Getty Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes II will be watching Monday Night Football in Week 17.
Editor’s note: This article was written prior to the Bills-Bengals game being postponed by the NFL due to a medical emergency suffered by Bills safety Damar Hamlin. Patrick Mahomes and Chiefs Kingdom also weighed in on the scary situation on social media.
Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes II wasn’t overly pleased with his personal performance in Week 17, but he can rest easy knowing that his team did enough to win another head-to-head over the Denver Broncos.
That puts KC in a great spot heading into a key Monday Night Football game between the Buffalo Bills and Cincinnati Bengals — who have become the Chiefs’ two biggest AFC rivals in recent years. A Cincy win would hand Kansas City the No. 1 seed, which comes with home field advantage and a first-round bye, with one week to play.
“Yeah, it’s going to keep me up past my bedtime,” Mahomes admitted jokingly to reporters when asked about the MNF matchup. “Going to end up starting at like eight o’clock.” The hilarious response channeled every football fan that’s ever had an early workday following a must-watch sporting event, but he did end up providing more of a football answer too.
Patrick Mahomes Viewing Bills-Bengals as Football Fan
“I just try not to be too invested in it,” Mahomes elaborated on the initial reply. “It’s going to be a great football game with two great teams [going at it].”
He continued: “Teams that you’re probably going to see in the playoffs — probably both or maybe one or the other. So, you just try to watch it as a fan like I always do. It’s great quarterbacks, great defenses, great players, and as a fan of the game I like watching great football teams go up against each other.”
If the Bengals do win, all the Chiefs would have to do to lock up that top AFC spot is beat the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 18. Las Vegas benched starting quarterback Derek Carr after Week 16, but backup Jarrett Stidham came close to upsetting the San Francisco 49ers this weekend.
As always, Kansas City will have to stay alert and motivated against a bitter division rival that will be doing everything in their power to spoil another Chiefs playoff run.
Patrick Mahomes Apologized to Marquez Valdes-Scantling After Broncos Win
The superstar QB made another admission after Week 17, although this one was much more serious.
“I mean, I went right up to him after the game and just told him I let him down today,” Mahomes stated bluntly, regarding wide receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling. “He had two touchdowns of over 50 yards that he should have had today, and I missed the throws.”
How’s that for accountability?
“One was short,” Mahomes pressed on, “I know there’s pressure but I can make that throw, and one was long so I have to be better. I’m telling him to continue to go and that’s the type of player he is — he’s going to continue to be out there and be a playmaker. I think you’ve seen in our big games this year, he’s been a guy that’s been extremely valuable to us, and I expect that to happen in the playoffs.”
Mahomes mostly blamed his missed throws on poor footwork and fundamentals. “When you’re playing a defense like this, whenever they give you opportunities you have to execute on them, and I didn’t today,” he concluded earlier.
Despite it being another up-and-down outing by Mahomes’ very high personal standards, the MVP favorite still threw for another 328 yards and three touchdowns (one interception) against a really strong secondary. ESPN credited him with a passer rating of 106.1.
Mahomes also joined Drew Brees as the only quarterback to throw for more than 5,000 yards and 40 touchdowns twice during their NFL career. The Chiefs superstar is still only 27 years of age.