Chiefs Franchise records that may fall in 2023

Seven Chiefs franchise records can fall this season, yet for some reason, it’s not being widely reported by some media. I’ll review the milestones that can fall this season ranked by the likelihood they’ll fall. I’ll also give a brief history of the record.

Career completions

Currently held by: Len Dawson 2115

This is the first and most likely to fall of the four records Patrick Mahomes can break this season. He’s just 131 completions shy of breaking it. He averages 24.8 completions per game in his career. That puts him on pace to break it in week 5 or 6. Barring a season-ending injury early in the season, he’s pretty much guaranteed to break this record. Unsurprisingly, Len Dawson has held this record pretty much since he joined the Chiefs, breaking it in 1963. Trent Green came the closest to breaking this record coming up 396 completions short.

Career rushing yards by a quarterback

Currently held by: Alex Smith 1,672

Patrick Mahomes is 126 yards away from breaking his predecessor’s record for rushing yards by a quarterback. This record is likely to fly under the radar because Mahomes isn’t what you would consider a running quarterback and the bar wasn’t exactly that high either. Alex Smith broke the record late in the 2016 season that had been previously held by Len Dawson. Mike Livingston was the closest to the record but fell 571 yards short. Only three quarterbacks in franchise history have broken 1,000 yards rushing in their career, Mahomes, Smith, and Dawson.

Career receiving yards

Currently held by: Tony Gonzalez 10,940

Travis Kelce needs 597 yards to pass Hall of Famer Tony Gonzalez for career receiving yards. Considering he averages 1,034 yards a season even including him recording 0 yards his rookie season, this is pretty much guaranteed to fall. If we use his average per game last season of about 80 yards per game, we’ll probably see it fall either week 7 against the Chargers or week 8 against the Broncos, maybe week 9 against the Dolphins. It is entirely possible, though unlikely, that we see the career completions and career receiving yards broken in the same play. Tony Gonzalez has held the record since 2005 breaking Otis Taylor’s 30-year-old record. Dwayne Bowe came the closest to breaking this record coming 3,785 yards short.

Career wins (coach)

Currently held by: Hank Stram 124

Andy Reid needs 8 wins to pass Hank Stram to be the winningest coach in franchise history. The Chiefs have won 9 or more games each year he’s been the head coach, so a solid chance he breaks it this season. We’ll probably see it broken anywhere from week 8 to 11. Since Hank Stram was the Chiefs’ first coach, he’s technically owned the record since the Chiefs’ first win in franchise history on September 16, 1960. The only other coach to come anywhere this win total was Marty Schottenheimer who left the team with 101 wins and Reid passed him week 15 of the 2021 season.

Career receiving touchdowns

Currently held by: Tony Gonzalez 76

Kelce can potentially break two records this season. He needs 8 touchdowns to pass Tony Gonzalez. He’s had 3 straight seasons with over 8 TDs and has done it 5 of the last 6 seasons. Pretty solid chance he breaks it this season, but it might be later in the season. Tony Gonzalez has held this record since 2006 after Otis Taylor held it for 31 years. The only player to come near this record was Tyreek Hill who fell 21 touchdowns short of breaking the record before he was traded.

Career passing yards

Currently held by: Len Dawson 28,507

Patrick Mahomes is rewriting the record books. He needs 4,267 yards to pass Len Dawson. In his 6 seasons as a starter he’s only failed to record that total once, and that was the season he missed 2 games due to injury. He averages 303 yards a game. He’ll probably break it toward the end of the season. Len Dawson has held the record pretty much since he joined the Chiefs. He broke it in his second season in 1963, but the record at the time was 4,919 owned by Cotton Davidson who wasn’t exactly a gunslinger, so it was going to fall pretty quickly. Dawson has held the record for 60 years. Trent Green came the closest to breaking this record and was 7,049 yards short of breaking it.

Career passing touchdowns

Currently held by: Len Dawson 237

Patrick Mahomes needs 46 touchdowns to break Len Dawson’s long-standing record. This one is going to be a little bit harder. He’s only recorded that many once, but it is possible. If he does break it, it will probably be week 17 or 18. It could even be a case of that he needs 1 to break it in week 18 and they let him play one drive to break it. Dawson has held it since his first season in 1962, which is the longest any franchise record has stood, but that record was 29. Once again, Trent Green was the closest to breaking it and he was 120 away from the record.

This many franchise records being broken in the same season is uncommon, but this further proves just how much of a legendary team this is. Patrick Mah0nes and Travis Kelce are record breakers, and they will break records through the rest of their careers.