Joe Montana has been retired for more than three decades. Patrick Mahomes still found a way to pass him Sunday afternoon.
Mahomes found Travis Kelce for an 11-yard touchdown with 3:01 left in Kansas City‘s 24-10 win over Miami. It was his second touchdown pass of the afternoon, his 274th in the regular season, and the one that moved him ahead of the NFL legend on the career list.
There was nothing outrageous about Mahomes’ stat line against Miami. By his standards, 20 completions on 24 attempts for 246 yards almost looks ordinary.
He threw an interception. Kansas City had only 334 yards. Miami possessed the football for 34:21 and stayed within a touchdown until the fourth quarter.
Still, Mahomes was awfully efficient.
He averaged 10.3 yards per attempt and wasn’t sacked once. His five-yard touchdown to Kenneth Walker III put Kansas City ahead in the second quarter, and the Chiefs never trailed again.
It also broke the tie with an NFL legend who has an obvious connection to Kansas City. Montana spent his final two seasons with the Chiefs after winning four Super Bowls with San Francisco.
Mahomes needed considerably less time to reach 274. Montana played 192 regular-season games. Sunday was No. 138 for Mahomes.
Fifty-four games is not a small difference.
Sep 27, 2026; Miami Gardens, Florida, USA; Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes (15) passes the ball against the Miami Dolphins during the second quarter at Hard Rock Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images
This is where Mahomes’ career numbers start getting weird.
He didn’t even start as a rookie. Kansas City had Alex Smith, leaving Mahomes on the bench for almost the entire 2017 season. His career essentially began the following year.
Eight-plus seasons as a starter later, an NFL legend with four rings is already behind him in touchdown passes.
The former Denver Broncos quarterback threw 300, leaving Mahomes 26 shy of tying him. Fran Tarkenton sits farther up the board at 342.
After that, things get crowded with names nobody needs introduced: Ben Roethlisberger, Philip Rivers, Dan Marino, Aaron Rodgers, Brett Favre, Peyton Manning, Drew Brees, and Tom Brady.
Pick an NFL legend. Mahomes is chasing him.
Whether he eventually reaches the guys at the very top is a different conversation. Brady threw 649 touchdowns. Brees had 571. Those aren’t numbers a quarterback catches because he had a ridiculous first decade.
You have to stay healthy. You have to play forever.
There was another funny part to Sunday.
Kansas City won by 14, moved to 3-0, and watched its quarterback pass an NFL legend. Mahomes came out of it talking about what the Chiefs didn’t do well.
“Obviously, we didn’t play to our standard that we hold ourselves to,” Mahomes said.
Miami ran 67 plays to Kansas City’s 49. The Dolphins were still hanging around at 17-10 in the fourth quarter, and the Chiefs committed eight penalties.
Then Mahomes threw the ball to Kelce, and everybody went home.
That combination has bailed Kansas City out of considerably uglier situations over the years.
Sep 27, 2026; Miami Gardens, Florida, USA; Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce (87) scores a touchdown against the Miami Dolphins during the fourth quarter at Hard Rock Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images
Nobody is going to remember Mahomes passing Montana the way they’ll remember his Super Bowl wins. Montana probably wouldn’t want it any other way. An NFL legend isn’t defined by finishing 20th or 21st on one statistical list.
Mahomes has 274 touchdown passes at 31. He’s already passed one NFL legend, has another sitting 26 touchdowns away, and potentially has years to keep climbing.
Maybe he reaches Brady someday. Maybe he doesn’t come close. Predicting what a quarterback’s body will allow him to do five or eight years from now is mostly guesswork.
Right now, though, Mahomes is 3-0 and still moving.
Another NFL legend is behind him, but there are plenty more ahead.
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