in a record-setting performance against the Steelers Joey Bosa Jersey , one that gave the Chiefs a big road win and may have stamped them as the AFC's top team, when someone asked him how he planned to celebrate his birthday.Mahomes said he planned to watch film of the San Francisco 49ers.If that was merely the politically correct answer, though, and the 23-year-old first-year starter planned to hit the town, he should have no shortage of Chiefs fans willing to buy him drinks.They'll probably still be celebrating St. Patrick's big day."I don't think that you could expect more from anyone," said Chris Conley, one of five different receivers to catch a TD pass."He's handled the times where he's made the plays really well. He's handled the times where he hasn't. That speaks volumes."To be frank, there haven't been many times where he hasn't made the plays.Mahomes was so dynamic in a Week 17 win at Denver last season that the Chiefs traded away Pro Bowl quarterback Alex Smith and gave Mahomes the starting job.Then he threw four TD passes without a pick in a near-flawless performance in a road win over the AFC West-rival Chargers to open the season.But his performance in Pittsburgh, where the Chiefs hadn't won a game since 1986, was the kind of transcendent display that Chiefs fans have been pining for since Len Dawson was taking snaps.Mahomes was 23 of 28 for 326 yards, which means he threw more touchdown passes than incompletions. He made all the right checks, scrambled when the opportunity presented itself, and kept his poise when the Chiefs squandered a 21-point first-quarter lead by engineering a near-flawless second half."Everybody knew how strong of an arm he has," Steelers cornerback Mike Hilton said, "and he was making some decent throws, and his playmakers made plays."Yes, it helps to have a dizzying array of talent surrounding him.Kareem Hunt ran for 75 yards to provide just enough offensive balance. Travis Kelce had seven catches for 109 yards and two scores, and Sammy Watkins had six catches for 100 yards, lest anybody worry after their quiet openers against the Chargers.Tyreek Hill added five catches for 90 yards, all in the second half, with another touchdown to punctuate his typically stellar outing.Still, it takes the quarterback to deliver them the ball."There'll be games where teams try and take away one or two guys and that's the good thing about this team is that no one really cares about who is getting the shine," Mahomes said Authentic Austin Ekeler Jersey , after spending a hefty amount of time praising his teammates. "Everybody just wants to win."Nobody more so than Mahomes, whose 10 touchdown passes through the first two weeks of the season broke the NFL record of nine shared by Peyton Manning, Drew Brees and Charley Johnson.Those touchdown passes have gone to seven different receivers, including fullback Anthony Sherman, which matches the number of guys that caught TD passes all last season.And those six TD tosses against the Steelers matched Dawson's 54-year-old franchise record for a single game."It just speaks to the weapons that we have on offense. They can't stop everybody," Mahomes said, "so for me, it's just about getting it to the guy that has the man-to-man coverage or has the open area. Those guys were getting open. The offensive line was blocking great. It was making my job easy."Perhaps the only downside to so much success is that the expectations surrounding Mahomes, which were already soaring in training camp, have soared to an almost impossible level.One sports talk radio host wondered Monday whether Mahomes will break Manning's record for TD passes in a single season. He's on pace for an absurd 80 of them, and while nobody expects him to maintain such a pace, the reality is he needs to average just 3.2 per game to top the record of 55.Then there are the expectations for the Chiefs. They've already beaten two teams that were thought to be playoff contenders, on the road no less, and done so in fairly convincing fashion.It's hardly surprising that Chiefs coach Andy Reid tried to keep everything in perspective when he met with reporters on Monday. But that job is becoming more difficult each week."The key to this thing is that you're growing, that you keep growing. The more that these defensive coordinators have to study it, you keep answering that bell, so that's his challenge right now," Reid said. "Is everything going to be roses? No. But he's seeing things right now and doing a nice job."Five Questions with Turf Show Times 1) How seriously are Rams fans seeing this whole ‘Fight for LA’ thing? For most Chargers fans, it doesn’t exactly feel like there’s a rivalry with the Rams, and it doesn’t feel like an even fight, either.Not seriously at all. Yet.With the Rams’ history and the fact that Spanos tried to block the Rams from returning to LA, many fans have a pretty strong disdain for the Chargers. Or at least for the owner. So there’s a bed of sentiment to develop a rivalry from. And we know the NFL is going to push for it haaaaaaaaaaaaaard. My take? I think it’ll take root. Obviously a Week 3 game isn’t necessarily going to make it happen, but I think it will develop (a) once you guys starting winning in LA and building a fan base and (b) if we ever get this game in Week 14 or later when we’re both in the midst of a playoff push.As of right now though Youth Darius Philon Jersey , we’re busy fighting in the NFC and if anything, fighting for old Raiders fans to come to our side.2) The Rams absolutely beat down on the Cardinals last week. Were the Rams that good, or were the Cardinals that bad?Yes.In all seriousness, it was both. Specifically, the Cardinals’ offense just couldn’t get anything going all game. They didn’t cross the 50-yard line until late in the 4th quarter. So with the field position game cranking and having established the run in the 1st quarter, it was just very easy for the offense to begin to open things up. And given the quality of the skill positions and how well the offensive line is playing, it was just an avalanche effect that the Cardinals did nothing to stem offensively.3) Following on from that, the Rams offense has looked unstoppable so far. What’s working, and do you anticipate that continuing against the Chargers?The biggest thing that’s working is the offensive line. PFF ranked them 3rd in the NFL after two weeks. They’re just doing a phenomenal job making things straightforward for RB Todd Gurley and allowing QB Jared Goff to operate the offense with confidence in the amount of time he has to go through things. Of course, I have to point to the wideouts as well. Brandin Cooks, Robert Woods and Cooper Kupp form one of the NFL’s best trios. Cooks has shined in his first two games as a Ram in replacing last year’s WR1, Sammy Watkins. The Rams had one of the best offenses in the NFL last year and brought back 10 starters. Many would argue the only personnel change was an upgrade. No reason not to buy into the Rams’ offense again this year.4) Defensively, the Rams seem downright scary. Is there a weakness in this defense, and how much of a miss will Mark Barron be?Well, this is where things are more interesting for me. The Rams weren’t bad by any means in 2017 on this side of the ball, but it wasn’t nearly as dominant as the offense was for stretches. The Rams traded for CBs Aqib Talib and Marcus Peters and added DL Ndamukong Suh on a one-year rental to form perhaps the NFL’s best defensive line. But it meant they had to go with near total overhaul among the linebackers. OLB Robert Quinn and ILB Alec Ogletree were both traded while OLB Connor Barwin left in free agency meaning ILB Mark Barron was the only 2017 starter to return. He hasn’t played a snap dealing with injuries that hampered him throughout 2017. So the linebacking group is both the weak point and the group with perhaps the most potential to improve and/or surprise. Even if the group underwhelms as a whole this year, it’s surrounded by incredibly impressive talent. So it might be the obvious weakness. And it might be the case that we miss Barron substantially. But every roster has holes. And most don’t have the cast around those holes that the Rams do.5) Can we get a prediction for the game, and for the Rams season as a whole? Just how far can this team go?Man, so this game is interesting. You guys are the best team we’ve faced to this point, so I’m not sure how we’d handle adversity with yall’s level of talent. I’ll go with a medium over/under and a Rams win, but I’m much less confident in my prediction this game than I have been the first two weeks where I was pretty close (and pretty confident). I went 24-20 for the Rams in our staff predictions, but I think it’s going to be largely on the development of the game. Of the third quarter. Of who finds out what’s working and leans into it and who can figure out how to isolate what they’re doing wrong and cut it off as quickly as possible. Should be a good one.
