Statistics

OCTOBER 18, 2026 — WORKED GAME ANALYSIS

More yards per attempt, fewer touchdown passes

Mahomes's first game after the bye illustrates why a single headline statistic can mislead. Against the Chargers he completed 23 of 30 passes for 272 yards, with no touchdown passes and one interception. Before that game, his four-game line was 82 of 128 for 1,037 yards, nine touchdown passes and two interceptions.

Separate passing volume from the gain per attempt

His attempts fell from a four-game average of 32.0 to 30, while yards rose from 259.3 per game to 272. The arithmetic works because yards per attempt rose from 8.10 to 9.07. Completion percentage rose from 64.1% to 76.7%. That describes the passing output; it does not reveal whether scheme, receiver gains, protection or opponent coverage caused it.

Scoring rates tell a different part of the story

The first four games produced nine passing touchdowns on 128 attempts, or 7.03 per 100 attempts. The Chargers game produced zero on 30 attempts. Yet Kansas City won 22–6. The win and the passing-touchdown count measure different things: the team score cannot be attributed to Mahomes's passing alone. One game with no passing touchdowns does not establish a lasting decline, just as the higher completion percentage does not establish a lasting improvement.

How this changes the season picture

Across the five actual games, the passing line becomes 105 of 158 for 1,309 yards, nine touchdowns and three interceptions. That is 66.5% completions and 8.28 yards per attempt. These are attempt-weighted season rates: averaging the four-game completion percentage with the one-game percentage would give the small sample too much influence. Change the worksheet ranges to see how the first or latest game affects a comparison.

Original calculations and interpretation from the Chiefs player log and official final result and bye schedule, checked October 20, 2026. Regular season only, coverage through October 18. This is a dated analysis, not a live injury report, scouting claim or forecast. Inspect all included results.

READING MAHOMES’S NUMBERS

Two MVP seasons, two different peaks

His 2018 season produced 50 touchdown passes; 2022 produced 5,250 passing yards. Those are different measures of a season. The later year had more yards overall, but also 17 appearances rather than 16. Dividing yards by games gives 318.6 in 2018 and 308.8 in 2022.

That reverses the order of the raw yardage comparison. Neither ordering alone tells us which season was better: total production, scoring and efficiency answer different questions. The comparison below lets you inspect each without converting a team outcome into an individual rating.

Why the first and latest rows need care

The 2017 row represents one NFL appearance, not a full season as Kansas City’s starter. An in-progress season is another small sample. Compare completed seasons first; use the Games page to understand exactly which current results are included. Postseason rows measure a separate competition with different numbers of games, so they are never added to the regular-season chart.