Grüße und Vorstellung » Watching Patrick Mahomes this season has made

FOXBOROUGH https://www.thechiefsfanshop.com/Anthony-Hitchens-Jersey , Mass. Tom Brady feel like an old man.聽At least old enough to remember a much different era for young NFL quarterbacks.As a rookie in 2000, Brady remembers being nowhere near seeing the field as a starter.“I was sitting in the stands, eating nachos before games. I wasn’t playing,” he joked this week.Now he looks around at a league in which Mahomes is one of several young quarterbacks in their first or second year starting for teams. Brady also started his second season, but it was hardly the plan as he replaced an injured first-stringer, Drew Bledsoe.“Football was different then,” Brady said. “I think now, in some ways, pro football is more glorified college football … the transition is a more similar game than it used to be when I first started.”It’s an atmosphere that has allowed Mahomes, who will start for Kansas City when the Chiefs (5-0) visit New England (3-2) on Sunday night, to emerge as the most electrifying quarterback in the NFL this season.Mahomes leads the NFL with 14 touchdown passes through Week 5 and has won each of his first six NFL starts, dating back to his lone start last season. With a win against the Patriots, Mahomes would become the sixth quarterback since 1970 to win his first seven career starts.It has put the second-year Texas Tech product under the microscope in his first year as Kansas City’s full-time starter, following the offseason trade of Alex Smith to Washington.While Mahomes said running the jet sweeps and run-pass option plays he did in college has helped with his transition, he also spent a fair amount of time studying Brady’s approach in New England.“My coach in college was Kliff Kingsbury, and he actually was a backup for Brady at one point, and so he showed me things that he liked with Tom and his pocket movements and stuff he did within the pocket that I’ve tried to put in my game a little bit,” he said.While Chiefs coach Andy Reid won’t disparage Smith, he acknowledges Mahomes brings a lot of intangible qualities to their offense. Reid also is cognizant that the season is still young.The 23-year-old is not a rookie, but he basically is, Reid said.“He’s going through an NFL season 鈥?his first one 鈥?and there are all kind of challenges that come with that, and no bigger one than this week,” Reid said.81View Gallery Gallery:View from the sidelines: NFL cheerleaders 2018Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports | Raj MehtaNOT AN UNDERDOGDespite Kansas City’s unblemished record, the Patriots enter Sunday’s game as a three-point favorite. It’s for good reason. Since 2001, 41 times a team has visited Foxborough with a better record than the Patriots. In those games, New England is 30-11.Since starting the season 1-2, New England has outscored opponents 76-31 over its last two victories, at home vs. Miami and Indianapolis.MILESTONE WATCHBrady has an NFL-record 199 career regular-season victories and can become the first quarterback in league history to reach 200 for his career. He enters this week tied with Colts kicker and former teammate Adam Vinatieri for the most career wins in the regular season and playoffs combined with 226.BRING THE NASTYThe Chiefs’ maligned defense forced Jacksonville into five turnovers last week, not to mention showed a mean streak for the first time all season. Defensive tackle Chris Jones took it a bit too far Chad Henne Jersey , getting ejected for throwing an elbow at a Jaguars lineman after a play.“I don’t even remember what happened,” Jones said with a wry smile. “But we’re not going to let anyone push us around.”INJURY WOESThe Chiefs signed ex-Browns linebacker Nate Orchard and journeyman Frank Zombo to help with pass-rushing depth. Justin Houston has a hurt hamstring, and fellow pass rushers Dee Ford and Tanoh Kpassagnon have been banged up, which left only rookie Breeland Speaks available.“Tanoh will have a chance to play,” Reid said, “but we just have to make sure we are OK in that spot just in case.”MATCHING WITSThe game features the two winningest active coaches in Bill Belichick (281) and Reid (199); Belichick is 5-2 lifetime against Reid.“I mentioned this before,” Reid said, “when you play good football teams, you love that challenge. You spend a lot of hours doing what we are doing. You love the challenge of it, and I think as players and coaches you cherish those things. It is a neat part of the business.” KANSAS CITY, Mo. 鈥?Kareem Hunt spent the first few weeks of the season doing what he called “dirty work,” which mostly amounted to carrying the ball late in games as the Kansas City Chiefs tried to run out the clock.The Chiefs didn’t really need the NFL’s reigning rushing champ the way Patrick Mahomes and the rest of the offense were sizzling. So there he was, one of the breakout stars of last season, getting brutally tough yards when the entire opposing defense was stacking the box.He never complained. Never seemed down.In fact, the second-year pro insisted all along that he would have his opportunities, once the rest of the league decided聽it had better pay attention to the Chiefs’ passing game.And lo and behold, that’s exactly what has happened the past few weeks, when the Chiefs have been able to pry open massive holes for him in the running game and Mahomes has been able to find him in the passing game.“We don’t count touches,” Chiefs offensive lineman Cam Erving said. “We have a lot of weapons, and when a team schemes for one thing, we have another one to pop it back with. Kareem has just done a great job of being patient and waiting for those moments to come.“He grabs those moments,” Erving added, “and he finishes.”He certainly lets the woebegone defender that gets in his way know, too. Rarely does the bruising, Walter Payton-esque running back go down on first contact. Often not second or third.Take his most impressive run last week against Cincinnati, when he appeared to be bottled up near the sideline. Hunt made a nifty spin move to shake one defender, darted to his left to avoid a few more and then hurdled 鈥?without getting any head of steam 鈥?yet another before finally going down.It was the biggest highlight on a night Hunt scored three touchdowns.“I probably made the wrong read,” Mahomes said of the run-pass option, “and then I handed it to him. It should’ve been a tackle for a loss and then he broke a tackle and jumped over a dude. This is a very talented (Bengals) defense who have a lot of guys who are built to stop the run Sammy Watkins Color Rush Jersey , and it just speaks to the strength and the power he has when he runs the football.”Those raw physical skills have been on display the past four weeks, beginning with a win in Denver when Hunt ran for 121 yards and a touchdown and caught three more passes for 54 yards.He followed up with a touchdown against Jacksonville, had 185 yards from scrimmage and another score against New England, and had 86 yards rushing and three touchdowns total against Cincinnati.“(Hunt) makes it all go because you can’t simply ignore the guy,” said Broncos coach Vance Joseph, whose team gets another shot at him聽 Sunday at Arrowhead Stadium. “Our first game, he made most of the big plays, honestly. He’s a guy that runs downhill and he catches the ball in the pass game.”In other words, he’s the perfect running back for a system that is predicated on misdirection.“He did well last year, too,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said, “but he’s playing as well as any running back in the National Football League. He’s not only running the ball like crazy, he’s also catching the football. I actually took him out before he broke the 100-yard mark last week.“He’s punishing people right now,” Reid added with a grin, “and it’s something to watch.”Yet just like Hunt took his relative lack of production the first few weeks in stride, he’s done just the same with his sudden surge of success. He heaped praise on his offensive line, showered Mahomes and the rest of the offense with accolades and complimented his coaches on getting him the ball.“I’m just a guy who is going to come in and try my best to make every effort possible to score a touchdown,” he said. “It’s not even about me. It’s about the team winning. Whatever I can do to help the team win, I’m a team guy. I’m down to do whatever.”Hunt did finally let his bravado show a little when Chiefs tight end Demetrius Harris, who was dressing nearby, described him as “a bull.” Hunt thought for a moment and decided that was a pretty good label, then realized that bulls don’t really carry much workload.“I like to be an ox, too,” he said.NOTES: Free safety Daniel Sorensen (broken leg) returned to practice Wednesday. He’d been on聽injured reserve since early in training camp and is eligible to play in games beginning Week 8. … Strong safety Eric Berry (heel), linebacker Justin Houston (hamstring) and center Mitch Morse (concussion) did not practice. … Linebacker Terrance Smith tore his ACL on a kick return against Cincinnati, Chiefs trainer Rick Burkholder said. He went on IR earlier this week.81View Gallery Gallery:View from the sidelines: NFL cheerleaders 2018Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports | Raj Mehta