4. Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs
Patrick Mahomes, Chiefs were on a bye in Week 10
If you didn’t take Patrick Mahomes’s career body of work into account, you might put him a lot lower on a list like this. At least, at times this season. The Chiefs laid flat against the Buffalo Bills right before their bye week, and Mahomes hasn’t been the every-play cheat code he used to be.
With that being said, he’s still an every game cheat code, completely capable of making the most ridiculous throws and escaping the inescapable pressure when he needs to. Mahomes is Mahomes. And the numbers have been better this year for him compared to even 2023 and 2024 when the Chiefs’ offense was in the middle of the pack in the NFL.
There’s no reason to sit here and fool yourself into thinking Mahomes is not going to be relevant in the second half of this season. He’s got MVP stuff in him every single week, and the moment you try to count him out, he’s going to make you look bad.
3. Jared Goff, Detroit Lions
On the whole this season, Jared Goff has played exceptionally well. The Lions haven’t been as elite as everyone expected, at least on a consistent basis. But their highs are higher than most teams, and we caught another glimpse of that on Sunday against the Commanders.
Goff, in particular, was dialed in. If there was any friction between the Lions players and John Morton (who lost his playcalling duties to Dan Campbell), there was no ill effect of it on Sunday. Goff had three touchdown passes and 320 passing yards, getting everybody involved in the whole process.
When he plays at that level, the Lions are nearly impossible to beat. It was good enough that Kyle Allen got on the field for some action late. Goff, at his best, is one of the best ball distributors in the league, with outstanding timing and accuracy. He can lead the Lions to a Super Bowl win playing like this.