Getty Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes II against the Houston Texans in 2022.
The Kansas City Chiefs had another scare in Week 15 after the Houston Texans took them into overtime.
Although the Chiefs did come out on top — forcing a turnover when it mattered most — it was another ugly victory for Kansas City against a one-win Texans franchise. At the same time, the outcome clinched the AFC West for KC and quarterback Patrick Mahomes II revealed his message to his teammates after the bittersweet win.
Patrick Mahomes’ Message to Chiefs After Texans Victory
During his Week 15 postgame press conference, Mahomes was much more positive than he was after his three-interception performance the week before.
“Obviously, we know we have a lot to work on [as a team] — to clean up at least with the turnovers and the penalties,” Mahomes told reporters, “but you have to celebrate — I mean, we still won the AFC West, and you have to enjoy that. I told the guys to do that, enjoy it for like the plane ride home and tonight, but we got a short week this next week so enjoy it and we’ll get right back to it.”
Mahomes explained later that the Chiefs first goal as a team was to win the division, and the fact that they were able to accomplish that at this point in the season is something to be proud of.
“When we start every single season, the first thing that we get told when we first walk in is let’s win the AFC West,” the team leader informed. “That’s our first goal, to come in and win the AFC West. We believe it’s always a tough division and obviously with the players they got in the offseason, it was even tougher. We accomplished our first goal.”
The Cardiac Chiefs have returned. Yet still, seven straight division titles.
It is Kansas City’s seventh straight division title. Let that sink in.
Mahomes also noted that the next goal after that is to “establish homefield advantage,” adding that although that’s out of their control, the Chiefs can do their best to “be ready in case [they] get that opportunity.”
The ultimate mission? You guessed it — win the Super Bowl.
“We have to continue to get better as a team so that when we go into the playoffs, we’re ready to go [and] try to make a run,” Mahomes voiced, concluding later: “I’m glad we won. Last time I played here we lost, so I was glad we won the game and we battled. Obviously, we feel like we didn’t play our best, but we found a way to win in the end.”
Patrick Mahomes Back on Track in Houston
The Chiefs didn’t look great in Houston but Mahomes played mistake-free football. The offensive miscues were fumbles from skill-position players, not interceptions, and the gunslinger continued his torrid yardage pace in 2022.
Like clockwork, Mahomes dropped another 300-plus passing yards in Week 15, with two more touchdowns and just five incompletions. His passer rating according to ESPN was 117.1, and he also rushed for 33 yards and a touchdown on the ground.
In fact, the KC quarterback has only had one sub-300-yard passing game since Week 5, the Bengals loss in Cincinnati. It’s his sixth outing without an interception this season.
This week, sports talk show host Kay Adams sounded off on NFL fans for normalizing the excellence of Mahomes, and “PM15” just continues to live up to that assessment. At 11-3, and with all the issues that Kansas City has struggled with this year, it’s hard to argue that the Chiefs QB is not the MVP of the league.