Patrick Mahomes confirms a bizarre gameday superstition during ManningCast appearance

Patrick Mahomes provided no inside scoop on the romance between teammate Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift during his appearance on the ManningCast on Monday night. But the Kansas City Chiefs quarterback did confirm some tabloid-worthy info.

Mahomes said one of his superstitions on game day is wearing the same red underwear — a pair purchased by his wife, Brittany.

“I threw them on that first season,’’ said Mahomes, who joined the Chiefs in 2017 as a first-round pick. “We had a pretty good season that season.

“I only wear them for game day, so they’re not too worn down. …I clean them.’’

Well, how clean those underpants are depends on how the Chiefs are playing, Mahomes explained as the Denver Broncos battled the Buffalo Bills on "Monday Night Football."

“If we’re on a hot streak, I can’t wash them, you know?’’ Mahomes said during his first-half appearance. “I’ve just got to keep it rolling. So, you know, as long as I’m winning football games I’ll keep the superstition going.’’

What did Patrick Mahomes say about Broncos on ManningCast?

Mahomes was not at all surprised to see the Broncos defense playing well in the first half. Yes, Denver lost five of its first six games this season, but that’s old news.

More relevant is the emergence of Broncos’ defense, which played well in Denver’s 19-9 loss to Kansas City in Week 6 and then even better in Denver’s 24-9 victory over Kansas City in Week 8.

“I think what they did is they simplified and they just started to play sound football,’’ Mahomes said. “A lot of veterans and a lot of playmakers over there. And they just let those guys loose and stop thinking so much, go out there and fly around. You can see they’re kind of turning the corner.

“Obviously played good against us. They started good against the Bills at the beginning of this game. So I think they’re going to be a tough team to beat down the stretch for anybody.’’

What were ManningCast producers thinking?

Call me cranky, but was I the only one irked that the ManningCast missed a kickoff and two first-down plays in the first half while cameras showed Eli Manning demonstrating snap counts and cadence in his home studio?

Manning enlisted help from his pal Shaun O’Hara, who played center for the New York Giants when Manning starred for the Giants. And there were two children who rushed Manning after a couple shotgun snaps, and it still wasn’t cute or quirky enough to miss a significant enough of game action.

Lindsey Vonn gives play call in German

In a first for the ManningCast, there was a play call in German, courtesy of Lindsey Vonn, the retired ski champion and a second-half guest on the show.

Vonn speaks it fluently, which was quite clearly Bills quarterback Josh Allen took the snap and handed off to James Cook for a 3-yard gain in the third quarter.

“Ah, dat’s quite good,’’ Eli Manning said, in a German accent, of course.

What did Lindsey Vonn tell ManningCast viewers about pain?

Peyton Manning noted that Vonn, who won an Olympic gold medal in the downhill at the 2010 Vancouver Games, had experienced crashes at 70 mph, suffered a torn ACL twice and undergone 10 surgeries during her career.

“Be honest,’’ Peyton said, “when you watch football, do you think, 'Wow, that sport must be so relaxing.'’’

Vonn grinned.

“Yeah, sometimes,’’ she said. “I mean, it’s definitely a different pace than skiing. Like, I’m not sure if crashing at 80 mph hurts more than a 300-pound man run into you. Unsure. But I would like to try. I would like to try and see what that feels like.’’

Responded Peyton, “We can set that up. We can probably get Von Miller running full speed to see how that feels.’’

Hmm. On second thought ...

“I think one of you guys,’’ Vonn told the Manning brothers. “I’ll run into one of you guys.’’

Has the ManningCast popularity peaked?

Peyton and Eli Manning will team for the sixth ManningCast of the season, with the Denver Broncos and Buffalo Bills squaring off on "Monday Night Football."

Has the popularity of the Manning brothers’ alternate telecast on ESPN2 peaked?

Sports Illustrated posed that question in a recent story.

The top five telecasts based on viewership all came during the 2021 season, when the ManningCast debuted and drew as many as 1.96 million viewers for a telecast. This season, although ESPN still considers the viewership numbers extremely healthy, the telecast has been in danger of dropping below the one-million mark.

Last week, for example, ManningCast drew 1.28 million viewers.

But in addition to any potential ManningCast fatigue, there may be other factors at work: 1) With Joe Buck and Troy Aikman in the broadcast booth this season, the popular pairing may be siphoning viewers from the ManningCasts; and 2) The same could be true as a result of ABC opting to simulcast all of the main "MNF" broadcast this season.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: ManningCast guests for Broncos-Bills Monday Night Football game