Patrick Mahomes
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If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Eventually, though, Mahomes wanted to change up his look and entered 2025 with a higher, tighter haircut. "It was kind of one of those superstitions," he said. The new style accompanied the megastar into his ninth year as he aimed to see an even bigger champion in the mirror.

All eyes were on Mahomes and the Chiefs as they hosted the Ravens for the first game on the 2024 league calendar. He did what was needed to get the job done, finishing 20-of-28 for 291 yards and a touchdown as K.C. held on to win 27-20 in a rematch of the previous season's AFC Championship.

PATRICK MAHOMES II 15 • KANSAS CITY CHIEFS • QB Battling against the Bills for a spot in the Super Bowl, Mahomes guided his Chiefs to a 32-29 victory. The quarterback tallied 245 yards and a touchdown through the air, added a pair of rushing scores and engineered a clutch drive that ended with the game-winning field goal.

It was going to be one of those games. The signs were there. Mahomes had 321 yards and three touchdowns by halftime in Week 7 of 2023 against the Chargers, well on the way to a dominant win. It was the fourth time in his career he threw for 300-plus in the first half, and he finished with 424 and four TDs.

In Mahomes' first full season as the Chiefs' starting QB (2018), he led the league in passing touchdowns with 50. Ever since then, the Kansas City superstar has tossed TDs at a world-class level. He entered 2024 with 219 regular-season touchdowns and 41 postseason scores.

The evidence of Mahomes' clutch gene is everywhere. CBS Sports laid out more: a 15-for-21 conversion rate on drives that could tie the game or give the Chiefs the lead in the fourth quarter and overtime in the playoffs, including a 3-for-3 showing in the Super Bowl LVIII victory against San Francisco.

Mahomes' roots in Kansas City's sporting culture run deep. In addition to bringing the Chiefs three titles, the two-time MVP also holds ownership stakes in the city's baseball and soccer clubs. And there might be more: News broke in October 2024 that he and wife Brittany seek to bring a WBNA expansion team to town.

It was the sort of simple play that defines what makes Mahomes Mahomes. Facing third-and-13 during the fourth quarter in Week 10 in 2024, he coolly dropped back in the face of the Broncos' blitz. Waiting until the right moment, he dropped a perfect dime to veteran DeAndre Hopkins, who took it for a 31-yard gain.

The way Mahomes gets his job done in any type of weather, he might have a post football career waiting for him as a postman. In Week 9 of 2024, he delivered on a windswept, rainy night to gut out an overtime win over Tampa Bay. "I pride myself in throwing in any conditions," said the two-time MVP.

What a phenomenal first six years as starting quarterback of the Chiefs for Mahomes. How else to say it? From 2018-23, the first-round pick out of Texas Tech won 73 games, three Super Bowls, two league MVPs, led the league in touchdown passes twice and in passing once and had a 50-TD-throw season.

Take the awards, accolades and achievements and set them aside. Mahomes won't judge his career by them. "I'm going to look back on how I played the game, and I hope that's that intensity and leaving everything out there," the multi-time Super Bowl champion said. "And hopefully that means winning a lot of football games."