Two possessions into Monday night, Patrick Mahomes had made the wrong kind of career history.
Mahomes, for the first time in his storied career, had been intercepted on each of his first two drives. One was off his receiver's hands, but it made no matter, the Kansas City Chiefs were sputtering against a Washington Commanders team without star quarterback Jayden Daniels and locked in a tie game.
Then came the second half, when Mahomes and Co. began to dominate, rolling up and down the field for three straight touchdown drives en route to the Chiefs' 28-7 win over the Commanders.
"It shows the growth that we've had as a team," said Mahomes, who piloted the Chiefs to their fifth win by double digits this season, already one more than last season's total. "Offense, defense and special teams, I think we're getting better and better each and every week. Even though we didn't start the way we wanted to today offensively, it showed that we can battle through adversity and still continue to play the brand of football that we want to play. We'll have to continue to get better and better."
The end result wasn't all that shocking considering the reeling Commanders have now lost three straight and were without their starting quarterback. Mahomes' ability to put together a masterpiece after unprecedented early struggles was stellar, though.
Mahomes completed 25 of his 34 passes for 299 yards, three touchdowns, the two picks and a 104.9 rating. Impressive all told, but breaking down Mahomes' night by the halves shines a light on how drastically the QB switched it up from one half to the next.
In the first half, Mahomes completed 53.3% of his attempts for 89 yards with no scores and a dismal 31.7 rating, the Chiefs tied, 7-7, heading into the locker room.
"The first half was weird," said head coach Andy Reid of an opening half in which there were two scoring drives, three turnovers and no punts. "There wasn't a lot of punting going on on either side, and there were no points on the board. That normally doesn't go on."
As for the second half, Mahomes was scintillating to the tune of an 89.5 completion percentage, 210 yards, three touchdowns, no INTs and a 152.3 rating.
Mahomes was simply his magnificent self in the second half, guiding the Chiefs on three consecutive scoring drives that were each 75 yards or longer. A 2-yard pass to Kareem Hunt stood as the game-winner and likely the pivot point. In a tie ballgame with his offense facing fourth-and-goal from the Washington 2-yard line, Reid went for it and his offense delivered.
"Coach Reid, he believes in us to make those big plays in big moments," Mahomes said. "Another thing that gets lost in this is he believes our defense is gonna get the stop if it doesn't happen. So, I mean, you've got to have a belief in everybody."
Scrambling and weaving and running and throwing with the greatest of ease, Mahomes orchestrated the blowout many thought the game was destined to be, later finding Travis Kelce and Rashee Rice for TDs.
"I thought our guys played a great second half," Reid said. "First half, we lacked a little bit, but second half we came around, both sides of the ball and special teams, and did a nice job there. Lot of individual accolades that can go out to the guys. The main thing is we played as a team the second half. The first half, it was just a little shaky, but took care of business."
Kansas City's offense, with Kelce, Rice, Xavier Worthy and Marquise Brown (who didn't even have a catch) all healthy is locked and loaded.
So it goes that Monday's win -- the Chiefs' fifth in their last six games -- was somewhat symbolic of their season so far.
Mahomes had two INTs to start the game, much as he and the Chiefs went 0-2 to begin the campaign for the first time in his tenure.
They bounced back, of course, with Mahomes looking to be in prime form in every which way.
Lying ahead is a gauntlet: A Week 9 mega showdown against the rival Buffalo Bills; an AFC West heavyweight matchup with the first-place Denver Broncos in Week 11 after a bye; and a huge game in Week 12 against the Indianapolis Colts.
Mahomes and Chiefs appear to be ready for the arduous month ahead, once again showing Monday they can overcome early pitfalls to prevail in the end.
"This is going to be a great challenge this next week and we'll have to start faster," Mahomes said, "but I was proud of how the guys responded in that second half."
