1. Patrick Mahomes had his moment on Monday night. After struggling through an unproductive first half during which he averaged just 4.3 yards per pass attempt, Mahomes (304 yards, TD) rebounded with confident abandon. With the Chiefs down by 10 points in the fourth quarter, the second-year gunslinger led two touchdown drives, showing off the remarkable out-of-pocket accuracy and ball speed that earned him the starting gig in Kansas City and early-season MVP chatter. After the Broncos went three-and-out with 4:35 to go, Mahomes marched K.C. down the field in eight plays, converting two third downs and bouncing back from second-and-30 at one point, to take a four-point lead over Denver with just under two minutes to go.
Case Keenum took Denver into Chiefs territory quickly, thanks to a 36-yard heave to tight end Jeff Heuerman. But the Broncos quarterback followed that up with four straight incompletions from the Chiefs' 28-yard line, including one misfire toward the end zone in the direction of a wide-open Demaryius Thomas. Game over. Point, young gun.
1b. Mahomes' night can't be summed up in numbers or metrics, but this stat from the ESPN broadcast comes pretty damn close. The Chiefs quarterback threw for 192 yards outside of the pocket on Monday night, the most by any quarterback in the past decade. The Brett Favre comparisons are easy to make, especially when Mahomes is completing passes ambidextrously and launching rifles off balance at obtuse angles like the former Packers legend. But it's hard not to make them. The only difference? Mahomes doesn't turn the ball over. Through four games, he has a 14:0 TD-to-INT ratio. Mahomes is pacing the MVP race ahead of Jared Goff and Khalil Mack -- and the gap's not small.