Starting The Week With A Sports Weekend Re-Cap

The Kansas City Chiefs bet their future on quarterback Patrick Mahomes a year ago and they are cashing in.

Mahomes, 22, a No. 1 pick in 2017 who replaced the traded Alex Smith as the starter this season, threw six touchdown passes Sunday against the Pittsburgh Steelers in a 42-37 victory. That gives Mahomes 10 touchdown passes in the first two games of the season, breaking the record of nine.

Now let’s hear it for an old guy. Ryan Fitzpatrick, 35, has eight TD passes in the first two games of the year for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as he fills in for the suspended Jameis Winston. Fitzpatrick threw four on Sunday in a 27-21 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles.

Now let’s hear it for a guy who’s going to lose his job. Kicker Zane Gonzalez missed two extra points and two field goal tries and the Cleveland Browns saw their string of non-wins extended to 631 days. The Browns lost 21-18 to the New Orleans Saints. They haven’t won since late in the 2016 season.

Aaron Rodgers (knee) started and played for Green Bay against Minnesota, but the Packers and Vikings finished in a 29-29 tie, with the Vikings rookie Daniel Carlson missing a pair of field goal tries in OT (and one in regulation).

College Football:
Six teams ranked in last week’s Top 25 lost on Saturday. The top five also saw a change, as Georgia unseated Clemson at No. 2. So it’s Alabama, Georgia, Clemson, Ohio State and Oklahoma holding down the top five. Alabama has scored more than 50 points in each of its three games.

Elsewhere:
Brad Keselowski won his third straight race and opened NASCAR’s playoffs with a triumph in Las Vegas. Kyle Larson was second, Martin Truex Jr. third.

Eliud Kipchoge won the Berlin Marathon this morning Sunday in a record time of 2:01:39. That’s 78 seconds faster than Dennis Kimetto’s previous mark of 2:02:57.

Canelo Alvarez won a majority decision over Gennady Golovkin on Saturday night in Las Vegas to claim the unified world middleweight boxing title.

Yes, a rematch is likely. Golovkin had defended his title successfully 20 times since 2010, including once against Alvarez.

 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman