Patrick Mahomes' magic normally works, but that wasn't the case early on against the Dolphins.
On Kansas City's first drive in Miami, the defending Super Bowl MVP threw a deflected pass that was intercepted. Then he started his second drive with a fumbled snap (which resulted in a 9-yard loss) before taking a 30-yard sack on third down. It was the longest sack taken in the NFL in more than two decades. And on his third drive, Mahomes was intercepted a second time — doubling his seasonlong interception total.
It turned out that Mahomes' third interception of the season was just an appetizer. He was targeting Travis Kelce on a short pass, but a deflection in front of the tight end meant that the ball fell right into Byron Jones' hands for the pick.
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The Dolphins D/ST is forcing turnovers, even against Patrick Mahomes 👀 pic.twitter.com/oDGS1lgNEz
— Sporting News Fantasy (@sn_fantasy) December 13, 2020
After Miami missed a field goal, Mahomes lined up in shotgun but bobbled the snap and had to fall on it. Two plays later, on third-and-12, the Chiefs' offensive line was beat on both edges by Dolphins pass-rushers, so Mahomes took off backward.
Frequently, Mahomes makes that run backward before finding an edge and making a throw on the run for an unexpected completion. He'd already done it on the first drive to find Travis Kelce down the right sideline. This time, though, Mahomes was flanked too well. He kept running backward with nowhere to go, and it resulted in a sack for Jerome Baker and a 30-yard loss.
Patrick Mahomes took a 30 YARD LOSS on this sack 😬pic.twitter.com/pUgL0JM4Wv
— Sporting News (@sportingnews) December 13, 2020
According to ESPN's Bill Barnwell, Mahomes' 30-yard loss on the sack was the first with such a large loss since Stoney Case took a 30-yard sack in 1997. Miami took advantage of its positive field position after Kansas City's punt on fourth-and-42 and scored the game's first touchdown, a pass from Tua Tagovailoa to Mike Gesicki.
Things got even worse for Mahomes when he missed a receiver again and was intercepted by Eric Rowe. Through 13 weeks, Mahomes had thrown two interceptions. And in less than a quarter against the Dolphins, he'd thrown two more.
Mahomes has conditioned NFL fans to expect he'll turn it around, which could very well be the case Sunday to mount a Week 14 comeback. But he might've gotten off to the worst start of his career with Kansas City battling for the AFC's No. 1 playoff seed. Sometimes, even Mahomes can't make running away from the defense a sound strategy.