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12/10 05:00 CST 10 months after Super Bowl, Mahomes and Hurts struggle in
historic week of turnovers
10 months after Super Bowl, Mahomes and Hurts struggle in historic week of
turnovers
By JOSH DUBOW
AP Pro Football Writer
The least productive start of Patrick Mahomes' career ended Kansas City's
nine-year run of division titles and put another remarkable streak in jeopardy.
Jalen Hurts was even worse a night later for the Philadelphia Eagles, as the
two starting quarterbacks from last season's Super Bowl combined for a week
that had never before been seen in the NFL.
Mahomes threw three interceptions and no touchdowns in the Chiefs' 20-10 loss
to Houston that dealt a major blow to their playoff hopes. Hurts threw four
interceptions, lost a fumble and had no TDs in a 22-19 overtime loss to the Los
Angeles Chargers.
It marked the first time that the two starting QBs from the previous season's
Super Bowl each threw at least three interceptions and had no TD passes in the
same week.
The 19.8 passer rating for Mahomes and 31.3 for Hurts are the two lowest this
season among quarterbacks with at least 25 attempts in a game as neither looked
close to the level they reached last season on their runs to the Super Bowl.
Mahomes' rating was the lowest for any Chiefs QB with at least 20 attempts
since Matt Cassel had a 19.1 in the 2010 season finale against the Raiders. The
10 points were the fewest ever scored by Kansas City in a game started by
Mahomes at Arrowhead Stadium.
The loss eliminated Kansas City from contention in the AFC West after nine
straight titles and put their run of seven straight appearances in the AFC
title game in jeopardy. The Patriots are the only other team with longer
streaks, having won 11 straight division titles from 2009-19 and made eight
straight AFC title games from 2011-18 with Tom Brady.
It also dropped Kansas City's chances of making the playoffs to 11%, according
to the NFL NextGen Stats model. Barring a shocking turn of events, this could
set up the first AFC championship game without either Mahomes or Brady at
quarterback since the 2010 season.
Hurts' performance wasn't nearly as damaging to Philadelphia's playoff hopes as
the Eagles still hold a 1 1/2-game lead over Dallas in the NFC East but
provided a moment that had never before been seen in the modern NFL.
It happened when Hurts threw his second interception of the game in the second
quarter. Chargers defensive lineman Da'Shawn Hand caught it and started his
return. He then fumbled when he was hit by the Eagles' Will Shipley. Hurts
recovered, but immediately fumbled right back after getting hit by Los Angeles'
Jamaree Caldwell. Troy Dye recovered for the Chargers, giving Hurts both an
interception and a lost fumble on the same play.
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Hurts was the first player to commit two
turnovers on the same play as far as records go back to 1978.
He threw two more interceptions, including a game-ending one in overtime to
become the first Philadelphia player with five turnovers in a game since
Donovan McNabb did it in 1999 as a rookie against Indianapolis.
Quarterback carousel While Shedeur Sanders was named the starter for the rest of the season in Cleveland, some of the other franchises might be looking for new starters. The New York Jets could be forced to use a new starter with Tyrod Taylor dealing with a groin injury and Justin Fields slowed by a knee injury. Rookie Brady Cook made his NFL debut in relief of Taylor on Sunday and could be in line for a start this week against Jacksonville that would make him the team's 41st starting QB since Joe Namath's last start in 1976 and the 46th since the merger. The Browns have used the most starting quarterbacks since the merger with 60, with the only other teams using more than the Jets being Chicago (54), the Rams and Cardinals (49 each) and Washington (47). Indianapolis could use its 44th starting QB since the merger after Daniel Jones tore his Achilles --- or do something even more surprising. The Colts signed 44-year-old Philip Rivers to the practice squad this week even though he last played in the 2020 season. Riley Leonard and Brett Rypien are the options if Rivers isn't ready to go. The Colts have lost four out of five games to go from 7-1 and the top spot in the conference to in danger of missing the playoffs. Only five of the 127 teams that started a season 7-1 or better since the merger missed the playoffs with it last happening with Chicago in 2012. Washington missed out in 1996, New Orleans in 1988, San Diego in the strike-impacted 1987 season and Miami in 1975. Defensive stars Seattle rookie defensive back Nick Emmanwori and Buffalo cornerback Christian Benford put together some performances for the record book on Sunday. Emmanwori had a sack, an interception and blocked a field goal in the Seahawks' 37-9 win at Atlanta. Only three other players since at least 2000 had a sack, interception and blocked kick in the same game with Emmanwori's teammate Leonard Williams the last to do it in 2024 for Seattle against the New York Jets. Arizona's Adrian Wilson did it in the 2010 season opener against the Rams and Hall of Famer Julius Peppers did it in Week 12 of the 2004 season against Tampa Bay. Benford had a game-changing pick-6 in the Bills' win over Cincinnati a week after returning a fumble for a touchdown against Pittsburgh. He is the first Bills player ever to score a defensive TD in back-to-back games and the first on any team to do it since Nik Bonitto did it for Denver last December. Benford's 63-yard return on Sunday when Cincinnati was in Bills territory with a 28-25 lead with less than 6 minutes remaining gave Buffalo the lead and completely changed the game. According to the NFL's NextGen Stats, the play increased Buffalo's win probability from 16.2% to 77% --- with the 60.8 percentage point increase in win probability the largest of any play outside of the last 2 minutes in 10 seasons of NextGen Stats data. Vikings flip the script The Minnesota Vikings pulled off a feat that hadn't been done in more than three decades. One week after losing 26-0 at Seattle, the Vikings turned the tables on Washington and beat the Commanders 31-0 at home in a turnaround last accomplished by the 1992 Denver Broncos. Minnesota was the fifth team in the Super Bowl era to shut out an opponent after getting blanked the previous game. John Elway's Broncos were the last to do it in 1992 when they followed up a 30-0 loss to Philadelphia in Week 3 with a 12-0 win at Cleveland the next week. While that kind of turnaround is rare in the modern game it wasn't uncommon in the early days of the NFL when shutouts were far more common and there were 73 scoreless draws in the league's first quarter century. According to Sportradar, there were 160 instances in the pre-Super Bowl era when a team followed a shutout loss with a shutout win. ___ Inside the Numbers dives into NFL statistics, streaks and trends each week. For more Inside the Numbers, head here. ___ AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL |
