Things feel different this year with this Kansas City Chiefs team. By no means are people trying to mystify this performance that the Chiefs came up with in Baltimore this Sunday. It was simply one of the best players in the league taking care of business on the road. It sounds simple when it’s painted with broad strokes. However, when reading between the lines, it’s not everything that it seems; the adversity that this Chiefs’ team has gone through is paramount.
For the past five years, Mahomes had been the standard for the quarterback position in pro football. With that in mind, the teams he has been a part of have reached the precipice of success more than once, with Mahomes winning 2 Super Bowls in the past four years alone. However, while Mahomes is still considered the top quarterback in football, he and his have faced much adversity this year. One such example is losing their opening game to a Detroit Lions team that would almost end up being their opponent in the Super Bowl. Last year, the offense on the Chiefs seemed to be unbeatable, but this year, it seemed the other NFL teams may have finally figured out the code to crack their players.
However, when it mattered most, Mahomes stepped up, leading his team to victory over a the Ravens squad. Despite heaps of praise on the defense — rightly so, this is by far the best defense Patrick Mahomes has had in his career — the offense got the job done, with parts of this formidable machine falling into place at the right time. Mahomes’ star tight end, Travis Kelce, finally started to heat up, making two touchdown catches against both the Bills and Ravens. He also made a point to celebrate with his partner Taylor Swift who enjoyed her view from a suite. Besides Kelce, Rashee Rice put in a good day’s work too, becoming Mahome’s favorite target out of the new tools at his disposal. This was also encompassed by a balanced ground attack by Isiah Pacheco.
Once again, it sounds simple when you break it down like that. Although, at the beginning, it was noted that this Chiefs team felt different this year, and with good reason. NFL fans have watched Mahomes grow up and rise to stardom. Even if you were not a fan of the Chiefs, you could appreciate their success, and in tunr, Mahomes. However, it seems like the NFL and all its fans are tired of watching Mahomes win. He has gone from the kid that was pushing Brady and taking the crown, to the villain. A football king that teams desperately hope to dethrone. Despite some teams and fans wanting to see his fall, again and again Mahomes finds a way to win the game.
Mahomes hasn’t cowered away from the villain role, as a matter of fact, he’s embraced it. It may feel strange to compare Brady and Mahomes, especially right now; it’s still too young to see where the Texas Tech grad will end up compared to the undisputed G.O.A.T., but we see that their stories are already starting to diverge. While Brady seemed like the poster boy for the NFL for decades, Mahomes is quickly embracing the pest that won’t go away. With that mindset it has allowed him and the Chiefs to walk into a hostile Baltimore crowd and get the win, lining up a showdown between the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers. One can only wait and see how this Superbowl will end. Will Mahomes keep his “villanous” victories? Or will his throne finally be dismantled by the 49ers?
