As he’s done time and time again since becoming Kansas City’s starting quarterback in 2018, Patrick Mahomes made the critical play in crunch time to help the Chiefs win at the end of the game.
On Sunday, it was a 33-yard run on first-and-10 from the Kansas City 45 that put his club in Carolina territory. Then he connected with running back Kareem Hunt to put Spencer Shrader in an even better position to nail a game-winning, 31-yard field goal as time expired in the contest.
After the game, Hunt stated something that might be obvious, but still makes a difference.
“When the game is on the line, there is no other quarterback that I would rather have,” Hunt said, via transcript from the Panthers. “He is one of those guys that’s always going to find a way to win. If that’s with his legs, his arm, or anything else.”
Hunt, who played with several quarterbacks during his time in Cleveland, would likely know a thing or two about that.
But making those late-game critical plays is also now a part of Kansas City’s identity. Hunt said that he was thinking the whole final drive that the game was in the Chiefs’ hands and they had to find a way to close it out.
“We always have to believe in ourselves and find a way to win,” Hunt said. “No matter how ugly or pretty it is.”
Mahomes would probably like it to be prettier at some point, as he even said postgame that it would be nice to have some blowout wins. But the quarterback still completed 27-of-37 passes for 269 yards with three touchdowns and had 60 yards on five carries in Sunday’s win.
