While a few Len Dawson diehards may still be holding out, the general consensus is that Patrick Mahomes is already the greatest quarterback in Kansas City Chiefs history. Some even argue that the three-time Super Bowl winner and three-time Super Bowl MVP may already be one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time.
But for the purposes of this piece, we’ll just stick with the Chiefs and the franchise record books that Mahomes has been in the process of rewriting since the moment he became QB1 in 2018.
In just seven years, six as a starter, the Texas Tech alum has already thrown for 28,424 yards and 219 touchdowns in only 96 regular-season games.
But while Mahomes enters the 2024 NFL season trailing only Dawson among all Kansas City quarterbacks in each metric, he’s set to overtake the Hall of Famer in both categories during the upcoming campaign. And barring some sort of disaster, he’ll take down one of the marks during the team’s season opener against the Baltimore Ravens .
Patrick Mahomes Is Set to Become the Chiefs’ All-Time Leader in Passing Yards and TD Passes
Mahomes needs just 84 yards and 19 TD passes to pass Len Dawson in the respective categories
As mentioned, heading into the 2024 campaign, Mahomes has thrown for 28,424 yards and 219 touchdowns in 96 regular-season games with Kansas City.
In comparison, Dawson, who spent 14 of his 19 professional seasons with the Chiefs, threw for 28,507 yards and 237 touchdowns in 183 regular-season contests with the franchise. Yes, in just 52.5% of the games played, Mahomes has nearly caught the KC legend in these two categories. Sure, quarterbacks didn’t pass the ball nearly as much back then, but it’s still quite remarkable.
Simple math tells us that Mahomes needs just 84 yards in the Chiefs’ season-opening matchup with the Ravens to become the franchise’s all-time passing yards leader, which should be zero problem at all outside of some Aaron Rodgers -type setback early in the game.
It’s obviously a bit more difficult to predict when the two-time NFL MVP will toss his 19th touchdown pass of the year to become the Chiefs’ all-time leader in that category.
Over the course of his career, Mahomes has thrown an average of 2.28 TDs per game. Unshockingly, that’s the highest number in NFL history. If that number holds true as the ’24 campaign progresses, he’ll knock Dawson down to the second spot when the Chiefs host the Denver Broncos in Week 10.
But seeing as how this is Patrick Mahomes we’re talking about, let’s not be surprised if he hits the mark earlier.
All stats courtesy of Pro Football Reference unless stated otherwise.
