‘Legend’ Patrick Mahomes Delivers With Another KC Chiefs AFC Championship Win
The Kansas City Chiefs' AFC Championship Game performance against the Baltimore Ravens was sloppier than the playoff victories before it, but style wasn't required on Sunday. For the third time in a row this season, it was enough to move on.
Up next is Super Bowl LVIII against the San Francisco 49ers. Even in what looked like a down year at times, the Chiefs are going to the big game with an opportunity to bring the Lombardi Trophy back again. The macro formula, again, was surrounding quarterback Patrick Mahomes with talent to win big games.
While the process looked different (read, defense-focused) this year, that bar has been cleared on multiple occasions with one more to go. The result is generally the same: Mahomes and company competing late into January or early into February. After Sunday's win, head coach Andy Reid tipped his cap to his superstar signal-caller for helping get everyone over the proverbial hump.
"Pat Mahomes did a great job again, as he normally does," Reid said. "Starting the game off with 11 completions, that's something. Something special. And then to manage the game... things that kind of get thrown by the side [are] him taking a sack there at the end as opposed to trying to fit the ball in. He took the sack, kept the clock running [and] good things happened there at that particular time."
Mahomes turned in yet another sparkling statistical performance. In the conference title game, he completed 30 of 39 pass attempts for 241 yards and a touchdown. He was sacked just twice on the afternoon, consistently making the right football play. Mahomes's elite decision making, combined with his competitive fire and the rest of the team leveling up a bit, secured wins over the Miami Dolphins, Buffalo Bills and the aforementioned Ravens.
In six seasons with Mahomes as the full-time starter, the worst outcome the Chiefs have had is losing in overtime of the AFC Championship Game. In every single year, they've either done that or advanced to the Super Bowl. Two times already, they've won the most important game of the NFL season. It's a mostly abnormal run that has a chance to become the abnormal run in two weeks. Chairman and CEO Clark Hunt expanded on the success Mahomes has helped bring to the organization.
"Patrick's a special player and also a special person," Hunt said. "The fact that we got to participate in our sixth-straight AFC Championship Game tonight and we're heading to another Super Bowl, I think, tells you all you need to know about him as a player. But he's also a special person, and I just want to mention — he's here in the room with us — that I appreciate him giving a shoutout to my mom (Norma Hunt) on the stage tonight."
Through six years as a (again, full-time) starter, the start Mahomes has gotten off to compares favorably to just about anyone in league history. Even when looking at his statistics side-by-side with Tom Brady, Mahomes possesses plenty of advantages. If he can get Super Bowl ring No. 3 next month, it'll keep him right on track to become perhaps the single-best quarterback the league has ever seen. The football world and Chiefs fan base both understand the caliber of field general suiting up every week for Kansas City. General manager Brett Veach struggled to contain his appreciation for Mahomes.
"You can't describe it," Veach said. "He's a legend. It's a blessing that he's a part of this organization. He's the best. It's hard to describe a player like him because he's good at everything he does. He gives everyone that belief and hope that it doesn't matter what the odds are, where we're playing and where we're going that if we have 15 under center, we have a shot. It's really hard to explain someone that good, I think, but he's the best."
Opening as slight underdogs against the 49ers in the Super Bowl, this is the third game in a row that one could argue Mahomes and his team are being slighted in. In the days leading up to the AFC Championship Game, fans and analysts alike casted doubt upon Kansas City's chances of getting the job done on Sunday. With that now in the books, in addition to another clean Mahomes performance, the Chiefs will look ahead to closing their 2023-24 circle.
If anyone else wants to hint at a looming Mahomes loss, Veach wouldn't be against it.
"I'm not sure why anyone would do that and throw shade at him like that," Veach said. "He's going to give you his best shot anyway so there's no need to poke the bear but if they want to do it, we certainly appreciate it."
