three must-know storylines for 2025 NFL Kickoff Game | NFL.com

1. Micah’s gone, can Dallas hold on?

The Cowboys’ defense was already starting over in a way with the arrival of new coordinator Matt Eberflus. Following the trade of Parsons, it must restart again defensively. There are potential landmines everywhere for this unit. First it must contain Eagles star Saquon Barkley, who averaged 5.2 yards per carry against Dallas last season, with a rebuilt front seven that includes Kenny Clark. Then the Cowboys also have to slow down Super Bowl MVP Jalen Hurts as a runner and as a passer, with WRs A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith at his disposal, plus other good weapons. Dallas is thin in the secondary and must hope the pressure up front is good from the likes of rookie Donovan Ezeiruaku, Sam Williams and Dante Fowler. Schottenheimer can’t just worry about his offense this first game and might need to help Eberflus come up with defensive answers on Thursday.

Patriots’ Robert Kraft plans to have Bill Belichick statue | ESPN

“When that great 20-year era ended, it was always my intention to commission a statue for both Tommy and Bill when their respective careers were over, playing and coaching,” Kraft told WBZ-TV in an interview.

“When Bill’s coaching career ends, we look forward to sitting down with him and having a statue made to be right next to Tommy.”

Brady and Belichick helped the Patriots win six Super Bowl championships before Brady departed New England as a free agent after the 2019 season, and Belichick’s 24-year tenure as head coach ended after the 2023 season.

Kraft and Belichick announced their split on Jan. 11, 2024, while standing together at Gillette Stadium, but beneath the surface, there were strained relations that later came to the forefront.

Belichick was painted in an unflattering light in the Patriots documentary “The Dynasty.” Last week, in an interview with The Boston Globe prior to his coaching debut at the University of North Carolina, Belichick spoke of how it was easier there to create a shared vision and said, “There’s no owner, there’s no owner’s son.”

In case you missed it on Arrowhead Pride

Dave Toub: ‘We’ll see’ about potential field issues against Chargers in Brazil

“The team is excited about going,” said Toub. “I feel it with the players.”

But Toub isn’t sure he can share in it.

“I’m 63 now,” he noted, “so I’m not really excited [about] going 11 hours on a plane. But it is what it is.”

Both the Chiefs and Chargers will endure that trip before suiting up at Arena Corinthians, where field conditions became a major talking point in last year’s inaugural Brazil game between the Green Bay Packers and Philadelphia Eagles. The slippery surface caused problems for both teams, even forcing players to change cleats midway through the game.

While the league has assured both teams that conditions will be better, Toub is reserving judgment.

“[We’ll] take that for what it’s worth,” he said, “and we’ll see.”

Whatever they are, the team will have to deal with field conditions on the fly, since it will not have the opportunity to practice on the field. But that’s true for just about any road game, so Toub believes what they can learn in pre-game warmups will be enough.

“It’s going to be the same, I think, for both teams,” he reminded his listeners, “so there’s no advantage either way. It is what it is.”