Patrick Mahomes is back, and the AFC’s other heavyweights just got a reminder of how hard the road still is.
For Lamar Jackson and the Ravens, Josh Allen and the Bills, and Joe Burrow and the Bengals, last winter looked like the opening they’d been waiting for. Mahomes’ season-ending injury in December seemed to crack the door for someone else to seize control of the conference and finally break through to a Lombardi Trophy.
Baltimore and Buffalo, in particular, came painfully close to making that moment count. The Ravens are still dealing with the sting of rookie kicker Tyler Loop’s missed potential game-winning field goal in Week 18, a miss that cost them the AFC North title and a playoff berth.
Bills fans have their own bitter memory: the controversial interception in the divisional playoffs, when Denver Broncos cornerback Ja’Quan McMillian wrestled the ball away from Brandin Cooks as he was on the turf. A different ruling would have set Buffalo up for a game-winning field goal.
Both teams showed plenty in Sunday’s Week 1 wins, even with new looks after parting ways with their well-respected head coaches.
Then Mahomes came roaring back Monday night.
In his return from a torn ACL and LCL that ended Kansas City’s 10-year playoff run, the Chiefs didn’t just beat the Broncos, they flattened them, rolling to a 31-10 win over last season’s AFC runner-up. Kansas City controlled the game in every phase.
The defense held one of the league’s most promising offenses to 176 yards. The rushing attack, powered by Super Bowl MVP-turned-free-agent pickup Kenneth Walker, piled up 220 yards, with 173 credited to Walker.
Mahomes looked fine, throwing two touchdowns and running for another.
For a moment, it looked like the Chiefs dynasty might be slipping. Critics wondered whether Mahomes had already played his best football.
Monday night answered that pretty clearly. He’s back to smiling and flexing, and the rest of the AFC should take note.
What makes Kansas City even more dangerous is how complete it looked doing it. The Chiefs didn’t need Mahomes to carry everything.
He threw for just 184 yards, and the night still turned into a blowout despite a few offensive hiccups, including rare bad snaps from All-Pro center Creed Humphrey and some misfires in timing between Mahomes and his receivers. The run game set the tone.
The defense kept Denver off balance. Broncos quarterback Bo Nix was pressured on 45.5 percent of his dropbacks, the second-highest rate he has faced in his career.
That’s the part that has to worry the rest of the conference. Kansas City put up 30-plus on one of the league’s stingiest defenses without needing Mahomes to produce one of his signature rescue acts.
Mahomes has already been the wall in front of the AFC’s biggest stars. He has beaten Allen in the playoffs four times, and he has sent Jackson and Burrow home once apiece.
Last winter was supposed to be the chance for one of them - especially Allen or Jackson - to turn that history on its head. Instead, Mahomes is back sooner than expected, and the Chiefs look retooled on the fly.
It’s still only Week 1, and nobody is handing out trophies yet. But Kansas City made its point. The AFC race looks loaded again, and the pressure on Jackson, Allen and Burrow just went up another notch.
Baltimore has Jesse Minter in charge now, and Jackson is paired with Declan Doyle, whose style is described as highly imaginative and detail-oriented. That could help the Ravens on both sides of the ball and set Jackson up for one of his best seasons.
Allen is still carrying the Bills, but the offseason brought help to his receiving corps, and Joe Brady appears ready to attack with more aggression. Cincinnati, meanwhile, finally seems to have given Burrow the kind of disruptive defense that can create more chances for him and the Ja’Marr Chase-Tee Higgins tandem.
All three teams have the pieces to contend. But after Monday night, the message is clear: beating Mahomes still runs the conference, and now he looks every bit like himself again.
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