A Wild West gunslingers square off for Round 5 of their duel on Thursday night.
It looked like Patrick Mahomes had no rival in the AFC West, and he was until a young gun showed up in 2020, which went some way to proving the division wasn't big enough for the two of them.
Entering Week 2 of the Chiefs and Chargers meet for the fifth time 2022 NFL season in the budding rivalry between Herbert and Mahomes, the series is tied at two games apiece. This year, both quarterbacks are off to solid starts: Herbert threw three touchdowns against the Raiders, while Mahomes dazzled with five touchdowns of his own against the Cardinals.
How do the Chargers and Chiefs compare ahead of the Week 2 matchup
Here's how two of the best and worst in the NFL stack up against each other with their next matchup coming Thursday night.
With Herbert and the Chargers facing Mahomes and the Chiefs for the fifth time on Thursday night, the quarterbacks are tied 2-2 when their teams meet.
That comes with a caveat: Mahomes did not play in Week 17 in 2020, a game the Chargers won 38-21. So in games started by Herbert and Mahomes, the record is 2-1 with Herbert.
While the two don't play against each other on the field, here's how their numbers stacked up in previous matchups:
Justin Herbert sprang into action following an unfortunate needle accident with starting starter Tyrod Taylor before Week 2 in 2020. Unlike many other first-round quarterbacks, Herbert was initially scheduled to sit out until he was ready, which didn't happen.
2017. Since then, Mahomes has visited the Super Bowl twice, won a league MVP, and has a championship ring to prove it. Mahomes is in Year 6 of his career after sitting out his first season in
However, both players have had equally historic starts to their careers. Here's how Round 5 is on Thursday night.
While Mahomes isn't necessarily known as a run-first quarterback, he's not precisely a ball-running bum, either.
While he doesn't have the breakneck speed that Lamar Jackson does, Mahomes posted 4.8-second rushing r numbers that match up heading into time in the 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine in 2017, which doesn't show he's standing still.
The same can be said for Herbert, though he has the measure of pure speed over Mahomes: In the 2020 NFL Draft, Herbert ran for a 4.68 40-yard dash, which is twice as impressive considering his pure size. (6-6, 236 pounds).
Whether it's Herbert or Mahomes, AFC West fans should be happy to have quarterbacks who will lead their teams for the next decade and beyond.
Entering their first meeting of the 2022 season, Mahomes and Herbert posted equally impressive and eerily similar 2021 campaigns when you look beyond the tally stats.
Herbert had the edge over Mahomes in 2021 in turnover-worthy play rate (TWP). Herbert might have finished the season ahead of Mahomes in total interceptions with 15, but he paced the league at the lowest TWP rate at 1.6 percent. Mahomes finished eighth in the league at 2.6 percent, despite throwing 13 interceptions.
That's large because Mahomes had 108 more pass attempts than Herbert in 2021, giving him more chances to turn the ball over. But throwing at volume and still spinning the ball 15 times is fine.
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