Tag: Patrick Mahomes

It’s hard to defeat the Chiefs with a loser mentality

Results say Kansas City has way more substance than luck and wild conspiracy theories

By now, we have heard all of the excuses (and conspiracies) for why the Kansas City Chiefs have become the dominant force in the NFL. If it’s not the league telling the officials to be favorable towards the Chiefs, it’s the thirst to keep Kansas City in the spotlight. Everyone knows pop star Taylor Swift, who’s currently the girlfriend of tight end Travis Kelce, brings a whole new audience the NFL might not have otherwise (the Swifties), and the networks have to make sure they get Swift’s reaction to every Kelce catch, adding fuel to the fire of haters everywhere. Regardless of the crazy reasons thrown out to the world of gossip, there’s no denying the results on the field. Kansas City is on the way to their seventh straight appearance in the AFC Championship Game, with a third consecutive Super Bowl title still in play. With that amount of success, there has to be some skill making that happen, and most importantly, consistency in the leadership positions to continue building upon.

Of course, leadership goes filters from the top down, but on the field of play, it helps to have one of the best coaches ever in Andy Reid. Not too long ago, Reid was known as a coach who couldn’t win the “big one” during his days with the Philadelphia Eagles. Now, he’s creeping up on the all-time wins list, securing his 300th when the Chiefs defeated the Houston Texans in the AFC Divisional round last weekend. At quarterback, Kansas City has Patrick Mahomes, who is the best in the league, and like Reid, is becoming one of the best ever at his respective position. Together, Reid and Mahomes have set the foundation for the rest of the roster to be constructed, which is saying a lot considering how quickly people want change when the first sign of adversity hits. One more thing, the Chiefs’ defense has become the strongest part of their team. Math can be a difficult subject, but hall-of-fame head coach, combined with great QB and defense, equals championship formula.

This isn’t breaking news about Kansas City being the standard in the league, but attempting to beat them becomes much tougher when a loser mentality enters the equation. The Texans, after being sent home by the Chiefs, made it clear they felt they were going into the game feeling like they had to beat Kansas City and the officials. There were a couple of controversial calls in regard to contact on Mahomes, but simply put, Houston is not good enough to beat a team on a championship level. When a team goes into something with a built-in excuse, they’re probably already defeated before the game starts. When the inevitable loss happens, the blame goes on everything else besides where it should go, on themselves. The Texans had plenty of opportunities to potentially win the game, but simply didn’t make enough plays. C.J. Stroud being sacked eight times has nothing to do with officiating, and everything to do with the offensive line getting whooped in the trenches. The inability to cover Kelce, who had seven catches for 117 yards and a touchdown, falls on a bad defensive game plan letting the Chiefs’ main target get wherever he wanted on the field. All of that gets forgotten in the cesspool of excuse-making, but that’s what happens when people don’t want to face the reality of not being ready for prime competition.

Clearly, being a cooked team isn’t part of the formula to beat Kansas City, but what is? Belief tops the list, but there’s also evidence that says it’s possible. The Cincinnati Bengals were able to come into GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium and beat the Chiefs during their run to the Super Bowl in the 2021-’22 season. Big picture says Kansas City has the championship rings for the last two seasons, but a deeper dive says a few plays could have literally altered history. In the 2022 run, their margins of victory were seven (Jacksonville Jaguars), three (Bengals) and three (Eagles), respectively. 2023 was more of the same. After beating the Miami Dolphins 26-7 in a rare wild card appearance, the wins were by three (Buffalo Bills), seven (Baltimore Ravens) and three (San Francisco 49ers). In other words, the Chiefs haven’t been an unbeatable freight train that blows out everyone who steps on the field with them. More often than not, teams have chances to make the money plays, but Kansas City beats them to the punch.

So here we are, in the NFL’s version of the Final Four, and we’re asking the same question we have for years about anyone having what it takes to dethrone the Chiefs. The Bills will get another shot Sunday evening, and they believe the team they’re bringing to Kansas City this time is the best equipped for the task. The mentality alone give them a better chance than Houston ever had, and belief is a powerful thing. Something else that probably won’t be heard when Buffalo’s players get interviewed leading up to the game is built-in excuses. Whether they can break through Chiefs Kingdom or not is another question, but if the Bills lose, it won’t be because the belief wasn’t there. Losing is never an easy thing to deal with, but having a loser mentality before stepping onto the field makes it worse. That’s something the Texans have to face, and if they stay with the status quo, it’s difficult to see where they can get past winning the AFC South.

Defense is still king, no matter what changes in sports

Advertising and marketing tells us it’s all about the offense, but defense is still the key if championships are to be won

Most of us know what it’s like to open up a print newspaper and see all of the different sections within it. There’s sports, entertainment, metro, business, politics and life (among others topics) being covered up by the main page introducing the name of the paper. As time has moved on, the printed newspaper became smaller, and the sections have been combined to cut down on the cost of printing. In a way, the newspaper reflects how life is today, and when it comes to sports and entertainment, those two sections are about as joined at the hip as it gets. Because of the partnership, leagues and broadcast stations prioritize getting as many eyes on their product as possible, and promoting offense has become the chief way to do so. As offense has become engrained in the DNA of the viewer, defense is almost an afterthought, but even after all of these years, defending is still the most important item if titles are going to be won. Don’t take my word for it, just look at history.

Let’s start with the NFL. If a person went on YouTube right now, they could find many videos that showed the league’s greatest hits from back in the day. In other words, defense was promoted almost as much as the offense, but as we know, that’s not the case anymore. Now, rules that make the big hit almost non-existent are in-place (flags fly if a quarterback is even touched), and everything that’s been legislated into the game gives the offense all kinds of advantages. Even with these changes, no team wins a Super Bowl without making at least a few big plays on defense. The Kansas City Chiefs just won this year’s title, and of course, QB Patrick Mahomes was the one who got all of the accolades. No one is trying to take away from the greatness of Mahomes, but he didn’t even reach 200 yards passing in the game. The Chiefs were outplayed by the Philadelphia Eagles for a huge part of the contest, but a defensive touchdown, in the form of a fumble return by linebacker Nick Bolton, kept Kansas City within striking distance until the offense got on track. It definitely helps to score points, but if a team can’t stop anybody, that will come back to haunt a squad at the wrong moment.

Next, the NBA is on the list. In a sports world where offense has become everything, this league might be the biggest example of that. It’s not uncommon to see teams score around 130 points in a game these days. Compare that to games played in the 90s, where scoring 100 points was considered an offensive explosion. Remember when the hard foul was allowed to make players who dared to come into the lane for a layup pay for their efforts? Not anymore. Now, it’s an automatic ejection if a foul is deemed too aggressive. Hand-checking has been taken out, and overall, defense is optional. With that said, the defense (magically) makes a difference between winning a title and getting close to that status. Games start to slow down in the playoffs, and they’re not as wide-open as they were earlier in the season. Things get a little tighter, and it’s not enough to be good offensively. Take a look at the Golden State Warriors when they defeated the Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals in 2022. We know about Steph Curry and his shooting ability, but they were third in points allowed per game through the season. The Warriors probably don’t win if the defense wasn’t as good as it was. Just because defense has become optional at times doesn’t mean it can’t be played at a high level. Golden State, and the other teams that have won in the last decade, prove this theory.

Finally, lets take a look at MLB. The analytics bug is part of the driving force behind the offensive craze, but it might be the biggest part in baseball. All we hear about is launch angle, upper-cut swing and power numbers. Rules to get rid of the shift (overloading fielders to one side), along with smaller dimensions in MLB’s stadiums, have combined to allow home runs at record rates. Yes, power numbers are way up, but teams have become dependent on the long ball, leading to more strikeouts. What happens in the playoffs is pitching staffs make adjustments to keep the ball out of the sweet spots the hitters love, and if a squad can’t manufacture runs with singles, doubles and sacrifice bunts, runs don’t get scored. Pitching and defense is still the way to go. An example of this is the Houston Astros, who won the World Series in 2022. In defeating the Philadelphia Phillies to win the title, the Astros only gave up three runs in the final three games, including a combined no-hitter in Game 4. A catch at the wall by centerfielder Chas McCormick preserved the win in Game 5, and a young pitching staff came of age throughout the journey. It goes to show winning 10-9 every game isn’t sustainable if a team wants to win a championship.

There’s a phrase that says offense sells tickets, but defense wins championships. No matter how much people want to say that isn’t true anymore, too many cases say otherwise. Maybe this is the way to think about today’s times in sports: Offense can get you to the hill, but defense gets you over the top. Media and leagues encourage offense, which provides the entertainment value. When it’s winning time, it’s a good thing these games aren’t played on a ratings chart.

Everything is fine in Chiefs Kingdom…right??

This past Sunday, the Kansas City Chiefs had what a lot of people looked at as a “get right” game against the Philadelphia Eagles on the road. The Chiefs did win 42-30 at Lincoln Financial Field to even their record at 2-2, but it looked eerily similar to a good amount of games involving Kansas City. Quarterback Patrick Mahomes looked good in throwing five touchdowns, including three to wide receiver Tyreek Hill. That in and of itself is no surprise, but what’s also no surprise is the leaky defense, and the lack of a consistent running game to compliment Mahomes. The assumption from most in the sports media is the two-time defending AFC champions will get it together, and eventually, be back in the Super Bowl for a third consecutive season. The reality is the Chiefs have serious issues that need fixing before any postseason play can be thought of. Three of those issues have nothing to do with the team itself, and those are the rest of the clubs in the improving AFC West. They (at least after the first month of NFL action) are turning what was seemingly a walk in the park for Kansas City into anything but.

Let’s start with the Los Angeles Chargers, who are sitting at 3-1. The Chargers, under first-year head coach Brandon Staley and the next big thing (maybe) in quarterback Justin Herbert, look like they are starting to turn the corner after years of inconsistency. It’s no secret Los Angeles has one of the most talented rosters in the league, but bad coaching blunders and inexcusable penalties have kept the club from even coming close to reaching their potential. Lack of mental toughness has also hurt the Chargers, but based off of what we have seen in the last couple of weeks, there’s reason to believe that might be past history. Los Angeles beat the Chiefs on the road and the Las Vegas Raiders at home (there were far more Raiders fans than Chargers supporters in SoFi Stadium on Monday night). In both games, the Chargers had to stave off comebacks from their opponents, and in years past, those games would have been losses. So far, L.A. has been able to show why this year will be different, and if it continues, they could factor into results impacting not just the division, but the conference.

Speaking of Las Vegas, they, like the Chargers, also sit at 3-1. It would be reasonable to say the Raiders and Los Angeles have a good amount in common when it comes to talking about what holds them back (undisciplined play, clock management issues, etc.), but Vegas has also found ways to win games that would be losses any other year. The Raiders have had to come from behind to win in all of their victories, including two from double-digits against the Baltimore Ravens and Miami Dolphins, respectively. From the exterior, it looks like head coach Jon Gruden and quarterback Derek Carr are finally on the same page (stay tuned to see if this continues), and the defense looks respectable for a change. Slow starts in games is something the Raiders will have to fix going forward. If the loss to the Chargers taught them anything, they would learn it’s hard to win week after week having to climb out of huge holes, especially a 21-0 deficit at halftime. If Vegas can remedy that problem, they can find themselves in the middle of the playoff picture. On top of all this, the Raiders believe they should have swept Kansas City last season, so anyone can bet those two games are circled on the calendar.

Finally, there are the Denver Broncos. Any guess what their record is? If your answer is 3-1, that would be correct. Yes, the Broncos caught a loss to the Ravens last Sunday, but that doesn’t take away from the identity they have built through the first four games. Unlike L.A. and Las Vegas, Denver’s strength lies on the defensive end, where they are fourth in the league in total yardage allowed. The offense doesn’t lack for talent either if they can stay healthy. Wide receivers Jerry Jeudy and KJ Hamler both suffered significant injuries (Hamler is gone for the year with a torn ACL in his left knee), and quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, who has played well after winning the job from incumbent Drew Lock, is battling a concussion. The running game, led by Melvin Gordon, has been solid. Long story short, if the offense can catch up to the defense, this is a team that is also dangerous to the Chiefs chances of running away with the division.

Keep in mind I still expect Kansas City to win the AFC West. Like many others, the Chiefs were my pick at the beginning of the year, and it’s far too early to jump off of that wagon. Having said that, there are a few issues the team has to deal with in a quick manner, or the percentage of things not being okay go up in a hurry. The defense is a turnstile, and the lack of a consistent ground attack is a red flag. These factors, along with the other three teams in the division, could combine to be too much for even the great St. Patty (Mahomes) to overcome. In other words, it’s not safe to assume all is well in Chiefs Kingdom, because right now, that’s far from the truth.