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Chiefs' Patrick Mahomes Passes Dan Marino, Becomes Fastest QB to 100 Passing TDs
November 8, 2020
The Kansas City Chiefs earned a narrow 33-31 victory over the Carolina Panthers on Sunday, and Patrick Mahomes made history in the process.
The quarterback threw for 372 yards and four touchdowns, the latter of which put him at 101 for his career. ESPN's Adam Teicher noted the 2018 MVP only needed 40 regular-season games to get there, four fewer than Dan Marino, which made him the fastest to 100 career touchdown passes.
Add this to what's already an incredible resume for a 25-year-old in his third full season as a starting quarterback.
Last year, Mahomes was the second-youngest quarterback to win the Super Bowl. Two years ago, he was the youngest league MVP since Marino in 1984. He had eclipsed the former Miami Dolphins quarterback as the fastest to 90 passing touchdowns.
Of course, this should also lead to a greater appreciation of what Marino was doing early in his career. Between 1983 and 1988, he threw for more yards (23,856) than anybody in the league, per Pro Football Reference. Neil Lomax (19,829) was second on the list.
The league wasn't as quarterback-friendly in the 1980s as it is for Mahomes and his peers today. Dan Fouts and the San Diego Chargers' Air Coryell offense were precursors for the modern-day NFL, but it wasn't until a series of rule changes over the years that the passing game really opened up.
That's to take nothing away from Mahomes, whose production is exceptional even relative to his era. Prior to Sunday, he was averaging 300.7 yards per game over his career, which is on pace to surpass the all-time record.
And here's a scary thought. Mahomes said he thinks he's continuing to improve, per Teicher:
"I think I just understand the game more. Last year I just didn't have as many stats to kind of [pad the total], I guess you could say. But I feel like I was playing better last year than I did the year before. This year we're getting the touchdowns we didn't have last year. But every year I'm more comfortable within the offense, I'm more comfortable reading the defenses and understanding where the ball is going to go even before the snap of the ball."
By the time it's all said and done, the question may not be which passing records Mahomes owns, but which ones don't bear his name.