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KANSAS CITY, Mo. — It’s so simple to get caught up within the sizzle of Patrick Mahomes. This was on show once more Sunday night time in the course of the AFC title tilt at Arrowhead Stadium that was basically a high-stakes rebound recreation for the Chiefs quarterback, per week after he left the identical discipline dazed by a concussion.
Mahomes threw for 325 yards and three TDs. He scrambled out of hazard, threw dimes on the run. He regarded cool and composed within the course of.
Similar ol’ Mahomes, even with the double dose of fear as a result of the concussion was accompanied by a turf toe harm.
“I really feel like I used to be myself on the market,” Mahomes maintained after the 38-24 victory against the Bills.
If Mahomes says he’s good, who can argue? He’s sparked Kansas Metropolis to a visit to Tremendous Bowl 55 with an opportunity to change into the NFL’s first repeat champion since the 2004 season.
Apart from, we noticed some sizzle for ourselves as he shredded the Payments’ protection.But for all the spotlight moments that Mahomes added to his in depth assortment, they have been raving about the grit within the aftermath of yet one more huge victory.
Chiefs coach Andy Reid appeared a bit amazed on the enchancment with Mahomes’ injured toe. He nonetheless had the imaginative and prescient of the toe from per week earlier imprinted on his mind Sunday night time, as he praised the quarterback and coaching employees.
“That was an amazing-looking factor, black-and-blue,” Reid remembered. He was additionally completely satisfied to report that by the subsequent day, final Monday, the swelling had subsided and the colour was returning to regular. Ah, the advantages of fashionable medication.
The quick therapeutic would possibly have been an omen. Even with the toe presumably at lower than 100%, Mahomes nonetheless functioned at his ultra-high stage, with the Chiefs considerably scaling again the read-option performs and sprint-out passes. The toe was ok.
Add the toe to a laundry record of accidents the quarterback has endured throughout his 4 NFL seasons. Chiefs GM Brett Veach took a second on Sunday night time to recall a number of of the setbacks as proof of why he didn’t fear that Mahomes can be as much as snuff with a visit to the Tremendous Bowl at stake. There have been the shoulder and ankle accidents and in 2019, the knee harm that knocked him out for a number of weeks.
Let Veach inform you about Mahomes’ toughness.
“Shoot, the man got here again (in 2019) from a dislocated kneecap and two days later, he was within the pool doing dips,” Veach stated.
Little doubt, there may be a lot grit behind the sizzle.
Nonetheless, Mahomes was restricted in practices final week and wasn’t cleared from concussion protocol till Friday after partaking within the step-by-step analysis course of. Many will need to have questioned: If Mahomes wasn’t himself, would the Chiefs’ probabilities for a repeat crown go up in smoke?
Turns out that was fairly the stretch. When somebody requested Tyrann Mathieu if there was a second throughout the week when he knew Mahomes can be his regular self, the Chiefs security chuckled.
“I knew after the final recreation,” Mathieu maintained, recalling the aftermath of the divisional playoff win towards the Browns, when backup quarterback Chad Henne got here off the bench to assist safe the win. “He was within the locker room. He had that look in his eye, like, ‘Don’t neglect about me.’ “
Apart from, Mathieu knew there was one other issue that sums up Mahomes. “He’s a gamer,” Mathieu stated.
Travis Kelce, the all-pro tight finish, was by no means anxious. Like Mathieu, Kelce drew on his observations from the earlier recreation. Kelce remembered how excited Mahomes was after the victory towards Cleveland and believed it was a good indication that he would get well from the pinnacle harm.
“I knew he needed to go by way of the protocols, however he by no means appeared like he wasn’t himself,” Kelce stated.
That prolonged to Sunday night time, as the identical ol’ Mahomes has taken the Chiefs to the identical ol’ place — one Tremendous Bowl victory from the highest of the NFL mountain.
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