Something happened with Patrick Mahomes that had never happened before. During the game, his helmet broke. Was it the cold or was it the force of the collision? Fans have been wondering how he managed to find a spare one. In a post-game presser, the 2xMVP revealed it all. Well, the story certainly has a funny twist.
In the record-cold Saturday Wild Card Round, the Chiefs ended up winning over the Dolphins. With the 26-7 victory, they are now just one step away from the Super Bowl. As the two teams clashed in the 4th coldest game in NFL history, here’s what went down with Patrick Mahomes helmet during the Wild Card Saturday.
Patrick Mahomes’ backup helmet didn’t fit him
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It was natural that reporters would ask him about his broken helmet. Patrick Mahomes smiled as he answered this question. His helmet broke during a collision with a Dolphins player during the third quarter. And a large chunk of the helmet flew off. But was the force of the collision responsible for the damage? Mahomes does not seem to think so.
He said, “It was frozen.” And usually, a helmet is built to take on sudden damage But because of the sub-zero temperatures, the helmet was already brittle. And then came the brute force of the collision. Mahomes said that such an incident was happening to him for the first time. They immediately began scrambling for a new helmet. They found a spare one. But funnily, even that was frozen! They warmed up the helmet on the sidelines and then discovered another fault.
It was too tight for Mahomes’ head! But they somehow fit it on him, and he resumed the play. So, how did this incident happen in the first place? And was the Dolphins player flagged?
How did Mahomes’ helmet break?
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The 28-year-old QB slipped through a pair of Dolphins tackles. Then, he made a 13-yard run. But his run was cut short by Dolphins safety, DeShon Elliott. Elliott took him down with a helmet-to-helmet clash. Mahomes came down and a piece of his helmet was seen flying off. But he didn’t stop. He continued playing. Neither did the officials notice anything wrong with the helmet. Then two plays later, the referees saw a chunk missing from his helmet. They asked him to get it replaced.
Now with the backup helmet on, he led the Chiefs on a TD-drive. That ended successfully in 7 points and gave them a 26-7 lead. After the game, Mahomes told NBC Sports that he wanted to continue playing with his broken helmet. Why? Because the new one was super cold. The old one was warm at least. But that didn’t happen. And thankfully for the Chiefs, it didn’t affect Mahomes’ performance.
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The Wild Card Saturday at Arrowhead was an absolute stunner for Chiefs fans. But the bigger question is, Can Mahomes script franchise history by leading his team to their second consecutive SB win?
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