CINCINNATI – The biggest story in the NFL through six weeks has been the play of Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes in his first season as a starter, and the Bengals are up next on his scorched-earth tour of the league’s defenses.
Mahomes has thrown 18 touchdown passes and only four interceptions while averaging 311 yards per game in leading the Chiefs to a 5-1 start, with the lone loss being a 43-40 shootout at New England last week.
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Many of the teams he’s torched were seeing him for the first time, but the Bengals actually will be getting their second look at Mahomes and his unique abilities after playing the Chiefs in the preseason last year.
It wasn’t Mahomes’ debut, but it was his unofficial coming out party when he helped lead the Chiefs to a 30-12 victory at Paul Brown Stadium in the second preseason game last year.
“Oh, yeah, I remember,” said Bengals defensive tackle Andrew Billings, a Baylor graduate who played against Mahomes and Texas Tech twice in college.
“It was just like playing him in the Big 12, really,” Billings said. “He gets out of the pocket, throws off weird positions, off the other foot, and he’s somehow more accurate when he does it.”
Kansas City starter Alex Smith guided the first two drives on that steamy, 86-degree August evening, staking the Chiefs to a 10-3 lead against the Bengals. He then gave way to Mahomes, who entered the game with 7:22 left in the first half.
He missed fullback Anthony Sherman on his first pass attempt before connecting on his next four to lead a 12-play, 75-yard touchdown drive. In addition to the four passes, all of which were short and came out quick, Mahomes escaped the pocket twice.
“I had him,” said Bengals defensive lineman Jordan Willis, who also faced Mahomes in college while playing for Kansas State.
“I tried to bend the corner and get him, and he kind of slipped up the field,” Willis added. “If you don’t get a good wrap on him, he’s going to get away from you.”
Willis came off the right edge on that play and beat Kansas City tackle Eric Fisher. Just as Willis put both hands on Mahomes, Fisher gave him a slight push. Mahomes took off and outran linebacker Vinny Rey to the end zone for what appeared to be a 16-yard touchdown.
But replays showed the tip of Mahomes left foot nudged the sideline as he lunged for the pylon, setting up first and goal at the 1. Mahomes hit tight end Demetrius Harris three plays later for a touchdown.
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“I remember he was able to move the ball against us and he made a lot of plays outside the pocket,” Rey said. “He made plays in the pocket, too. He made every throw.”
On the first third down Mahomes faced in that game, he stayed in the pocket, took a shot from defensive end Chris Smith and hit Tyreek Hill over the middle for a 9-yard gain and first down with Darqueze Dennard in coverage.
“I honestly don’t remember a lot about that game, but watching film this week brought back some memories,” said Dennard, who will not get a chance to face Mahomes on Sunday after suffering what the Bengals are calling a sternoclavicular injury.
The 12-play touchdown drive Mahomes led as soon as he entered the game left just 1:05 on the clock in the first half.
The Chiefs got the ball to start the second half, and Mahomes did it again, leading another 12-play, 75-yard drive. He was 6 of 9 for 53 yards, including a seven-yard touchdown pass to Harris, while also rushing for 11 yards on a scramble.
It was almost an identical play as his near touchdown. This time it was Smith who came off the right side. Mahomes felt it, stepped up and took off, leaving Smith grasping at air.
Mahomes called it a night after guiding the back-to-back 75-yard touchdown drives, finishing 10 of 14 for 88 yards with two touchdowns and a 127.4 passer rating to go along with 29 rushing yards on three attempts.
Bengals linebacker Jordan Evans also was a rookie last year and trying to make the team as a fifth-round pick, so he said he doesn’t remember much about what Mahomes did that night.
But the game Evans and his Oklahoma Sooners played against Mahomes in 2016 is still fresh in his mind. Mahomes torched the OU defense for 734 yards and five touchdowns. Bengals running back Joe Mixon had five touchdowns of his own in that game to lead the Sooners to a wild 66-59 victory.
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“I always said in college he was one of the best players that I ever played against,” Evans said. “I saw what he was capable of. Obviously he broke some records against us.”
Another Bengals player, rookie linebacker Malik Jefferson, faced Mahomes in college while playing for Texas, and he managed to record 1.5 sacks against him. Jefferson isn’t likely to be on the field with Mahomes on Sunday – he’s yet to play a defensive snap this season – but the Bengals are hoping the fact that they have some familiarity with the quarterback can be beneficial in some way.
“Well we definitely didn’t base any of our game plan this year based off preseason last year, but it was good to get a feel for his talent,” said safety Clayton Fejedelem, who was on the field for both of Mahomes’ drives last year and could get the start Sunday if Shawn Williams is unable to clear concussion protocol.
“His strength is being able to make plays and extend plays with his feet and he’s got a heck of an arm and fast receivers,” Fejedelem said. “They’re going to continue to play to his strengths, which is let him make him plays with his feet, let him scramble around and take shots down the field.”
The game plan, obviously, will be to try to keep Mahomes in the pocket.
“Yeah, easier said than done,” Billings said with a chuckle. “When he was in college, there was no pocket. Texas Tech played with those big splits. That offense literally was designed for him to be out of the pocket. He’s the same guy with the same technique. Only now that he’s in the NFL, he’s way sharper.
“At Baylor, all week we would practice keeping him in the pocket, and then there he goes and you’re like, ‘Damn,’” Billings added. “It’s football. You know he’s going to get out a couple of times, we just have to focus on keeping him in the pocket as much as we can.”
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The Bengals come into the game ranked 29th in total defense and 28th in passing defense. Mahomes and the Chiefs are fifth in total offense, seventh in passing offense and second in points per game.
Defensive coordinator Teryl Austin’s group got nowhere near Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger last week. The Bengals failed to record a sack and had just one quarterback hit, something that isn’t sitting well the defensive linemen.
“I would say we have a chip on our shoulders,” Willis said. “We’re going to keep trying to dial it up. That probably could be the main reason why we didn’t win the (Pittsburgh) game, is not keeping the quarterback in the pocket. Skip to this week, Mahomes, when gets out of the pocket, that’s when he’s most dangerous. So if we don’t keep him in the pocket it could be similar situations.
“I’m not saying he’s Big Ben, but he can be considered like a Big Ben because he’s a bigger quarterback,” Willis added. “Just because he’s a bigger body he’s going to be harder to take down. And he can move. With him being younger, he can move a little bit better than Ben.”
Maybe past experience isn’t that beneficial after all. The Bengals have faced Roethlisberger 29 times and are still trying to figure out how to beat him consistently.
They’ve faced Mahomes for two drives. In the preseason.
But that and a few weeks of game film is all they have to draw on heading into Sunday night.
“It’s going to be a big challenge, but that’s what I like about this league,” Austin said. “I think our guys will rise up to the challenge. I think we’re looking forward to going out and playing better football than we did last week. (The Chiefs are) doggone good. There’s no denying that. They can score in a hurry, and they can score a ton of different ways. So our job is to keep a lid on that as best as we can.”
(Top image: Patrick Mahomes playing at Paul Brown Stadium in the 2017 preseason. David Kohl/USA TODAY Sports)