Kansas City Chiefs

Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs are looking scary again in the AFC

Updated Nov. 15, 2021 5:25 p.m. ET

For the first time since the conclusion of Week 1, Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs are back on top of the AFC West.

After a thorough demolition of the Las Vegas Raiders in Sin City on Sunday night, the Chiefs finally looked like the team that had made back-to-back Super Bowl appearances coming into this season.

And it's no coincidence that the Chiefs looked their best when Mahomes was at his best.

The 26-year-old slung the ball 50 times for a season-high 35 completions against the Raiders in the 41-14 victory.

That 70% completion rate resulted in a whopping 406 yards and five touchdowns, both of which were highs for Mahomes this season, along with a 127.6 passer rating.

And despite that volume of passing, Mahomes did not turn the ball over. That's another encouraging sign for the Chiefs.

With 12 turnovers so far this season (10 interceptions, two fumbles lost) Mahomes has the third-most giveaways in the NFL, behind Sam Darnold and Trevor Lawrence, who have 13 apiece.

Mahomes has put those issues aside for the past two games, with zero turnovers in back-to-back weeks for the first time all season.

Instead, Mahomes spread to ball around to eight of his teammates against the Raiders.

Running back Darrel Williams surprisingly had the bulk of the catches, hauling in nine receptions for 101 yards and a touchdown.

But that is largely a product of Mahomes taking what the Raiders were giving him. For most of the season, the book on Mahomes has been to sit back on defense and play coverage, given the QB's success at hitting big plays against blitzes.

Against the Raiders, Mahomes didn't force the issue when presented with non-blitz defensive calls.

As a result, Williams benefited from Mahomes' multiple checkdowns, catching all eight of the targets that came his way when he was aligned in the backfield for 98 yards — the most for a player lined up in the backfield this season.

Of Mahomes' 35 completions, 13 were caught at or behind the line of scrimmage. Mahomes' intended air yards per attempt — which measures the average depth of a targeted receiver, whether the pass is completed or not — came in at 3.2 yards, well below his average of 7.8 yards through the first nine weeks of the season.

Plus, with tight end Travis Kelce (eight catches, 119 yards) lurking as an intermediate threat, Mahomes was still able to take the top off of the Raiders' defense. Tyreek Hill ended the evening with seven catches for 83 yards and two TDs, while Byron Pringle caught Mahomes' fifth touchdown to finish up with four catches for 46 yards and a score.

Sunday marked the third career game for Mahomes with five or more TDs and 400-plus passing yards, tying Peyton Manning, Dan Marino and Joe Montana for the most such games in league history.

Combine all of that with a defense that has held opponents to an average of 12.7 points over the past three weeks, and it's no surprise the Chiefs are on a three-game roll.

As Nick Wright put it on Monday's episode of "First Things First," the Chiefs are back to striking fear in the hearts of the NFL's elite.

"Patrick Mahomes is back," Wright said. "… Chiefs defense has been awesome for a month now. And all of a sudden … the Kansas City Chiefs [are] back where they should've been all year: the scariest team in the AFC."

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Chris Broussard echoed that sentiment, saying the Chiefs are right back in the mix in the wide-open AFC.

There is no juggernaut in the AFC at the moment, Broussard said.

Every AFC contender has at least two losses, and if the playoffs started today, Kansas City would be the No. 4 seed as the AFC West champions.

"[The Chiefs] are right back in the hunt," Broussard said Monday. "Some of that is because there's no world-beater in the AFC, right? ... The scariest team, if this is who they are again, has to be Kansas City. ... [Patrick Mahomes] was the perfect combination of the smarter, more patient quarterback ... and the gunslinger that we've all come to know and love. You saw both."