Patrick Mahomes, Chiefs players react to another record
Mahomes recently became the youngest and fastest QB to throw 250 career TDs
Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes isn’t one to talk about his milestones.
But it’s hard to ignore when he recently became the youngest – and fastest – quarterback in NFL history to throw 250 career regular-season touchdown passes.
Mahomes entered Week 4’s game against the Baltimore Ravens with 248 regular-season touchdown passes, just two behind Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who threw 250 touchdown passes in 121 games.
The Chiefs’ star quarterback did it at 30-years-old and 11 days in 116 career games to move ahead of Rodgers after a four-touchdown performance in the Chiefs’ 37-20 win.
“To pass him and as far as right now, I mean, it’s really cool,” Mahomes said Thursday. “But I got a long ways to go with the amount of touchdowns he’s thrown. That was someone I watched growing up.”
The humble reply doesn’t come as a surprise, but he is in elite company.
Mahomes now has 43 career regular-season games with at least three touchdowns, a feat that surpassed Pro Football Hall of Famer Peyton Manning (42 games) for the second-most by a player in his first nine seasons in NFL history. Mahomes now trails another Pro Football Hall of Famer, former Miami Dolphins quarterback Dan Marino’s 46 games.
Given what Mahomes has done and continues to do, his teammates didn’t hesitate to shower him with praise knowing he leapfrogged Rodgers in Week 4.
“It’s a beautiful thing, man,” said running back Isiah Pacheco, who caught Mahomes’ 250th touchdown pass.
Wide receiver Tyquan Thorton smiled when told he caught Mahomes’ 251 career touchdown pass, which officially moved Mahomes ahead of Rodgers.
“That means a lot,” Thornton said. “The sky is no longer the limit.”
Mahomes, 30, has already established himself as one of the NFL’s elite players and he not only has the records to show it, but the hardware as he plays his ninth professional season.
He’s a two-time All-Pro selection, a three-time Super Bowl MVP and a six-time Pro Bowler, and he becomes the 28th player in NFL history to achieve 250 career regular-season touchdown passes.
When combining the postseason, Mahomes has 298 touchdown passes in 137 career games.
He’ll once again pass Rodgers (147 games) as the fastest player to throw 300 touchdowns, including the postseason, if Mahomes throws two scoring passes in Week 5 action against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Monday Night Football.
“I mean, just being able to be in that conversation,” wide receiver Xavier Worthy said of Mahomes. “He’s arguably one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time, so it’s a blessing.”
Meanwhile, Mahomes can appreciate the historical nature of setting NFL records.
For now, though, he prefers to focus more on the one stat that matters the most to him while he’s still playing.
“I’ll continue to just get better and better, and try to score as many points as possible, and more than anything, win as many football games as possible,” Mahomes said. “And I think at the end of my career, I’ll be happy with where I’m at.”
