Welcome To The Patrick Mahomes Show - The Greatest Spectacle On The Planet
We witnessed more Mahomes magic in Super Bowl LVIII, and it seems to be just the beginning for the best player in football...
Not even hours removed from pulling off another mesmerizing Houdini act that left the sporting world slack-jawed - again - Patrick Mahomes took to the podium against the backdrop of falling confetti and fired off one more act of showmanship.
“We’re not done.”
Some may view that as flexing from a guy who revels in being the star attraction of what is now the greatest show in the NFL. For those paying attention, however, it was anything but a flex.
Instead, it was a very clear message to anyone listening that the Kansas City Chiefs are just getting started, and three Super Bowls in five years is just scratching the surface.
The same applies to their all-conquering, other-worldly, quarterback.
And, if we’ve learned anything from the 2023 NFL season, it is that we should believe and trust anything and everything Patrick Mahomes tells us.
If he tells you he’s going to go out and win yet again in 2024, then take him at his word. At this point, there isn’t a shred of evidence that exists in the world to suggest it is a smart move to do otherwise.
Let’s just face it; at this point, betting against Mahomes and the Chiefs is more fool-hardy than a game of poker or a trip to the craps table.
Those who love to doubt the best player in football and the newest, shiniest dynasty in football found that out the hard way throughout 2023.
Entering the season with less weapons than they had in 2022, an opening night loss to the Detroit Lions did little to calm the notion that maybe 2023 was the year the conquering Chiefs would regress a little and cease to being a footballing powerhouse. After all, this team faced its most difficult, challenge-laden path back to the Super Bowl and it seemed that new hurdles were placed in-front of them at every single turn. Unreliable receivers dropped passes at an unbelievable clip, boneheaded mistakes were becoming a weekly tradition, Travis Kelce looked every part a 34-year-old tight end who had been through countless wars, and rock-bottom moments and tough losses were piling up in alarming fashion. Remember the 20-14 loss to the Raiders on Christmas Day? That was perhaps the biggest sign yet that something was just a little off with this team. There appeared to be something murky lying deep under the hood.
And yet, Mahomes, as he always does, found a way to will his team across the finish line and win the AFC West for the eighth straight year with an 11-6 record. It wasn’t pretty - heck, it was damn ugly for the most part - but Mahomes was able to come up with some trademark big plays down the stretch to breathe just enough life into an impotent offense that was struggling to nail down an identity.
It helped too that, for all their significant shortcomings on the offensive side of the ball, the Chiefs boasted an elite defense that was absolutely thriving under defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo. Spagnuolo, who has carved out a Hall of Fame career as a DC, used all of his magical creativity on that side of the ball to construct a formidable unit, led by the likes of Chris Jones, Trent McDuffie and L’Jarius Sneed, that allowed the second-fewest yards (289.7) and points (17.3) per game during the regular season.
However, even with a defense that took maximum pleasure from beating the crap out of offenses and inflicting as much pain and suffering on the opposition quarterback as possible, and even with the best player in the sport on their side, the Kansas City Chiefs were going to have to overcome a whole new set of challenges if they were to find a way back to the Super Bowl. Tasked with going on the road for the first time in the Mahomes era, this playoff battle-tested team was already being written off before a postseason snap had even been taken. It didn’t matter what sports talk show you turned on, the hot take was that this version of the Chiefs were not built to go on a run. There was an entire army of so-called ‘experts’ lining up with absolute glee to predict that Mahomes wouldn’t be able to perform Houdini-like magic on the road.
But this is what makes Mahomes so special. He thrives on being doubted, on being ridiculed and on being hated for simply being him, and he saves his best football for when the chips are really down.
The true greats are defined by how they perform when the lights are at their very brightest. Think Michael Jordan in the final seconds of an NBA playoff game. Derek Jeter at the plate in the World Series. Wayne Gretzky with the game on the line and the puck on his stick in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Tiger Woods on the back nine at The Masters. The very best are able to slow everything down around them and deliver a masterpiece when it really matters. They own the moment. They don’t let the moment own them.
Mahomes belongs in such rarified air as those other sporting gods. He’s proved so time and time again. But what he did this postseason, with the entire world against him, will ensure that No. 15 stands alone on the mountaintop of true greatness when all is said and done. After handling a Miami team that boasted former teammate Tyreek Hill as part of an explosive offense at home in the Wild Card, Mahomes went on the road and took care of business in the most emphatic way possible. As the path ahead became laced with potential pitfalls, Mahomes leveled up once more. He went into Buffalo, one of the most intimidating places to play in the NFL, and outplayed Josh Allen as the Chiefs continued to haunt the Bills. Better was still to come as Mahomes got the better of MVP Lamar Jackson in Baltimore, with the Ravens choking on the big stage once more.
In accomplishing the one thing that had evaded him in his remarkable career, Mahomes had shoved it right up the hoop of those who dared to question whether he could go and win on the road. What a stupid, stupid, stupid thing to do.
This is Patrick Mahomes we’re talking about. Of course he can win on the road.
Despite not having a legit No. 1 wide receiver, despite this being the worst offense he’s piloted ever since taking over the starting job in 2018, Mahomes led his team to victory over the 6, 2 and 1 seeds in the AFC to book their fourth trip to the Super Bowl in five years.
Just remarkable.
Yet, the doubters still remained stubborn in their view that this just wasn’t going to be the year for the Chiefs. The 49ers - the No. 1 seed in the NFL - were viewed as the favorites going in and you couldn’t really argue with that opinion given how stacked that San Francisco roster is. With elite studs on both sides of the ball - Nick Bosa, Trent Williams, Fred Warner, Chase Young, Dre Greenlaw, Arik Armstead, George Kittle, Deebo Samuel, Brandon Aiyuk, Christian McCaffrey - and one of the best footballing minds in the game in head coach Kyle Shanahan, it made total sense for the 49ers to be viewed as the team to beat on the game’s biggest stage.
But the Chiefs have Patrick Mahomes. And that’s all that really matters.
We should have learned by the time Super Bowl LVIII came around that betting against Mahomes is foolhardy at best, and just plain stupid at worst. But some were still falling into that trap as the game played out.
Unless you really appreciate the dark arts of an old-school defensive chess match played out in the trenches among all the blood and guts, you could argue that most of Super Bowl LVIII was an absolute dud. Mahomes struggled to settle into a groove in the first half, stumbling around like a first-timer let loose on skates without anything around for support. He was constantly shadowed by the relentless Nick Bosa, who had one of the games of his lives with 10 pressures. Bosa’s steely determination to make life incredibly difficult for one of the best quarterbacks to have ever played the position, coupled with DC Steve Wilkes’ excellent (for the most part) playcalling and schemes, ensured that Mahomes and the Chiefs scored just six points in the first 40 minutes of the game.
Despite only managing 7 first downs on five drives in the first half, and despite seemingly being haunted by the ghosts of the regular season, you always knew Mahomes had something up his sleeve. That feeling only intensified as the Kansas City defense - a unit that had allowed just 13.7 points against per game in the postseason heading into the Super Bowl - played their part by holding the 49ers to a 10-3 lead at the half with the Chiefs getting the ball back to start the second half.
You still knew deep down in your gut that Mahomes would do Mahomes things when it mattered most, even as he threw a stupid, boneheaded interception just a couple of plays into the opening drive of the second half. And, as the 49ers blew opportunity after golden opportunity to really throw down the hammer and twist the knife in, and after a muffed punt and a blocked field goal smashed the door wide open for the Chiefs, the stage was set for the most naturally gifted player in football to produce his statement game.
Just as Jordan had ice flowing through his veins when he delivered the dagger shot to the heart of the Utah Jazz in the 1998 NBA Finals, just as Jeter had the presence of mind to shut off the outside noise and deliver a walk-off win in his final-ever game as a Yankee, just as Gretzky made playing in the NHL look like a calm walk through Central Park, and just as Woods was able to slow everything down and still his heart rate with The Masters on the line, Mahomes walked onto the field, calmly, and proceeded to remind everybody why he is the greatest in clutch situations.
With the game on the line, with the Lombardi Trophy at risk of slipping away, Mahomes is the only guy on the planet you want with the ball in his hands in a do-or-die situation.
And we saw why.
Just like Tom Brady used to will the New England Patriots to victory with everything at stake, Mahomes entered the huddle devoid of all stress and looking like a guy who had just arrived in Hawaii for an all-exclusive two-week stay. It didn’t matter that the entire world and Taylor Swift was watching his every move - Mahomes was built for this moment.
He proceeded to drive the Chiefs down the field and orchestrated an 11-play, 64-yard drive to tie the game with seconds remaining in regulation. There was even an opportunity for Mahomes to win it at the death, but he missed a wide-open Rashee Rice down the middle. Not to worry. That was just a minor blip on the radar.
After Harrison Butker kicked a 29-yard game-tying field goal to send the game to overtime, 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan committed his biggest and most fatal cardinal sin of the game. In opting to receive the ball first after winning the toss - in the new OT rules for the playoffs, both teams would get a possession no matter what and if it was still tied after two possessions, the next score would win in a sudden death scenario - Shanahan did what nobody on God’s green earth should do: he put the ball back into the hands of Mahomes who would now have an extra down to play with.
Throwing control back over to Mahomes is like asking to be stabbed directly into the heart.
And having a dagger plunged deep into the heart is exactly what happened to the 49ers.
Mahomes re-entered the field knowing a touchdown would do it after the 49ers could only kick a field goal on their opening drive of OT. Resembling the coolest and calmness person on the planet in that very moment, Mahomes reached deep into his arsenal for every single magic trick he could find. He used every weapon available to him and when he needed to use his legs, he did. Mahomes twice opted to keep the ball in OT and make something happen himself. The first such occasion, which came on a crucial do-or-die fourth-and-one, down 22-19, Mahomes went on an eight-yard burst to keep his team’s Super Bowl dreams alive and well. There is a very good chance that if he would have opted to hand it off in that situation, the 49ers would have made the stop and they would have been crowned Super Bowl Champions.
Instead, Mahomes made something happen out of nothing, and he did it again a couple of plays later by ripping off another big 19-yard run before delivering the final death blow to the 49ers with an easy throw to Mecole Hardman - who began his season with the Jets - on a “Tom and Jerry” jet motion play that clinched a second straight Super Bowl, and a third in five years, for the Kansas City Chiefs.
Kansas City became the first team since the 2003-04 New England Patriots to go back-to-back as Super Bowl Champions.
Watching Mahomes march down the field with all the composure in the world, with the Lombardi Trophy on the line, was like watching Jordan, Gretzky, Jeter and Woods all in their primes and snatching away the souls of their opponents.
It was like watching a masterpiece unfold in-front of your very eyes.
Mahomes finished the game by going touchdown-field goal-field goal-touchdown and 8-for-8 on the game-winning drive in overtime. He ended Super Bowl LVIII with 333 yards on 34-of-46 passing and two touchdowns, to go along with 66 rushing yards. In the end, there was only one clear and obvious choice for Super Bowl MVP.
He put his team on his back once more - the worst offensive team he has ever piloted in Kansas City - and dragged them to the promised land as only Patrick Mahomes knows how to.
If you are still inclined to bet against Mahomes after watching him will his team to victory on Sunday, then I don’t know what to tell you at this point.
And, do you want to know the scary thing for the rest of the NFL? This really is just the beginning for the Chiefs.
Mahomes wasn’t just showing off when he uttered those words on the victory podium, still drenched in sweat from one of his hardest but most memorable battles.
He meant every single word.
It is just fact to declare this was the worst offensive team Mahomes has ever been on, but it will unlikely be that way again. The Chiefs own a very smart front office, one that will find a way to go after a top free-agent receiver like a Mike Evans or a Tee Higgins and make the money work if they so wish. Plus, there are a plethora of high-end wideouts to be had in the 2024 NFL Draft.
When you factor in that the franchise will also have the money to bring back elite defensive tackle Chris Jones, coupled with the ever-growing offensive genius of Andy Reid, this really is a team for the ages and they are likely only going to be even better in 2024.
Keep in mind also that, just as Brady did in New England for so many years, and then in Tampa, Mahomes now has the cache to go out and recruit elite veterans to come and play in Kansas on team-friendly, cost-effective deals in order to go ring-chasing. I mean, who wouldn’t want to go and be part of an offense that features one of the best head coaches of all time, one of the best tight ends of all time and one of the best quarterbacks to have ever played the game?
Kansas City is the ultimate footballing destination for those looking to ride off into the sunset on an all-time high.
As for Mahomes, he is still only 28-years-old and already has three Super Bowl rings, putting him in some pretty elite company. Only Tom Brady (7), Terry Bradshaw (4) and Joe Montana (4) has more. However, Brady went 10 years between his third and fourth Super Bowl, and I just can’t see Mahomes having to wait an entire decade for his next one.
Furthermore, Mahomes has one more MVP than Brady and even as he gets older and some of his mobility starts to fade, he still possesses a stupidly-high IQ, a hell of an arm and an insatiable appetite to win that is perhaps only matched by Brady.
If you can’t stand Mahomes and the Chiefs then maybe you should go and invest more time in another sport because I have some bad news for you - they aren’t going anywhere anytime soon.
Instead, I think we’re now set up to witness the next great dynastic run in the NFL, and it has all the ingredients to be even more special than the one built by the Patriots.
And, before you accuse me of being a prisoner of the moment and for spewing ultra-hyperbolic nonsense, just remember; it is beyond foolish to bet against Patrick Mahomes and this Chiefs team.
They will make you look stupid time and time and time again.
Just face it - Patrick Mahomes is the King of the NFL and his superhuman, alien-like singular talent and irrepressible will to win will ensure that he remains on that golden throne for a very long time to come.
This is the Patrick Mahomes show. And we’re all here to bear witness to it.
By the way, before I go, you may be wondering why I didn’t really touch on Brock Purdy or other elements of Super Bowl LVIII in the above piece.
Simply put, I felt it only fair to dedicate an entire article to the incomparable greatness of Patrick Mahomes.
I will have a post up soon full of my thoughts on Purdy proving himself on the biggest stage, why Kyle Shanahan deserves some slack, the (underwhelming) Half Time Show, Taylor Swift and much more.
See you then.
