PatrickMahomes

News: 2 days agoMahomes completed 28 of 41 passes for 260 yards and one touchdown in Saturday's 27-19 win over the Texans. He also rushed five times for 33 yards and a touchdown.

Spin: Mahomes quickly demonstrated that the ankle sprain he suffered in the Week 15 win over the Browns isn't inhibiting his ability to run, as he scrambled for a 12-yard gain on Kansas City's eighth offensive play and added a 15-yard rushing touchdown three plays later. The star quarterback tacked on an eight-yard touchdown pass to Xavier Worthy in the third quarter as Kansas City improved to 14-1. The Chiefs need one win over their last two games or a Buffalo loss to clinch the No. 1 seed in the AFC and a first-round bye. Unless the Bills lose to the 3-11 Patriots on Sunday, Mahomes won't be rested against the Steelers on Christmas.

ESPN Fantasy Projection: Though Mahomes' 2023 saw him post his worst yards per attempt (7.0), aDOT (6.2), touchdown (4.5%) and interception (2.3%) rates of his six seasons as an NFL regular, consider the context: He was working with his weakest set of receivers in any of those years. The Chiefs were worst in the league in drops (38) and had the second-worst catch rate on throws 20-plus yards downfield (27.4%), after having been seventh best in that department the season before. Mahomes made it work -- he led the team to a Super Bowl title, after all -- and it's a testament to his overwhelming, Hall of Fame-caliber talent that he finished eighth among quarterbacks in scoring in spite of his supporting cast. The additions of Marquise Brown and Xavier Worthy, coupled with Rashee Rice's late-season emergence, should give Mahomes the weapons necessary to rebound as a top-five positional pick and early-round selection.