Reigning NFL and Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes was seemingly missing star tight end Travis Kelce in the first half of the Kansas City Chiefs’ opener against the Detroit Lions Thursday night.
With just over a minute remaining in the first quarter, Mahomes had put up just 83 passing yards. At least from a statistical standpoint, Lions quarterback Jared Goff was outplaying him.
That’s when Mahomes opted to bring out his cape and go full Superman to give the Chiefs a 14-7 lead heading into halftime.
Facing a 3rd-and-17 from their own 36-yard line after a hold on guard Trey Smith, Mahomes completed three consecutive passes in epic fashion to lead the Chiefs down the field in the beat of a heart.
It started with the game’s best quarterback hitting Marquez Valdes-Scantling on a 34-yard pass with Detroit’s defense all sort of confused by Kansas City’s pre-snap motions.
On the very next play, Mahomes nailed Justin Watson 26 yards down the field.
Like clockwork, third-string tight end Blake Bell would be on the receiving end of a four-yard touchdown pass from Mahomes to give the Chiefs the lead.
Three plays. Sixty-four yards. A touchdown.
There are very few quarterbacks in modern NFL history who could do what we saw from Patrick Mahomes to conclude the first half of Thursday night’s game.
Mahomes ended up completing 12-of-17 passes for 147 yards with two touchdowns and zero interceptions in the first half. For his part, Goff completed 14-of-22 passes for 135 yards with at touchdown of his own.