An ‘alien’ comes to Atlanta: Falcons admit Mahomes Week is different

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — Atlanta Falcons defenders are talking about Patrick Mahomes like he’s an actor, and the NFL’s best guard is coming to Mercedes-Benz Stadium Sunday night.

“When the play collapses and you’ve covered everything and you’ve done everything right, there’s a second part to the play. There’s a second act,” Falcons linebacker Kaden Elliss said. “Not only can the first play that the great Andy Reid set up be covered up, you’ve got Patrick Mahomes becoming Him.”

By “him” we mean the dominant figure in his environment, and few professional athletes have been more dominant in their environments than Mahomes.

In six seasons as Kansas City’s starting quarterback, he has never finished a season before the AFC Championship Game. His three Super Bowl titles are tied for third most among starting quarterbacks in NFL history, and everyone ahead of him on that list has started at least twice as many times as he has. Only Tom Brady and Joe Montana have more playoff wins than Mahomes’ 15, and he is 29 years old. Since entering the league in 2017, no quarterback has won more games (91) or won them with a higher frequency (78.4 percent). The seven other quarterbacks drafted in 2017 have combined to win 76 games.

The numbers keep going and are the reason Atlanta is on top of the podium for the second straight week as the Falcons prepare to host the Chiefs at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on “Sunday Night Football.”

With all due respect to Kirk Cousins, Bijan Robinson and the new Falcons, the stage belongs to Mahomes.

“It’s his improvisation, man,” Falcons safety Richie Grant said. “He can improvise any play, turn something you don’t think is a win into a touchdown.”

Mahomes is so good, he’s defying even the oldest NFL cliché: that every week should be treated the same, regardless of the opponent. Atlanta outside linebacker Matthew Judon faced Mahomes six times as a member of the New England Patriots. Mahomes Week is different, he said.

“There are special players in this league,” Judon said. “When you have a guy like Patrick Mahomes on the roster, you watch film a little bit more. You pay more attention to the details because he’s a three-time champion and there’s something in the margin to win the game. It’s something in the details. It probably comes down to a couple of plays.”

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The Chiefs (2-0) come to Atlanta as 3.5-point favorites after winning eight straight games since last postseason.

“As a competitor, you always want to make a play against one of the best competitors,” Grant said. “I would question you if you don’t have that mindset.”

“It definitely stokes your competitive fire,” Elliss said. “When you take someone in this league who’s lackadaisical, you get it, but when you play on a team of this quality, it stokes your competitive fire a little bit more. I’m excited.”

Falcons coach Raheem Morris compares Mahomes not to an actor, but to an alien.

“He’s an alien,” Morris said. “He’s smart. He’s unique. He can move. He can buy time. He can play within the framework of the system. He knows what you’re doing on defense. He’s matured to the point where he sees everything. He’s seen every trick, every gimmick, every gamut, whatever you want to call it. He’s been able to really go out there and be at the top of his game in just about everything, and he’s just one of the best.”

POINT. @PatrickMahomes | @Chiefs photo.twitter.com/a9lV4txNu3

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Atlanta offensive coordinator Zac Robinson, who was an analyst for Pro Football Focus in 2017 identifying draft-eligible quarterbacks, said Mahomes had all of those traits, even then.

“Obviously, the ability he has with his arm to make a throw at any time was special, and then you just saw the instincts and the vision, and you just say, ‘This can’t go wrong,’ as long as he’s committed to the game and loves it,” Robinson said. “Obviously, he’s a football fanatic.”

Sunday night marks the second time the Falcons have faced Mahomes. The first came in December 2020, when Morris was Atlanta’s interim head coach following the firing of Dan Quinn. The Chiefs won 17-14, but the Falcons gave Mahomes enough trouble (55 percent completion percentage, 79.5 passer rating) that other NFL teams briefly hoped they had provided a blueprint to slow him down.

Since then, he has appeared in the Super Bowl three times.

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Morris got another shot at Mahomes as the Rams’ defensive coordinator in 2022. Mahomes again didn’t play great (85.4 passer rating). Mahomes won again (26-10). In two matchups against Morris’ defenses, Mahomes’ passer rating and efficiency, measured by EPA per attempt, are lower than his career averages (82.4 passer rating vs. 103.3 and .04 EPA per attempt vs. .26), according to TruMedia.

Those numbers don’t change the way Morris talks about Mahomes.

“He’s a problem no matter what,” the coach said, “and he’s one of the best we’ve seen, regardless of what generation you want to talk about.”

Falcons safety Justin Simmons, who spent the first eight years of his career in Denver, has also had some success against Mahomes. He has intercepted the quarterback five times. No other player has done so more than twice. Like Morris, Simmons is smart enough not to brag about it.

“It’s not the first three seconds of the game, it’s the next four or five seconds that really matter,” Simmons said. “You can’t get frustrated when they make a big play. It’s a next-play mentality. They take a lot of shots and you have a lot of opportunities to make plays on the ball. We’ve got to be able to make plays on the football. It’s fun to play that cat-and-mouse game. This is going to be a big one for us.”

(Photo: David Eulitt/Getty Images)