The Kansas City Chiefs will soon play their first road game of the season in Atlanta against the Falcons on Sunday night. Before the season, the Chiefs and Falcons were odds-on favorites to win their respective divisions. This should be a fantastic matchup.
The Chiefs have started the season 2-0 with wins over the Baltimore Ravens and Cincinnati Bengals, while the Falcons are 1-1 with a home loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers and a road win against the Philadelphia Eagles.
The victory for the Falcons on Monday marked a rare and impressive prime-time comeback win by quarterback Kirk Cousins, who has been plagued by the narrative that he can’t win big games. He isn’t quite as bad in those situations as many would lead you to believe, now having a 13-20 record in them. Meanwhile, Patrick Mahomes is known for stepping up and playing his best when the lights are the brightest.
Mahomes has a record of 11-0 when playing in true dome games, throwing for 3,327 yards with 26 touchdowns to only two interceptions. It’s incredible to see the dominance in numbers throughout the first part of his career. He hasn’t played a regular-season game in Atlanta but when playing in a preseason one against the Falcons in 2018, he threw one of the best deep passes I’ve ever seen that ended in a touchdown. Xavier Worthy better get those hamstrings stretched out and be prepared for an opportunity on Sunday night.
Atlanta has surely been following these stats and Mahomes’s success as well, as they’re opening the roof for Week 3’s game. Will this change the outcome? Not likely, but good try Falcons.
Mahomes has generally dominated NFC opponents as well. In his first year as a starter, he was 2-2 against the NFC and then from 2019-2022, he went 16-0. Last season seems to be an outlier, as Mahomes went 2-3 against the NFC but overall, he has a 20-5 interconference record. That doesn’t include a 3-1 record in Super Bowls. While the past doesn’t always predict the future, the Chiefs should still be set up for success in a big game.
Something else to keep an eye on this week: Mahomes has a chance to make some NFL history. This weekend will mark the 99th start of his career, and he is tied with Tom Brady and Roger Staubach for the most wins by a quarterback in that span with 76. If Mahomes can get to 12-0 all-time in dome games, he will stand alone with the most wins through 99 career starts.
Along with that record, Mahomes could set another one on Sunday if he can throw just one touchdown pass. He’s currently tied with Aaron Rodgers for most touchdowns through 99 games with 222. It seems to be a matter of who will catch the record-breaking pass, not whether it will happen.
Will the aforementioned Worthy get a deep ball from Mahomes on the first drive to get it out of the way early? Maybe it will be the consistent Rashee Rice who catches the lucky pass. Travis Kelce is certainly due for a touchdown and has had a constant connection with Mahomes over his first several seasons in the league. With Isiah Pacheco out, perhaps it will be Carson Steele or Samaje Perine, who will both be in for an expanded workload. Of course, there’s always an outside chance we see another big man touchdown like Wanya Morris had last weekend.
At the end of the day, Mahomes has signaled that he doesn’t care too much about personal accolades. Hitting these marks would be satisfying, but the win record would likely mean the most to him. Winning championships is the most important thing to Mahomes, and getting as many regular-season victories as possible will set him and his team up for the best chance to have that opportunity. With a 3-0 start to the year hanging in the balance, coming out on top is all that matters.
