Mahomes looked good, distributing the ball effectively across his receiving corps. The run game took over on the first drive once the offense entered the red zone, with Kareem Hunt getting the ball on first down before Isiah Pacheco found the end zone from two yards out on second. Mahomes notably targeted rookie RB Brashard Smith twice on the drive. Smith dropped a would-be first-down pass on 2nd-and-10 but Mahomes went back to him three plays later and the two connected for a 12-yard gain. Mahomes then led the offense to a field goal on the second drive by linking up with Tyquan Thornton for 58 yards. He made it a point to get the remaining starters involved on the third drive, which he capped off with a touchdown pass thrown to Rashee Rice.

Mahomes and Co. started with the ball deep in Cardinals territory after Cardinals WR Greg Dortch fumbled the opening kickoff. Mahomes snapped the ball from the Cardinals’ one-yard line and tossed a back-shoulder pass to WR Jason Brownlee, who successfully secured and came down with the ball.

As Keefer notes in the article, Andy Reid “made a point of it all spring” for the Chiefs to “get back to pushing the ball deep down the field.” Per PFF, since 2021, Patrick Mahomes has ranked 21st or lower in ADOT (min. 300 dropbacks), but finished sixth in ADOT in 2018 when he broke out for 5,097-50-12 on his way to winning his first MVP. A lot has changed since Mahomes last aired it out at a high rate. Most notably is the departure of Tyreek Hill in 2022 and Travis Kelce no longer being the spry, explosive playmaker we saw several seasons ago. The Chiefs hope the return of Hollywood Brown and a second year of work for Xavier Worthy will lead to more explosive plays next season, which could spell big things for fantasy managers who decide to take shots on pieces of an offense that ranked 15th in scoring last season.

The Week 13 matchup will bring Patrick Mahomes and the AFC champion Chiefs to Dallas for the day’s late afternoon game. It could be a shootout if key players on both sides are healthy. Dak Prescott heads into the season with George Pickens as a legit WR2 behind CeeDee Lamb, and Mahomes — who has talked this offseason about more explosive plays for the KC offense — will have Xavier Worthy, Travis Kelce, Rashee Rice, and Hollywood Brown at his disposal. Mahomes has faced Dallas once in his NFL career, a Week 11 win in 2021 in which he threw for 260 scoreless yards. The hope for both the league and fantasy managers is that the Cowboys are still in postseason contention by the end of November.