- [Narrator] It's December 30, 2018.
We're at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri.
The playoff-bound Kansas City Chiefs
lead a bad Oakland Raiders team 21-3
in a sleepy regular season finale.
But this year,
Quarterback Patrick Mahomes has made everything
about Kansas City appointment viewing,
even when they're holding an 18-point lead
against a 4-11 team.
Mahomes turned KC into the center of the football universe
in astonishingly little time.
To appreciate what we've seen,
and what we're about to, we need to rewind.
(dark tranquil music)
We've reached a point in the 2018 season
where anytime Patrick Mahomes drops back to pass,
as he's doing right now,
he's on the verge of making history.
And that would've felt absurd
for both this quarterback and this franchise
just a few years ago.
As a three-sport athlete growing up in Texas,
Mahomes was considered a good,
but not great, football prospect.
He was rated as a three-star, dual threat quarterback
by college recruiting services,
which was fine, but that's about it.
He certainly wasn't showing up
on any top 10 list as a prospect.
Mahomes's dad Pat was a former Major League pitcher
and Patrick could have easily followed in his footsteps.
He was a highly rated MLB prospect,
but drafted way late in the 37th round by the Detroit Tigers
because he'd already committed to playing college football.
Mahomes signed with Texas Tech,
one of only two Power Five programs
to even offer him a scholarship.
At Tech, Mahomes immediately thrived
in Kliff Kingsbury's Air Raid offense,
setting a Big 12 record
for freshman passing yards in a single game with 598,
and a loss, which would become a theme.
Mahomes was the starter in his sophomore year
and continued to post huge numbers,
but the Red Raiders finished a forgettable 7-6.
By the end of his junior year,
Mahomes led the nation in a slew of stats,
but Tech lost three of its final four games
and failed to make a bowl.
Mahomes' talent was obvious,
but so too was the fact
that Texas Tech couldn't build a stage big enough
to showcase it.
Mahomes left Lubbock for the 2017 NFL Draft
labeled as "impatient", "inconsistent",
and "too eager to go big game hunting".
Even in his superlatives,
he was damned with faint praise as only Draft media can.
But that narrative died down
as Mahomes' workout and meetings accelerated his stock
to a projected first three and then a first round status.
He also tied a combine record
for the fastest pass ever thrown,
clocking in at 60 miles an hour.
Still, he was considered a lesser prospect
than Clemson's Deshaun Watson
and scouts were convinced he was no Mitch Trubisky.
But Mahomes had fans in the right places,
specifically Chiefs General Manager, Brett Veach.
When Veach was still a scout for Kansas City,
he fell in love with Mahomes as a freshman at Texas Tech,
raving to Chiefs coaches and executives
about "the best he'd ever seen".
Veach stayed persistent over three years
and GM John Dorsey orchestrated a trade with Buffalo
for the Chiefs to move up
from 27th to 10th in the first round,
specifically to grab Mahomes,
the second quarterback taken overall behind Trubisky.
Simply by being drafted, Mahomes made Chiefs history
as the first first round quarterback
for the organization since 1983,
but his draft grades were mixed.
Critics say he had inconsistent accuracy
due to poor mechanics,
a tendency to bail from clean pockets,
and a lack of field vision
and that "he's going to leave as many plays on the field
as he creates".
And as a quarterback,
Mahomes was considered an unnecessary addition
for a title contender looking for a championship edge
because the Chiefs already had a pretty good QB
leading them to the playoffs,
thanks in large part to a really good head coach.
(tape spool rewinds)
As Mahomes drops back to pass here,
you can safely assume no one in Arrowhead is thinking
about their old quarterback right now.
That's because of the transition orchestrated by Andy Reid.
(tape spool rewinds)
The early years of the Reid era in Kansas City benefited
both the veteran head coach and the franchise looking
for its first World Championships since 1969.
Under Reid, KC posted five consecutive winning seasons
and four playoff appearances,
thanks in large part to journeyman Quarterback Alex Smith.
When Reid and Dorsey were hired in 2013,
the Chiefs flushed a roster
that went 2-14 the previous season
and finished in last place in the AFC West
for the previous five seasons.
To compliment veteran pieces
like Eric Berry and Derrick Johnson,
Reid and Dorsey drafted a slate of future Pro Bowlers,
Tight End Travis Kelce and Tackle Eric Fisher in 2013,
Linebacker Dee Ford in 2014,
and Receiver Tyreek Hill in 2016.
But most importantly, Reid and Dorsey built the first era
of this Chiefs renaissance by trading for Smith in 2013.
The former 49ers Quarterback had lost his starting job
to Collin Kaepernick in San Francisco,
but saw a career resurgence with Reid
and the Chiefs won 43 games in four seasons.
For a franchise that had always rented
but never bought at the game's most important position,
Smith was a gem of a find
from the NFL's scratch-and-dent pile of QBs.
But Kansas City wouldn't feel the need to gamble a trade up
in the first round on that raw talent
from a mediocre college program without a reason,
and that reason started to show up in January.
As the Chief's starter, Smith was efficient,
but Kansas City had failed to advance
past the divisional round.
And for all those games that the veteran won for the Chiefs,
he likely lost his job in just one.
In the 2016-2017 playoffs,
Kansas City had the number two seat in the AFC,
but crapped out on offense against Pittsburgh,
despite holding the Steelers to just 18 points.
If you're looking for a microcosm
of the Chiefs' decision to chase Mahomes,
it's this wide open potential pass from Smith to Hill.
Instead of a surefire touchdown and likely a playoff win,
Smith made the wrong read and scrambled.
Everything you do in the playoffs
either burdens or bolsters your reputation,
and Smith was trending in the wrong direction.
Still, Smith was a veteran with a winning record
and KC didn't plan on just dumping their rookie
into the line of fire.
Entering the 2017 season,
Smith was still the starting quarterback
and Mahomes held the clipboard.
The result was Smith's best season of his entire career.
And once the Chiefs locked up the fourth seed
in the AFC playoffs, Mahomes started
a seemingly meaningless game against Denver,
throwing for 284 yards and one interception
in a three-point win.
But while Smith
and the other assistant coaches spent that week
preparing for the playoffs, Reid used the Week 17 game
to test Mahomes's preparedness and off-field study habits
and left raving about his young QB's demeanor.
Then the Alex Smith Chiefs repeated history,
losing in the Wild Card by a single point
after blowing a 21-3 lead over Tennessee.
Smith actually posted a decent stat line in the loss,
but Reid and Veach pulled the trigger,
trading away their starter in the offseason to Washington.
The Chiefs dealt a reliable veteran
at the highest value of his career,
but Smith was also a 33-year-old QB
with only one playoff win in KC.
Even with an incredibly limited sample size
of live game action,
Mahomes was no longer just the future of the franchise.
He was the present
and his learning curve would have to accelerate
to match the immediate title expectations
of a franchise in win-now mode.
Unlike most young NFL quarterbacks,
Mahomes wasn't steadily developed and built around
with future acquisitions as the franchise progressed.
He was meant to be the finishing centerpiece
to a complete title contender.
The Chiefs already had a Tyreek Hill and a Kareem Hunt
and a Travis Kelce and a defense usually capable
of playing deeper into January,
provided they had a lead to work with.
Predictions for the 2018 Chiefs centered solely
on guessing at Mahomes's performance,
and the takes varied from turnkey
to potential superstar to bust.
For his part, Mahomes acknowledged those expectations
of immediate success,
telling the local media the only goal for 2018
was to reach the Super Bowl.
(tape spool rewinds)
So at this point against a bad Raiders team,
any pass Mahomes throws can go for a touchdown
and the next time that happens, it's history.
He's already set one record tonight
on a 67-yard touchdown pass to Hill.
That scoring drive broke the Chiefs' team record
for most completions in a season,
in addition to being passing touchdown 49 for Mahomes.
Mahomes would be the third QB in NFL history
to throw 50 touchdown passes in a single season
behind Tom Brady, who threw 50 in 2007 in his eighth year,
and Peyton Manning, who threw 55 in 2013,
which was his 15th season in the league.
Look, if you're on the cusp of 50 touchdown passes
in your first year as a starter
and only your second as a professional,
there's been no long path to success.
There's no learning curve or hard knocks in this story.
It might make for a better one if there was,
but the truth is that Patrick Mahomes, starting Quarterback,
arrived to the NFL like a shotgun blast.
(tape spool rewinds)
Behind the scenes in KC,
the Alex Smith era had been a little too beneficial
for the Chiefs,
as they lost Offensive Coordinators Doug Pederson
and Matt Nagy to head coaching jobs
over the course of three seasons.
Mahomes' new play caller would be Eric Bieniemy,
a long time running backs coach
and former Offensive Coordinator
at the University of Colorado in 2011 and 2012,
where the Buffaloes finished a 109th
and 120th in the nation in scoring.
Bieniemy might not have created any excitement publicly,
but behind the scenes,
he and Reid would overhaul the Chiefs offense
to not only account for Mahomes's mobility,
but bake their new QB's skillset
of speed and deep shot passing ability on the run
right into the Kansas City playbook.
The results were instantaneous.
The first of Mahomes's 49 touchdown passes to this point
came in week one versus the Chargers,
a 58-yarder to Hill in the first quarter
and one of four on the day.
By the end of his first game as a starter,
Mahomes had justified
not only the organization's move to draft him,
but to trade their successful veteran too.
But hey, one regular season game
does not a legacy make, right?
Well, a week later,
Mahomes threw six touchdowns against Pittsburgh,
breaking the NFL record for most TD passes
by a QB in their first three games.
He also earned AFC Player the Month honors
for his first four weeks
after he made this ridiculous impromptu left-handed pass
on the run to keep a fourth quarter drive alive
against the Broncos.
By the way, uh, Mahomes is right-handed
and you're just not supposed to be able to do that
in football period, let alone the NFL,
let alone in your first season as an NFL starter.
The Chiefs weren't perfect throughout the year,
but their now-bonafide superstar still shined
even in losses.
Mahomes threw two interceptions
in KC's first loss of the season in New England,
but also finished with 352 yards of passing
and four touchdowns.
Their next loss wouldn't come until week 11,
in which the Rams won 54-51,
but Mahomes threw for another six touchdowns and 478 yards,
the most of any NFL QB in a game this season.
In fact, in the Chiefs' four losses of the season,
Mahomes threw 15 touchdown passes.
For comparison, the 2016 Chiefs threw 19 touchdown passes
the entire season.
So while Kansas City isn't undefeated
since Mahomes took over,
they've only lost four games, all by one score or less,
all to playoff contenders,
and in none of them did the offense sputter
like the postseason ghosts of the years past.
(tape spool rewinds)
Mahomes' next touchdown pass will hit 50,
but did you notice the line of scrimmage?
The Chiefs are on their own 11 yard line.
That's not anyone's definition of striking distance
in a single play,
except that Mahomes has five touchdown passes
of 50 or more yards this season,
tied for the most in the NFL.
He's also on the cusp of 5,000 yards in a season,
which would be only the second time
in NFL history, after Peyton Manning,
a quarterback has thrown for 50 touchdowns
and 5,000 yards in one season.
But honestly, the records at stake aren't the point.
The Mahomes Kansas City Chiefs
are the premiere offensive machine in the NFL
and subsequently they're must-see TV.
Nationally, Mahomes has become a superstar in a second.
Locally, the Chiefs have been waiting lifetimes
for their own superhero.
In only 10 games, Mahomes set the Chiefs record
for passing touchdowns in a season with 31,
which is more time than it took
for a franchise founded 59 years ago
to fall in love with a superstar who was truly their own.
Former Chiefs Quarterbacks like Smith, Joe Montana,
Trent Green, and even Len Dawson all came
from somewhere else at the middle or end of their careers.
The confidence Kansas City had in an unproven prospect
has been more than validated,
but that's what made Mahomes's debut different
than just an explosion of stats.
By consistently putting up numbers
and creating magic highlights in the process,
he redefined what was thought possible
of quarterback play in the modern pro game in one season.
So welcome to a moment in history.
- [Announcer] Third and 10.
Mahomes, straight drive.
Stepping up and throwing long!
There's a man down field and he's got it!
Demarcus Robinson!
(crowd cheers)
Backs his way into the end zone for the touchdown.
(electric organ chord)
- [Narrator] All right, thanks for watching.
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