Chiefs' Patrick Mahomes: Seahawks' Geno Smith 'gets taken for granted' in NFL

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes has offered high praise for Geno Smith of the Seattle Seahawks ahead of Christmas. 

"First off, every throw he throws is like a perfect spiral," Mahomes said of Smith during a news conference, as shared by Myles Simmons of Pro Football Talk. "I know that gets taken for granted in this league. But, he throws a perfect spiral every throw. He’s getting those receivers going. They have two great receivers with a lot of other guys too that have a lot of speed. And so, he’s able to get those receivers going and take the shots from there, but take the underneath. And they’ve had a lot of young guys step up. And so, Geno’s done a great job of taking advantage of what’s there. And that’s why he’s had such a great season." 

The New York Jets originally made Smith a second-round pick in the 2013 NFL Draft, but the 32-year-old is enjoying his best campaign, to date, with Seattle. Per ESPN, Smith leads the entire league among qualified passers with a 71.4% completion percentage. He is fourth with 26 passing touchdowns, seventh with 3,671 yards through the air, and fifth with a 63.9 total QBR. 

The upcoming Christmas Eve showdown between the Seahawks and Chiefs at Kansas City's GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium is massive for reasons that have little to do with Mahomes and Smith being among the betting favorites to earn personal awards. 7-7 Seattle trails both the 7-6-1 Washington Commanders and 8-5-1 New York Giants in the race for a single postseason berth, while 11-3 Kansas City is attempting to leapfrog the 11-3 Buffalo Bills to obtain the AFC's No. 1 playoff seed. 

The Bills defeated the Chiefs in October.