Patrick Mahomes emerged victorious in Sunday’s star quarterback showdown with Tom Brady as the Kansas City Chiefs defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 41-31.
The young quarterback, 27, dazzled in Tampa as he pulled several ridiculous games out of his pocket to outshine the veteran and seven-time Super Bowl winner.
Mahomes threw for 249 yards and three touchdowns, including an electric jump pass to Clyde Edwards-Helaire, to lead the Kansas City Chiefs to a 41-31 win over Brady and Co.
Patrick Mahomes made ridiculous moves to help Kansas City defeat Tampa Bay
Mahomes emerged victorious from Sunday’s star quarterback showdown with Tom Brady
The Kansas City Chiefs beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 41-31 in Florida on Sunday night
Mahomes played to a packed stadium just four days after Hurricane Ian devastated parts of Florida. Mahomes had TD throws of 16 yards on Travis Kelce, 1 yard on Edwards-Helaire and 10 yards on Jody Fortson while making NFL history by passing 20,000 yards faster than anyone else.
Mahomes first showed his magic when the Chiefs forced a fumble in Tampa Bay on the opening kickoff, and two games later he found Travis Kelce for a 16-yard touchdown pass.
Then on the second drive, he delighted as he dodged Carlton Davis with the Buccaneers defense chasing him and managed to get the ball out in time to find JuJu Smith-Schuster for a first down.
His most notable moment of the game, however, came when the Chiefs held a 14-3 lead. The Buccaneers’ defense seemed to finally have him caught, but he successfully dodged the onslaught as he spun away from Devin White before finding Edwards-Helaire for the hit.
Mahome’s most notable moment of the game came when the Chiefs held a 14-3 lead
The short pass to Edwards-Helaire showed Mahomes at his improvisational best, dodging two defenders, executing a 360-degree spin and flicking the ball over a crowd to the running back at the back of the endzone.
Mahome’s tricks and tricks didn’t go unnoticed on social media as NBA superstar LeBron James led the praise for the Chiefs quarterback.
“Patty Mahomes. So damn good,” the Lakers star tweeted alongside a series of wand emojis.
NBA superstar LeBron James led the praise for the Chiefs quarterback on social media
Other football fans described Mahomes’ skills as “silly” as they jokingly claimed he should be kicked out of the league as no one else could match his skills.
“Patrick Mahomes should be banned from the @NFL it’s just not fair what he can do,” wrote former linebacker Emmanuel Acho.
“Mahomes is just silly. It is not fair. I want a Mahomes,” added Barstool Sports’ Big Cat.
Patrick Allen described Mahomes’ performance as godlike, writing, “Patrick Mahomes is going into god mode for the Bucs right now.”
Football fans joked he should be banned from the league as no one else can match his skills
An Arrowhead fan account wrote, “There’s never been a quarterback like this before. Mahome’s magic!’
Another account wrote: “List of people who can make this pitch: Patrick Mahomes That’s it. This is the list.”
Meanwhile, another football fan joked that Brady was forced to watch his defense “begotten”.
It wrote: “Tom Brady really sacrificed his marriage to see his defense fathered by Patrick Mahomes absolutely. Hard scene.”
Others joined in the praise for Mahomes on Twitter as they hailed him as “magical” and godlike
It was the first meeting between Mahomes and Brady since Tampa Bay’s 31-9 win over Kansas City in the Super Bowl – also played at Raymond James Stadium – two seasons ago.
When asked if he was thinking about the Super Bowl heartbreak during the game, Mahomes replied, “Yeah, we definitely wanted to win. Not just to get our season going again. To come here to this stadium and win a game was very special.”
Brady completed 39 of 52 passes for 385 yards and three TDs without an interception for Tampa Bay (2-2). However, the Bucs played from behind all night after rookie Rachaad White fumbled the opening jab and Mahomes threw his TD pass to Kelce two games later.
Mahomes admitted the Chiefs’ heartbreak bothered him throughout the game
Brady completed 39 of 52 passes for 385 yards and three TDs without an interception
Chiefs cornerback L’Jarius Sneed fired Brady and forced a fumble that Mahomes converted into Gray’s TD, with the tight end scoring a direct snap from the center on the 1-yard slump that put Kansas City 28-10 ahead .
Brady threw TD passes from 13 yards and 1 yard to Mike Evans, who was returning from a one-game suspension two weeks ago for his role in an onfield brawl in New Orleans. He had eight receptions for 103 yards.
Evans’ second TD cut Kansas City’s lead to 28-17 at halftime. That was as close as the Bucs came until Leonard Fournette’s 5-yard TD reception cut Tampa Bay’s deficit to 41-31 with 3:30 left.
Brady wouldn’t get the ball back until there was less than a minute left.
Kansas City finished the game with 417 yards in total offense, including a 189-3 edge on ground, against a defense that had allowed a league-low 27 points in three games.
The seven-time Super Bowl winner was fired by Chiefs cornerback L’Jarius Sneed
The Bucs have sacked Mahomes three times and intercepted him once, but it wasn’t “Coming Out Party” linebacker Shaquil Barrett who predicted his team would come up against an offensive line the Chiefs have been revising since joining the Super Bowl loss to Tampa Bay.
As Hurricane Ian approached Florida’s Gulf Coast, the Bucs were evacuated to the Miami area for four days, where they practiced at the Dolphins’ training facility on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays while the NFL made contingency plans to move the game to Minneapolis , if so, could not be played in Tampa.
The Glazer family, who own the Bucs, have announced they will donate $1 million to hurricane relief. The NFL Foundation is matching that donation, and the Bucs launched a “Florida Strong” campaign Sunday night to raise funds and honor emergency workers and first responders.
Players and fans experienced a “moment of support” ahead of the national anthem, and the Bucs also paid tribute to those affected by the hurricane in a video presentation played on giant screens with scoreboards before the game.