Patrick Mahomes’ greatness has risen with this Chiefs’ Super Bowl run
Patrick Mahomes was not supposed to get to the Super Bowl this year.
Though he and the Chiefs are the defending champions, it felt that people doubted them at every turn.
They lost to the Lions in the first game of the season, and that brought questions. Their receivers looked below average.
Travis Kelce had a worse season than he has ever had with Mahomes. They lost four of six games in the middle of the season. They looked awful in a Christmas Day defeat to the Raiders.
All of it added up to it feeling like this would be a reset year for the Chiefs. Sure, they probably would make the playoffs, but it felt like they would fall short of the Super Bowl.
Then Mahomes turned into playoff Mahomes, and the Dolphins, Bills and Ravens paid the price.
There should be no more doubters for the 28-year-old Mahomes, but the 49ers are the favorites in the Super Bowl, something that surely will fuel the Chiefs star.
4In what was supposed to be a rebuilding year for the Chiefs, Mahomes led the team to the Super Bowl . Getty ImagesYou wonder if Lamar Jackson being the favorite to win the MVP gave Mahomes something extra in Baltimore last week for the AFC Championship game.
Remember Michael Jordan explaining in The Last Dance that Karl Malone winning the MVP in 1997 drove him in the NBA Finals when they played that year?
Mahomes was supposed to be challenged by the other quarterbacks in the AFC. His contemporaries Jackson, Josh Allen and Deshaun Watson were supposed to give him competition. Bu none of them have reached the Super Bowl.
The up-and-comers Joe Burrow, Tua Tagovailoa, Trevor Lawrence and Justin Herbert posed another threat, but only Burrow has a playoff win over Mahomes, and Mahomes avenged that last year.
4Statistically, this was Travis Kelce’s worst season working with Patrick Mahomes. APEven some old gunslingers in new places Russell Wilson and Aaron Rodgers were thought to pose a threat. But Wilson has been a total disaster for the Broncos, and Rodgers has yet to complete a pass for the Jets.
Despite all these challengers, Mahomes remains the unquestioned king at the most important position in sports. He has moved into the category of chasing history. Most notably, can he surpass Tom Brady and become viewed as the greatest ever.
Mahomes has a chance to do something that Bady was the last quarterback to do win back-to-back Super Bowls. Bradys Patriots won consecutive Lombardi Trophies in 2003 and 2004. No one has done it since.
4The Chiefs now have the opportunity to win back to back Super Bowls. APMahomes and the Chiefs had a chance to repeat in 2020 when Bradys Buccaneers stopped them. Mahomes compared this shot at going back-to-back with that one this week.
Theyve been such different seasons, I think thats been the biggest thing, Mahomes said. The last time we tried to go back-to-back we won like I think we were like 14-1 going into that last week, got to rest, lost that game and then kind of rolled through the playoffs. Its nver easy, but we played well, and we were just kind of like, Oh were going to do it again. Were going to go out there and play again, and we got our butt kicked.
This year its been completely opposite. Its been a struggle throughout the season, and weve had to continue to get better and better. Thats what Ive always preached. I think now its not just being satisfied with getting there this is a great football team were going up against, its going to take our best football, kind of like its taken the last three weeks that weve played.
4Patrick Mahomes holds the Lamar Hunt Trophy after the AFC Championship. APThese Chiefs feel like a more complete team than any Mahomes has been on. Steve Spagnuolos defense has been terrific in the playoffs. Isiah Pacheco gives Mahomes a better running game than he has had before.
His surrounding cast in the passing game is not as star-studded as a few years ago, but you have to wonder if it matters with Mahomes playing quarterback.
It would be an exaggeration to say no one expected Mahomes to be here. But he has faced more doubts this year than he has since 2019, and he has quieted all of them. It feels like Mahomes has been on a mission, and the 49ers are the only thing standing in the way from him adding another line to his already amazing rsum.
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