The 2022 offseason involved some major changes to the Kansas City Chiefs offense as wide receiver Tyreek Hill was traded to the Miami Dolphins for a package of draft picks. It was a huge trade, one that many people thought would lead to the Chiefs’ offense slowing down a bit during the season. That is the complete opposite of what has happened.
While Hill was an integral part of their success in recent seasons, the player who made the offense hum was quarterback Patrick Mahomes. He is still under center for the team and as long as he is starting, they are going to put up stats.
The work that head coach Andy Ried and offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy have done remaking the game plan has been very impressive. Replacing a player of Hill’s caliber is not an easy task, but Kansas City is making it look like one as their passing offense has not missed a beat.
Having an all-world tight end such as Travis Kelce in the mix certainly helps as he is showcasing once again why he will be a first-ballot Hall of Famer. A good mix of wide receivers with different skill sets in JuJu Smith-Schuster, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Mecole Hardman, Skyy Moore, Justin Watson and Kadarius Toney fill in behind Kelce for a multi-faceted, diverse aerial attack.
This season for the Chiefs, Mahomes has continued racking up stats at a historic pace. Just how impressive has it been? This past Sunday against the Los Angeles Chargers threw for 329 yards, the fifth consecutive game he has surpassed the 300-yard mark and the sixth time this season.
That tied the record set by Dan Marino for the most 300-yard passing games in the first seven seasons of a career with 37. The next closest person on the list is Andrew Luck, who had 33 during his seven-year career with the Indianapolis Colts. But, the speed with which Mahomes has caught Marino is truly jaw-dropping.
Marino had his 37th 300-yard passing game in the 101st start of his career. Mahomes only made one start as a rookie and is only in his sixth season, reaching the 37-game mark in only his 73rd. It is only a matter of time before he breaks Marino’s record and he could really put some distance between the two.
Mahomes has 24 more games if he doesn’t sit out any in the regular season before his seventh season will be concluded. In his career, Mahomes has surpassed the 300-yard mark in just over half of his starts. Based on that, he will likely have 12 more 300-yard games between now and the end of the 2023 regular season.
That record will almost certainly be shattered and it is far from the only one that Mahomes will set. If he keeps up the pace that he has been on thus far in his career, the passing record book will have a lot of numbers re-written by Mahomes when it is all said and done.
