Kansas City Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes Set For Another Duel With Baker Mayfield

The Texas gunslingers engaged in a shootout for the ages after they final confronted off in school.

The 2 quarterbacks mixed for 1,708 yards of offense when Oklahoma defeated Texas Tech on Oct. 22, 2016. 

“He obtained the higher of me in school,” Patrick Mahomes stated.

Mahomes’ Texas Tech squad misplaced to Baker Mayfield’s Oklahoma group, 66-59, despite the fact that the longer term Kansas Metropolis Chiefs quarterback accomplished 52-of-88 passes for 734 yards and 5 touchdowns. (Sure, you learn these eye-popping numbers accurately.) 

Mayfield, who grew up in Austin, Texas, countered with 27-of-36 passes for 545 yards and 7 touchdowns to win the epic contest.

Count on one other high-scoring affair when Mayfield’s Cleveland Browns go to Tyler, Texas native Mahomes and the Chiefs on Sunday.

The Browns simply put up 48 factors of their wild-card win towards the Pittsburgh Steelers, one of many NFL’s higher defenses, and have a formidable two-headed operating recreation with Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt that would expose the Chiefs run protection, one of many group’s few weaknesses.

On the opposite aspect of the ledger, the Chiefs completed the common season with the No. 1 offense within the NFL, and the Browns allowed Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger to finish a playoff-record 47 passes for 501 yards on Sunday. 

So there might be loads of offensive fireworks within the divisional playoff recreation, and far of the main focus might be on these orchestrating it — Mahomes and Mayfield, who grew up 200 miles aside and have identified one another since they had been seniors in highschool.

“It’s cool to get to play towards him in such an enormous recreation,” Mahomes stated. “This stage goes to be particular.”

The 2 quarterbacks, who additionally seem in humorous tv adverts for differing insurance coverage corporations — State Farm for Mahomes, Progressive

PGR
for Mayfield — have met one different time within the NFL. In the course of the 2018 season, the Chiefs defeated the Browns 37-21.

Mahomes accomplished 23-of-32 passes for 375 yards, three touchdowns and an interception whereas besting Mayfield, who threw for 297 yards, two touchdowns and an interception.

Already an MVP and Tremendous Bowl MVP, Mahomes, the tenth total decide within the 2017 NFL Draft, clearly has had the superior profession to Mayfield, the highest decide within the 2018 NFL Draft.

And that’s mirrored in Mahomes’ unprecedented contract, wherein he might earn half a billion {dollars}. Mayfield is within the third yr of his four-year, $32.6 million rookie deal.

Earlier this season there have been questions whether or not the Browns would re-sign Mayfield after his contract expires, however he has performed higher down the stretch, throwing only one interception whereas Cleveland gained seven of its final 9 video games.

Chiefs head coach Andy Reid famous that Mayfield’s maturation is especially spectacular, contemplating he’s enjoying for his third head coach in as a few years.

“He’s actually fallen in love with this scheme and mastered it,” Reid stated. “That’s not simple for lots of those quarterbacks. A whole lot of guys get misplaced in that, and it seems to be like he’s actually powered by it and accomplished a pleasant job.”

Whereas Mayfield accomplished 21-of-34 passes for 263 yards, three touchdowns and nil interceptions towards the Steelers, his counterpart, Mahomes, spent the bye week figuring out and specializing in his footwork. He additionally diligently watched 4 or 5 video games of each potential group the Chiefs might face this weekend, together with the Browns, and took notes on how offenses attacked these defenses.

That superior examine can solely assist Mahomes within the matchup between two 25-year-old quarterbacks, whose pleasant rivalry dates again to their Massive 12 Convention days.

“It’s nice for the sport,” Reid stated. “I adore it. It’s nice competitors.”