The moment is finally here to see a glimpse of what the future holds as the Kansas City Chiefs (9-6) announced that rookie quarterback Patrick Mahomes will start Sunday's Week 17 game against the Denver Broncos.
The move was announced by Kansas City head coach Andy Reid and was confirmed on Twitter by Chiefs reporter B.J. Kissel.
With the Chiefs securing their second straight AFC West division title last week, the team has a chance to give Alex Smith a little rest and give Mahomes some reps against the Broncos in a game that does not have an impact on the playoffs.
Per another tweet from Kissel, head coach Andy Reid opened up about his decision to start Mahomes:
“Fortunately, we have a QB in Alex (Smith) that understands & is having a phenomenal year,” Reid said. “An MVP-caliber year, so he understands the situation & this won’t detour anything off of what he’s doing the remainder of the season.”
Mahomes, who has not thrown a single pass yet during the 2017-18 regular season, looked very impressive during the preseason and threw for four touchdowns, zero interceptions and 390 passing yards on 34-of-54 throwing attempts.
Per a tweet from Arrowhead Pride:
“It's not going to hurt him for sure. He will learn from it,” Reid said of Patrick Mahomes. “Every snap that he gets is a valuable snap for him whenever he has that chance of getting in there.”
The Chiefs have been quite a streaky team this year, to say the least. They started off the season 5-0 and looked like the best team in the NFL, followed that with a stretch where they lost six of seven contests, and now have won three games in a row to clinch the division.