ARGOMENTO: owski finished the game with 500 career receptions

Patrick Mahomes walked off the field at Arrowhead Stadium on Sunday with another record on his resume and the Kansas City Chiefs another win toward earning the No. 1 seed in the AFC playoffs.He didn’t have much chance to savor any of it.Mahomes quickly learned that the stepfather of his longtime girlfriend Derrick Nnadi Jersey , Brittany Matthews, had died after a medical emergency during the game. Mahomes quickly skipped out on the postgame celebration and joined Matthews, who posted the sobering news on her social media accounts that evening.“Today is a day I will never forget,” she wrote in the caption of a photo. “Directly after this picture I sprinted to the front entrance to see my stepdad passed out! He did not come back from this and he was called to heaven today! I KNOW 100 (percent) he is so happy up there with his kids looking down on us, cheering loud that his Chiefs won today!”Mahomes is not expected to miss any preparation for Monday night’s showdown with the Rams in Los Angeles, though Chiefs coach Andy Reid said he would be fine if it happens.The Chiefs were off Tuesday and Wednesday, giving Mahomes and his family time to cope.“We’re sorry to hear about what took place,” Reid said. “Prayers and blessings are with the family. I talked to Patrick and they’re doing well for the circumstances that took place. As they go through this mourning period our thoughts and prayers are with them.”This season has already been a whirlwind for Mahomes, who was thrust into the starting job after the trade of Alex Smith to Washington and whose ability was justifiably questioned.He was a product of the Texas Tech offensive system. His big arm was tempered by problems with his accuracy. He had leadership abilities Breeland Speaks Jersey , but could they translate from college to the NFL?Mahomes has answered all those questions every week.He threw six touchdown passes in a game. He led the Chiefs to tough road wins over the Chargers and Steelers, and went toe-to-toe with Tom Brady in New England. He has thrown so few interceptions that any questions about his decision-making have been left in September.With two more TD passes against the Cardinals, he broke the franchise single-season record of 30 that Hall of Fame quarterback Len Dawson set during the 1964 season — with six games to go.“Pat is just a competitor,” Chiefs running back Kareem Hunt said, “and a great guy and he’s always trying to win. We needed all 31 of those touchdowns and he got them.”Well, the Chiefs probably didn’t need all of them.The Chiefs have scored 353 points through their first 10 games, the most in club history, and have been held to fewer than 30 only twice. Three times they’ve scored more than 40, including their 43-40 loss to the Patriots that remains the only blemish on their record.To put into perspective just how good Mahomes has been this season Patrick Mahomes Jersey , consider this: He threw for 249 yards against the Cardinals for a passer rating of 125.4, the eighth time this season he’s been over 100.0 — the third most in a single season in franchise history.Yet some people considered the end of his streak of eight consecutive 300-yard passing games to be a relative disappointment, as if he failed to live up to some otherworldly expectation.His teammates certainly weren’t in that camp.“That’s something I’d do on ‘Madden,'” wide receiver Tyreek Hill said of Mahomes’ TD record. “For him to come in and do that, that’s amazing. A lot of people doubted him, saying he wasn’t going to do this or wasn’t going to do that. He’s shutting a lot of people up right now and I’m proud of him. He’s just got to continue to move forward and stay humble. He’ll be all right.”He’s been far better than that this season.Oddsmakers in Las Vegas have made the 23-year-old Mahomes the front-runner to win the league’s MVP award, ahead of Saints quarterback Drew Brees and Rams running back Todd Gurley. And if he keeps going at his current rate, he will no doubt continue to rewrite the Chiefs record book.Maybe even the page that lists the Chiefs’ rather unimpressive postseason history.“Listen, he’s had a heck of a year Travis Kelce Jersey ,” Reid said. “Comes out every day bringing energy and he makes sure that he has his things in order. When he does that, and he’s got a lot on his plate as far as responsibility goes to run that offense, and he takes care of that. He’s in a position where he can make everyone better around him, and he’s doing that. I’m proud of him.” FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — When the going gets tough, Tom Brady goes to Rob Gronkowski.The Patriots tight end had only three catches against the Chiefs on Sunday night, but he had big gains on each of the team’s final two drives to help New England beat previously undefeated Kansas City 43-40.Gronkowski had a 42-yard catch and run to start a drive with under four minutes left that helped set up a Stephen Gostkowski field goal. Then, after Patrick Mahomes connected with Tyreek Hill on a 75-yard touchdown, Brady found the big tight end for 39 yards to the Kansas City 9.Gostkowski ended it with a 28-yard chip shot.“We kept fighting. We stayed strong Tyreek Hill Jersey ,” Gronkowski said Monday. “It was a great night, a great football game.”A five-time Super Bowl champion and three-time NFL MVP, Brady has had no trouble finding receivers in his 18-year career. But Gronkowski is one of his favorites, including 76 TD passes from the Patriots quarterback — nearly twice as many as the next most prolific Brady target.“He made a big play. He’s been making a lot of those his career,” Brady said. “I’ll keep throwing to him in the biggest moments.”Gronkowski had one catch in the first quarter and then wasn’t targeted again until the fourth as the Chiefs double-covered him for much of the game. But on first and 10 from their own 21 with 3:50 to play, Brady hit Gronkowski for 42 yards to set up a 50-yard field goal that made it 40-33.After Mahomes and Hill tied it, Brady dropped back from the Chiefs 48 and saw his 6-foot-6 tight end running one-on-one with cornerback Josh Shaw. He lofted a long pass into Gronkowski’s arms; it took Shaw another 15 yards to bring him down.“It was a really good throw,” said Patriots receiver Chris Hogan, who had catches of 42 and 19 yards on back-to-back plays during the Patriots’ last touchdown drive. “I knew that with Rob being there Carlos Hyde Jersey , he had a really good chance at getting the ball. He ran a great route and set the offense up for a game-winning field goal.”With three catches for 97 yards, Gronkowski finished the game with 500 career receptions — just the NFL’s 15th tight end to reach the milestone. He did it in 108 games, the fourth-fastest in league history; he also hit the 7,500 yards receiving mark, the eighth tight end to do so.“They just made plays when it came down to it. The quarterback is a damn good player. The tight end is a damn good player,” Chiefs cornerback Orlando Scandrick said. “Those guys have been with each other a long time and you can see it. You can see the non-verbal communication. They just made more plays than us tonight. I tip my hat to Tom Brady. I tip my hat to Rob Gronkowski. I tip my hat to Julian Edelman, the whole Patriots football team.”