Patrick Mahomes Kept a Truly Unbelievable Streak Alive in Comeback Win Against the Browns That Shows Exactly Why He’s Such a Winner
Patrick Mahomes led the Kansas City Chiefs to a stunning fourth-quarter comeback against the Cleveland Browns in Week 1 of the 2021 NFL season. The win was impressive on its own. However, the former NFL MVP also set some impressive records and kept an astonishing streak alive while doing it.
The Kansas City Chiefs stunned the Cleveland Browns with a late-game comeback in Week 1
Things looked bleak for the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 1 of the 2021 season. The upstart Cleveland Browns, a team looking for revenge after Mahomes and company knocked them out of the playoffs last season, jumped out to a quick start during the teams’ opening game matchup.
The home team went into the Arrowhead locker rooms down 22-10 at the half.
With just over 10 minutes left in the game, Mahomes connected on a stunning 75-yard touchdown pass to Tyreek Hill to make the score 29-27. Then, the Chiefs special teams took down the Browns’ punter inside the 20 after a bobbled snap, and Mahomes found Travis Kelce for a game-winning touchdown shortly after that.
The win dramatically kicked off what seems to be shaping up as another incredible Mahomes/Chiefs season.
What’s more impressive than the win, though, is that the Kelce touchdown with 7:04 left in the fourth quarter preserved an unfathomable streak. It’s something that Mahomes has been putting together since the beginning of his NFL career.
The win kept Patrick Mahomes incredible lead streak alive
Patrick Mahomes took over from Alex Smith as the Chiefs starter during the final game of 2017. Since that day, the QB has an incredible 39-8 regular-season record and is 6-2 in the postseason.
That record in and of itself is impressive. However, when you look at how those games shook out, it’s even more remarkable. That’s because Mahomes has had a lead in every NFL game he’s ever started.
As wild as that sounds, it’s true. Mahomes’ Chiefs have had a lead at some point in 55-straight football games.
Think about that.
Obviously, Mahomes had led in every game the Chiefs have won with him at QB. But, in the (only!) 10 games the Texas Tech product has lost in his career, the team had the lead at least once in each game.
Most of Mahomes’ losses have come in games of the back-and-forth shootout variety. His first playoff loss was 37-31 to the New England Patriots, where the Chiefs led 21-17 and 28-24.
In 2018, his first full season as a starter, the Chiefs’ four losses were by a total of 14 points. A year later, Mahomes lost three games by a total of 16 points during his 14 starts.
Last season, KC only dropped one game with Mahomes under center (the team did lose in Week 16, but Mahomes didn’t play). That was a 40-32 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders. The Chiefs had the lead until 2:38 left in the first half but were never able to regain it.
In his worst defeat, an 31-9 blowout in last year’s Super Bowl against Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Chiefs went up 3-0 on a Harrison Butker field goal before the Bucs game roaring back, scoring 31 of the next 37 points.
Mahomes continues to set records one game into the 2021 season
As impressive as Patrick Mahomes’ history of having the lead is, it’s not the only record he put up on Sunday.
In just his 47th game under center, Mahomes broke the record for the most passing yards by an NFL quarterback in their first 50 starts (14,372 yards). The then-St. Louis Rams’ Kurt Warner previously held the record.
He also threw his 117th career touchdown pass on that last score to Kelce. That puts him one ahead of Miami Dolphins legend Dan Marino who threw 116 in his first 50 games.
Mahomes has two more games in the month of September and three before he hits the 50-game mark in his career. He’s currently 11-0 in his September starts, so there’s a good chance his lead streak continues as he pads his 50-game records as well.
The next time the lead streak is on the line is in Week 2 on Sunday Night Football against the Baltimore Ravens.
All stats courtesy of Pro Football Reference
