Philadelphia had about the best defense in the league during the regular season – first in yards and 2nd in points allowed. They also have Vic Fangio, who tangled plenty with Kansas City when he was coaching in the AFC West.
Fangio, recall, was the head coach of the Broncos from 2019 to 2021. He was the defensive coordinator at Miami in 2023. So he’s seen Patrick Mahomes eight times in the last five years.
Not a lot of success in terms of wins and losses. Kansas City won all eight of those games. But Mahomes didn’t tend to put up big numbers in those games – including just 10 touchdown passes.
One of those games, recall, was the Thursday nighter back in 2019, with Mahomes leaving with an injury after a quarterback sneak. If we look at just his seven full games, an average of 251 passing yards on 63 percent passing, with 9 TDs versus 2 interceptions. Not terrible, but not up to what he tends up to put up against most.
MAHOMES AGAINST VIC FANGIO | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Opp | Result | Cmp | Att | Yds | TD | Int | Sk | Rushing |
2019 | at Den. | W 30-6 | 10 | 11 | 76 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1-2 |
2019 | H Den. | W 23-3 | 27 | 34 | 340 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 3-11 |
2020 | at Den. | W 43-16 | 15 | 23 | 200 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0-0 |
2020 | H Den. | W 22-16 | 25 | 40 | 318 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4-26 |
2021 | H Den. | W 22-9 | 15 | 29 | 184 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4-12-1 |
2021 | at Den. | W 28-24 | 27 | 44 | 270 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 9-54 |
2023 | N Mia. | W 21-14 | 20 | 30 | 185 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 6-24 |
2023 | H Mia. | W 26-7 | 23 | 41 | 262 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2-41 |
With a lot of these wins tending to be more of the methodical, workmanlike variety, I don’t see a lot of big numbers by the field players. I see four noteworthy games in those eight contests, and three of them were put together back in the 2019-20 seasons, when Kansas City was a lot more explosive than it is now.
The only other big game by an individual player was by Rashee Rice in the playoffs last year, but he won’t be playing in the Super Bowl. (KC, on the other hand, will be relying primarily on three wide receivers who didn’t appear in any of those previous games – Xavier Worthy, Hollywood Brown and DeAndre Hopkins.)
Kansas City hasn’t tended to run for a lot of yards against Fangio defenses. Isiah Pacheco ran for 89 and 66 yards in the two games against Miami last year (including one in Germany). But only one other running back has run for more than 54 yards against a Fangio defense (LeSean McCoy, back in 2019).
K.C. FIELD PLAYERS AGAINST VIC FANGIO (2019-2023) | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Site | Result | Player | Rushing | Receiving | PPR |
2019 | Den. | W 30-6 | WR Tyreek Hill | 0-0-0 | 3-74-1 | 16.4 |
2019 | Den. | W 30-6 | WR Mecole Hardman | 0-0-0 | 2-28-1 | 10.8 |
2019 | Den. | W 30-6 | TE Travis Kelce | 0-0-0 | 6-44-0 | 10.4 |
2019 | Den. | W 30-6 | RB LeSean McCoy | 12-64-0 | 2-12-0 | 9.6 |
2019 | Den. | W 30-6 | WR Demarcus Robinson | 0-0-0 | 3-31-0 | 6.1 |
2019 | Den. | W 30-6 | RB Darrel Williams | 2-1-0 | 2-5-0 | 2.6 |
2019 | Den. | W 30-6 | RB Damien Williams | 9-7-0 | 2--1-0 | 2.6 |
2019 | Den. | W 30-6 | FB Anthony Sherman | 2-7-0 | 0-0-0 | .7 |
2019 | Den. | W 30-6 | TE Blake Bell | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | .0 |
2019 | K.C. | W 23-3 | TE Travis Kelce | 0-0-0 | 11-142-0 | 25.2 |
2019 | K.C. | W 23-3 | WR Tyreek Hill | 1-1-0 | 5-67-2 | 23.8 |
2019 | K.C. | W 23-3 | WR Sammy Watkins | 0-0-0 | 3-49-0 | 7.9 |
2019 | K.C. | W 23-3 | TE Blake Bell | 0-0-0 | 2-41-0 | 6.1 |
2019 | K.C. | W 23-3 | RB Spencer Ware | 7-26-0 | 2-9-0 | 5.5 |
2019 | K.C. | W 23-3 | RB Darwin Thompson | 8-38-0 | 1-1-0 | 4.9 |
2019 | K.C. | W 23-3 | WR Demarcus Robinson | 0-0-0 | 2-21-0 | 4.1 |
2019 | K.C. | W 23-3 | WR Mecole Hardman | 0-0-0 | 1-10-0 | 2.0 |
2019 | K.C. | W 23-3 | RB LeSean McCoy | 6-16-0 | 0-0-0 | 1.6 |
2020 | Den. | W 43-16 | WR Tyreek Hill | 0-0-0 | 6-55-1 | 17.5 |
2020 | Den. | W 43-16 | RB C. Edwards-Helaire | 8-46-1 | 1-17-0 | 13.3 |
2020 | Den. | W 43-16 | WR Mecole Hardman | 1-13-0 | 2-57-0 | 9.0 |
2020 | Den. | W 43-16 | TE Travis Kelce | 0-0-0 | 3-31-0 | 6.1 |
2020 | Den. | W 43-16 | TE Nick Keizer | 0-0-0 | 2-36-0 | 5.6 |
2020 | Den. | W 43-16 | RB LeVeon Bell | 6-39-0 | 0-0-0 | 3.9 |
2020 | Den. | W 43-16 | WR Marcus Kemp | 0-0-0 | 1-11-0 | 2.1 |
2020 | Den. | W 43-16 | RB DeAndre Washington | 3-5-0 | 1-2-0 | 1.7 |
2020 | Den. | W 43-16 | WR Demarcus Robinson | 0-0-0 | 1-4-0 | 1.4 |
2020 | K.C. | W 22-16 | TE Travis Kelce | 0-0-0 | 8-136-1 | 27.6 |
2020 | K.C. | W 22-16 | WR Tyreek Hill | 1-30-0 | 6-58-0 | 14.8 |
2020 | K.C. | W 22-16 | RB LeVeon Bell | 11-40-0 | 2-15-0 | 7.5 |
2020 | K.C. | W 22-16 | WR Sammy Watkins | 0-0-0 | 4-35-0 | 7.5 |
2020 | K.C. | W 22-16 | WR Demarcus Robinson | 0-0-0 | 2-39-0 | 5.9 |
2020 | K.C. | W 22-16 | RB Darrel Williams | 6-38-0 | 1-5-0 | 5.3 |
2020 | K.C. | W 22-16 | WR Mecole Hardman | 0-0-0 | 1-15-0 | 2.5 |
2020 | K.C. | W 22-16 | TE Nick Keizer | 0-0-0 | 1-15-0 | 2.5 |
2021 | K.C. | W 22-9 | RB C. Edwards-Helaire | 14-54-0 | 3-28-0 | 11.2 |
2021 | K.C. | W 22-9 | RB Darrel Williams | 5-20-0 | 3-60-0 | 11.0 |
2021 | K.C. | W 22-9 | TE Travis Kelce | 0-0-0 | 3-27-0 | 5.7 |
2021 | K.C. | W 22-9 | WR Tyreek Hill | 0-0-0 | 2-22-0 | 4.2 |
2021 | K.C. | W 22-9 | WR Demarcus Robinson | 0-0-0 | 2-21-0 | 4.1 |
2021 | K.C. | W 22-9 | WR Byron Pringle | 0-0-0 | 1-14-0 | 2.4 |
2021 | K.C. | W 22-9 | WR Mecole Hardman | 0-0-0 | 1-12-0 | 2.2 |
2021 | K.C. | W 22-9 | FB Michael Burton | 1-3-0 | 0-0-0 | .3 |
2021 | K.C. | W 22-9 | WR Marcus Kemp | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | .0 |
2021 | Den. | W 28-24 | WR Mecole Hardman | 1-10-0 | 8-103-0 | 19.3 |
2021 | Den. | W 28-24 | RB Jerick McKinnon | 5-24-0 | 3-26-1 | 14.0 |
2021 | Den. | W 28-24 | TE Travis Kelce | 0-0-0 | 4-34-1 | 13.4 |
2021 | Den. | W 28-24 | WR Byron Pringle | 0-0-0 | 5-56-0 | 10.6 |
2021 | Den. | W 28-24 | RB Darrel Williams | 7-17-0 | 3-30-0 | 7.7 |
2021 | Den. | W 28-24 | WR Demarcus Robinson | 0-0-0 | 3-19-0 | 4.9 |
2021 | Den. | W 28-24 | RB Derrick Gore | 7-30-0 | 0-0-0 | 3.0 |
2021 | Den. | W 28-24 | WR Tyreek Hill | 0-0-0 | 1-2-0 | 1.2 |
2021 | Den. | W 28-24 | WR Josh Gordon | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | .0 |
2023 | Ger. | W 21-14 | RB Jerick McKinnon | 1-2-0 | 2-22-1 | 10.4 |
2023 | Ger. | W 21-14 | WR Rashee Rice | 0-0-0 | 2-17-1 | 9.7 |
2023 | Ger. | W 21-14 | RB Isiah Pacheco | 16-66-0 | 0-0-0 | 6.6 |
2023 | Ger. | W 21-14 | TE Noah Gray | 0-0-0 | 3-34-0 | 6.4 |
2023 | Ger. | W 21-14 | WR Skyy Moore | 0-0-0 | 2-33-0 | 5.3 |
2023 | Ger. | W 21-14 | TE Travis Kelce | 0-0-0 | 3-14-0 | 4.4 |
2023 | Ger. | W 21-14 | WR M. Valdes-Scantling | 0-0-0 | 2-22-0 | 4.2 |
2023 | Ger. | W 21-14 | WR Mecole Hardman | 0-0-0 | 3-10-0 | 4.0 |
2023 | Ger. | W 21-14 | WR Justin Watson | 0-0-0 | 2-15-0 | 3.5 |
2023 | Ger. | W 21-14 | WR Kadarius Toney | 0-0-0 | 1-18-0 | 2.8 |
2023 | Ger. | W 21-14 | RB LaMical Perine | 1-1-0 | 0-0-0 | .1 |
2023 | K.C. | W 26-9 | WR Rashee Rice | 0-0-0 | 8-130-1 | 27.0 |
2023 | K.C. | W 26-9 | RB Isiah Pacheco | 24-89-1 | 1-(-1)-0 | 15.8 |
2023 | K.C. | W 26-9 | TE Travis Kelce | 0-0-0 | 7-71-0 | 14.1 |
2023 | K.C. | W 26-9 | WR Justin Watson | 0-0-0 | 2-20-0 | 4.0 |
2023 | K.C. | W 26-9 | RB C. Edwards-Helaire | 7-21-0 | 1-5-0 | 3.6 |
2023 | K.C. | W 26-9 | TE Noah Gray | 0-0-0 | 1-20-0 | 3.0 |
2023 | K.C. | W 26-9 | WR M. Valdes-Scantling | 0-0-0 | 1-8-0 | 1.8 |
2023 | K.C. | W 26-9 | WR Richie James | 0-0-0 | 1-6-0 | 1.6 |
2023 | K.C. | W 26-9 | WR Mecole Hardman | 1-(-4)-0 | 1-3-0 | .9 |
With Kansas City nowadays, I don’t think it’s an offense that will be putting up big numbers. Its strength is instead its ability to come up with the necessary clutch plays in the fourth quarter, when the game is hanging in the balance.
—Ian Allan