When the NFL reflects on Patrick Mahomes’ Hall of Fame career, potentially one of the top-five quarterbacks to ever play when all is said and done, it’ll start with the Pittsburgh Steelers. That was Mahomes’ breakout performance, torching the Steelers with a six-touchdown performance in a 2018 42-37 Week 2 win over Pittsburgh.
Some poor defense had to be the unit to find out for the first time how good Mahomes could be. Unfortunately, the Steelers drew the short end of that straw. Reflecting on that game in an interview with Pro Football Talk, T.J. Watt was asked what he knew about Mahomes going into that game.
“Didn’t know enough,” Watt joked with Mike Florio and Chris Simms. “We definitely didn’t know enough. We left that stadium with a whole lot of respect. He still had some weapons. I think Sammy Watkins was on that team as well at that time…[and Tyreek Hill]. The guy was throwing the ball all around the yard. Probably thought they were gonna run the ball a little bit more that day, but they didn’t. We learned a lesson that day.”
The Chiefs’ first-round pick in 2017, Mahomes sat behind Alex Smith for most of his rookie year, only starting in a meaningless regular-season finale, failing to throw a touchdown in a loss to the Denver Broncos. Coming out of Texas Tech, Pittsburgh showed interest in Mahomes but he went off the board 20 picks ahead of the Steelers. They landed on T.J. Watt, proving there are good consolation prizes.
Mahomes became the Chiefs’ starter in 2018. After handling the Los Angeles Chargers in Week One, he put up video game numbers versus the Steelers the following week. By the end of the first quarter, he had thrown three touchdowns as the Chiefs raced out to a 21-0 lead.
Pittsburgh stormed back to tie the game at the half. But Mahomes punched back, tossing two more touchdowns in the third quarter and another in the fourth as the Chiefs hung 42 on the Steelers. In the end, Mahomes threw for 326 yards, six touchdowns, and no picks. He became — and remains — just the second player in history to throw six touchdowns against the Steelers, joining the Buffalo Bills’ Jim Kelly in 1991. If you can stomach it, here are highlights of all six.
Mahomes proved his outing wasn’t a fluke. He went on to throw 50 touchdowns, make the All-Pro team, and be voted league MVP. Since, he’s won a pair of Super Bowls and will look to win his third this weekend against San Francisco.
Though Watt and the Steelers now know what to expect from Mahomes, they haven’t found ways to slow him down. In their 2021 regular-season matchup, he fired three touchdowns in a 36-10 shellacking of Pittsburgh. In a Wild Card game later that year, he was slowed early but got hot late in the first half, finishing the game with five touchdowns in a 42-21 win. In three starts against the Steelers, Mahomes has 14 touchdowns to just one interception.
Watt admitted rushing a quarterback like him is extra difficult.
“It’s always hard. Everybody seems to be mobile these days now. Yeah. It’s very difficult as a pass rusher. We always say don’t rush scared, but when you don’t rush scared, you have to send sometimes more than just four rushers. It creates big B-gap escape lanes. I think the worst thing you can do is bull rush all day long and not create any pressure or havoc. You at least have to get him moving and uncomfortable even though he’s still effective.”
In two regular-season games against Mahomes, Watt doesn’t have a sack. He picked one up in the playoff loss and had a fumble recovery touchdown to briefly give the Steelers a lead, but Mahomes has proven to be a tough guy for even the best defensive players to solve.
Pittsburgh will get another crack to solve Mahomes in 2024, hosting a home game against the Chiefs at some point in the season. And for Watt to achieve his dream of winning a Super Bowl, or at least a playoff game, the road inevitably goes through Kansas City.
Catch the whole interview below.
