Breaking Down Mahomes’ 4 Touchdown Passes Against Cowboys

His 129.7 passer rating also represented one of his two highest marks ever in a loss. in 19 starts before Thursday, Mahomes was 18-1 with a rating that good or higher – his only loss a 36-35 setback at Baltimore in 2021.

Here’s a look at the four Mahomes touchdown passes from Thursday.

First quarter: Rashee Rice

On consecutive plays to early in the game, Steve Spagnuolo blitzed his safeties. Chamarri Conner nearly sacked Dak Prescott on second down, then Jaden Hicks hurried him into a Jaylen Watson interception. And Mahomes needed only two plays to get the Chiefs in the end zone.

He found Rashee Rice on the left sideline and the receiver did what he does best – yards after the catch. Rice patiently waited for his tight-end teammates Travis Kelce and Jared Wiley – playing his first game this season – to spring him into the end zone on a 27-yard score. The Chiefs were up 7-0 just a minute and 50 seconds into the contest.

First quarter: Travis Kelce

After the Mahomes touchdown to Rice, Dallas answered with its own touchdown drive – a possession on which Kansas City sustained a significant injury to safety Bryan Cook.

But Mahomes answered again and unlike three weeks earlier on a similar red-zone pass, this time he and Kelce were firmly on the same page – Mahomes releasing the pass before Kelce turned his back. They connected on a 2-yard touchdown, a fourth-and-goal snap, to retake the lead.

“We had a good feel for the coverage that we were going to get,” Mahomes said after the game.

“You put it up top, especially when the tight end’s like that, and let him go up there and make plays. And Travis has proved for years that he can make that play. And so, big-time catch for him.”

Fourth quarter: Rice again

Even before Rice’s six-game suspension to begin the regular season, Rice and Mahomes in the Chiefs’ preseason finale showed a strong chemistry in the red zone. They’ve picked up where they left off since his Week 7 return, and they showed it prominently early in the fourth quarter.

On fourth-and-goal from the 3, nothing was open for Mahomes. He danced around, running to his left and fired to his right to find a leaping Rice. The receiver looked like a forward in basketball boxing out Cowboys. The touchdown gave Kansas City a 21-20 advantage.

Rice matched his single-game career best with a second touchdown catch. He initially established that mark just a month earlier, in his first game back after the suspension. He also caught two touchdown passes in the 31-0 win over the Raiders on Oct. 19.

Fourth quarter: Hollywood Brown

Mahomes showed great resolve in trying to lead Kansas City back from a 10-point deficit. He needed only 89 seconds to march the Chiefs 67 yards in seven plays. He got an incredible assist from Hollywood Brown.

Mahomes stayed in the pocket and fired a perfect pass through a tight window to Brown, who high-pointed the ball in the back of the end zone, tapping two feet before going out of bounds.

“They were in a kind of a cover-two type defense versus our empty,” Mahomes said. “And they had a linebacker matched up on a receiver, and he played really good coverage, but Hollywood made a made a really good play.

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