Skip to main content

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes has given himself an impossible act to follow. No, we’re not talking about the fourth-year NFL player’s encore to his team’s Super Bowl 54 victory over the San Francisco 49ers.

When Mahomes steps onto the Arrowhead Stadium field to play the Houston Texans and open the 2020 NFL regular season, he will put an uncanny streak of September success on the line.

The Kansas City Chiefs expect big things from Patrick Mahomes  

Lamar Jackson and Deshaun Watson have proven themselves to be outstanding early in the pro careers, but neither is the new face of the NFL. That honor belongs to Patrick Mahomes, the exciting and highly successful quarterback of the Kansas City Chiefs. A week short of his 25th birthday, Mahomes is already 24-7 as a starter and possesses a Super Bowl ring.

Recognizing what they have, Andy Reid and the Chiefs moved quickly to keep their star despite having the leverage of excising their fifth-year option to buy more time. Kansas City signed Mahomes to a 10-year extension that guarantees him nearly $141.5 million and values his next 12 years at just over half a billion dollars.

All in all, that’s pretty sweet for the No. 10 overall pick from the 2017 NFL draft. The record-setting deal put a bow on the Super Bowl season, during which Mahomes threw for 4,031 yards and 26 touchdowns in the regular season. His totals for the playoffs were 901 yards and another 10 touchdowns.

Patrick Mahomes’ September statistics are completely nuts

Reggie Jackson earned the label “Mr. October” for his clutch postseason work, including 18 home runs and 48 RBIs in 77 postseason games. If Jackson finished strong, then Patrick Mahomes deserves the Mr. September label for consistent phenomenal work kicking off the past two seasons.

Mahomes’ numbers in seven career starts in September absolutely explode off the page: a 7-0 record and a 129.4 passer rating. Here’s how the rest of the September numbers look:

Year Comp. Att. Yards TDs Ints
2018 62 93 896 13 0
2019 106 156 1,510 10 0
Totals 168 249 2,406 23 0

Yes, 23 touchdown passes and no interceptions.

His quarterback rating for individual games dropped below 115.5 just once, and Mahomes took only one sack per game. The average score of the seven victories was 36-26, making for some very entertaining football.

Kansas City kicks off its season vs. the Houston Texans

As opening games go, the Kansas City Chiefs vs. the Houston Texans figures to be a good one. The Chiefs, of course, are coming off the Super Bowl 54 victory.

The Texans feature Deshaun Watson, whose 3,852 passing yards and 26 touchdowns just earned him a four-year contract extension worth $160 million. Favorite target DeAndre Hopkins went to the Arizona Cardinals in a trade, so there will suddenly be more interest in how the running game fares.

Duke Johnson only ran for 410 yards in 2019 but he did so at 4.9 yards per carry. He also caught 44 passes in his first season with the Texans. Meanwhile, David Johnson is making his Texans debut after rushing for just 345 yards for Arizona last season. As the player acquired in return for Hopkins, he’ll feel the heat quickly if he can’t return to his 2016 form, when Johnson was first-team All-Pro.

Aside from Patrick Mahomes, the Chiefs have an assortment of threats that includes tight end Travis Kelce and receivers Sammy Watkins and Tyreek Hill. Chiefs fans – only about 17,000 will be there in person due to the pandemic restrictions – will be getting their first look at running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire, selected in the first round.

All stats courtesy of Pro Football Reference.

Best in NFL
Avatar photo
Staff Writer, Producer - Motorsports

John Moriello

John Moriello started covering sports in 1982, began digital publishing in 1995, and joined Sportscasting in 2020. A graduate of St. John Fisher University, he finds inspiration in the underdogs and the fascinating stories sports can tell (both the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat). John expertly covers all aspects of NASCAR.

Beginning with his 2014 coverage at Fox Sports of the aftermath of the dirt-race tragedy in which Kevin Ward Jr. died after being struck by a car driven by NASCAR Hall of Famer Tony Stewart, John has excelled as a journalist who specializes in the motorsports world. He previously spent more than three decades covering high school sports and worked as a beat writer covering Big East football and basketball, but NASCAR is now where the true expertise falls.

John is a member of the New York State Basketball Hall of Fame (2013), the President of the New York State Sportswriters Association, and a two-time Best of Gannett winner for print and online collaborations whose work has appeared on FoxSports.com and MaxPreps.com.