Patrick Mahomes becomes just the fourth QB in NFL history to pull off this rare late game feat

With 10 minutes left to play in the fourth quarter of Kansas City’s 34-28 win over the Chargers on Thursday, Patrick Mahomes wasn’t too thrilled with himself. The quarterback had just thrown an interception that set the Chargers up with an easy touchdown to give Los Angeles a 21-13 lead. 

Apparently, throwing that interception flipped a switch inside of Mahomes, because not only did he catch fire after the pick, but he ended up making some NFL history. Over the final nine minutes and 30 seconds of the fourth quarter and into overtime, Mahomes would complete 10 fo 13 passes for 197 yards and three touchdowns. 

By throwing those three touchdown passes, Mahomes put his name in the NFL record book and that’s because he became just the fourth quarterback in NFL history to throw three game-tying or lead-changing touchdowns in the fourth quarter or later of a game, according to ESPN Stats and Info. 

Here’s the list of quarterbacks who have pulled off the feat: 

2021: Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes (at Chargers)
2020: Browns QB Baker Mayfield (at Bengals)
2018: Cowboys QB Dak Prescott (vs. Eagles)
2009: Raiders QB Bruce Gradkowski (at Steelers)

The most surprising part of this list is probably the fact that only four quarterbacks have ever pulled this off. To join the list, you need a defense that melts down in the fourth quarter and then you need an offense that can answer every score made by the other team. 

In Thursday’s game, the touchdowns were all huge and that’s mostly because the Chiefs needed every single one of them. The first one, a one-yard pass to Tyreek Hill, tied the game up at 21. After that the Chargers answered with a touchdown of their own, Mahomes drove right down the field again and threw another TD pass, this time a seven-yard score to Travis Kelce that tied the game at 28. 

In overtime, Mahomes put the final nail in the Chargers’ coffin with a 34-yard walk-off touchdown pass to Kelce that gave Kansas City the win. 

Overall, Mahomes threw for a season-high 410 yards. 

With the win, Mahomes is now 12-0 in his career in divisional road games. Not only is that the longest streak to start a career, but it’s also tied with Peyton Manning for the second-longest overall streak in NFL history. Manning won 12 straight divisional road games from 2010 to 2015 (Manning won one with the Colts in 2010 and then nine straight once he joined the Broncos). 

To break the record, Mahomes would have to win at least nine more games and that’s because Joe Montana once won 20 consecutive divisional road games from 1984 to 1993. Montana’s streak started with the 49ers and then continued into his first season with the Chiefs in 1993 before ending in his first road game of 1994 against the Chargers.