By: Nick Swafford

As most of you know, for the past few weeks, the Chiefs have been extraordinarily good under the leadership of quarterback Patrick Mahomes. “Mahomes’ Magic,” as some people are calling it, is sweeping not only the NFL but the entire nation. The rookie has an inscrutable ability to throw the ball very far and very concisely, which is why people are starting to talk about him. Currently, Mahomes has lead the Chiefs to five wins, with only one loss to arguably the best team in the league, the Patriots. How long the “Mahomes Magic” will last is unknown, as the Chiefs are facing some of their toughest opponents in the next couple of weeks, including the Rams, who are leading the NFL with six straight wins.

Everyone that pays even a little attention to the NFL will remember about “Fitzmagic”, a seemingly endless phenomenon concerning Ryan Fitzpatrick’s winning streak with the Buccaneers. That “endless” Fitzmagic started fizzing out in their 3rd game against the Pittsburgh Steelers and then got stomped out when the Chicago Bears brutally beat them 48 to 10. Although the “magic” faded from the Buccaneers, it has yet to die for the Chiefs as, at the moment this article is being written, the Chiefs are 6-1, a fairly impressive start to the 2018-2019 season.

Is the “Mahomes’ Magic” just another case of a quarterback that is doing well because there isn’t a lot of tape on them, or will Mahomes prove himself to be qualified for the big leagues? Mahomes’ show against “the goat”, Tom Brady, was very impressive as he was going toe-to-toe with one of the best quarterbacks to ever play the game. This just goes to show how good of a player he is. I guess we will find out for sure if Mahomes is ready for the big leagues in the coming weeks, but in the meantime, we can look at the rookie himself.

Patrick Mahomes II is the son of Patrick Mahomes, a former MLB pitcher, and Randi Martin. From a very early age, Mahomes was guided by his father to baseball, and because of his dad’s involvement in the MLB, he got the chance to learn from some of the greats of baseball. He followed this path all the way until it was time for him to attend college in 2014, when he chose to take a football scholarship at Texas Tech after being the 37th round pick for the Detroit Tigers. Flash forward three years, and Mahomes was offered a placement on the Kansas City Chiefs in the NFL Draft in 2017. Unsurprisingly, he took it, and is now the leading quarterback for the Chiefs.

So far, stats are very impressive albeit very brief. Mahomes has only played for a total of eight games in the NFL and managed to lose only one. His pass completion rate is staying steady at a solid 64%, as well. And with a total of only six interceptions his entire career, he’s statistically a very promising quarterback. However, he is only a rookie to the NFL, and rookies tend to be unreliable in not only the NFL, but other major league sports. Remember Robert Griffin III? Or, as he was lovingly called, RG3? He was one of the most promising quarterbacks in the league when he first started playing for the Redskins and his stats were very nearly off the charts, but as time went on, he started to fade into the background. After multiple injuries, Griffin was put into the number 3 quarterback spot for the Redskins and stayed there for an entire season, never seeing much play time. For Mahomes and Chiefs fans’ sakes, I hope Mahomes doesn’t sustain any such injuries this season.

It also must be said that the Chiefs went 6-1 last season in the first seven games, but they never managed to make it for in the playoffs, as they lost to the Tennessee Titans in the wildcard round. So there is a possibility that the Chiefs may be mimicking their last year’s performance, but with Mahomes improving the Chiefs’ lineup, they may have a shot this year. If you like watching football, Mahomes is a great player to watch out for this season, and I for one will be rooting for him—even if he’s not on my favorite team.