Patrick Mahomes rebounded from a couple of un-Mahomes-like games recently — one TD in two contests — with three touchdown passes on Sunday.
But it was also the second straight game Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs lost — the defending NFL MVP was outdueled by Deshaun Watson and the Houston Texans.
Mahomes is still superhuman, leading the league with 2,104 yards and notching 14 touchdown passes with just one interception. But he’s no longer the surefire favorite for the MVP award that he was earlier in the year.
So here are a few names who are right there with Mahomes in the race as Week 6 draws to a close.
QB Russell Wilson, Seattle Seahawks
The Hawks are 5-1 and the veteran quarterback has thrown 14 TDs — one fewer than Mahomes — with exactly zero interceptions. His 72.5 completion percentage is second in the league. He’s also run for 151 yards and three scores. What’s fascinating to me about him is that the Seahawks have run the third-most attempts in 2019, so he’s making the most of his limited attempts.
RB Christian McCaffrey, Carolina Panthers
We covered this last week. It’s ridiculous what he’s doing leading the NFL in rushing and adding 305 receiving yards (third among running backs) while finding paydirt nine times. What’s against him is simply the fact that he’s a running back, and that’s an unfair strike against him given the bonkers numbers he’s put up for a team without its star QB that’s now 4-2.
QB Deshaun Watson, Houston Texans
As we said: he took down Mahomes. That’s part of the resume! He’s completing a career-high 69.7 percent of his passes, has a 4-to-1 touchdown to interception ratio and already has as many rushing scores — five — as he had last year. I think he’s behind the other two names above, but if he keeps this up, he’ll close the gap.
QB Lamar Jackson, Baltimore Ravens
Guess who’s the eighth-leading rusher in the NFL as of Monday morning? THIS GUY! Yes, he’s thrown five interceptions, but his completion percentage has gone up from 58.2 to a respectable 65.1. If he breaks Michael Vick’s record for QB rushing yards (1,039)? That’s something. We told you to bet on him at 100/1 back in June.
