Matching Chiefs won’t be easy
Patriots have work cut out to get back on top
Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs are going to be a significant roadblock for the Patriots going forward.
Watching Mahomes do his thing, make yet another magical comeback, while Andy Reid got off the Super Bowl schneid, had to be a bit disconcerting for those in Patriot Nation.
Mahomes isn’t going anywhere, any time soon. The Super Bowl MVP will be leading the Chiefs for the foreseeable future. He’s just 24 years old, and not some one-hit wonder. He’s truly a special player.
If and when necessary, the Chiefs will move mountains, and bank accounts, to keep their star quarterback in Kansas City to try and maintain their AFC reign.
You don’t let quarterbacks, who are that gifted and have that rare comeback ability, out the door. As the world witnessed the past month, no lead is safe with Mahomes on the opposite sideline.
Even throwing two picks in the championship game, and looking pedestrian for three quarters, Mahomes was lights out with the game on the line in the fourth quarter. Big-time players make big plays during bigtime moments. That’s been Tom Brady’s description for decades. Now the handle also fits Mahomes.
If you’re Bill Belichick watching the KC quarterback deliver for the third straight postseason game facing a double-digit deficit, while Jimmy Garoppolo failed in the clutch, it had to be eye-opening.
If the Patriots expect to compete with Mahomes and the Chiefs in the future, they can’t just rely on defense to win.
They constructed their 2019 team specifically to beat the Chiefs and Mahomes. They almost did, but were undercut by woeful officiating. Maybe with a second try, they might have done just that.
But we’ll never know. The Pats were too busy losing down the stretch and in the opening round of the playoffs to ever find out. In the end, their offense wasn’t good enough to deliver when the defense didn’t keep an opponent under 20 points.
The Niners also had a great defense. Same with the Titans. Neither of those teams could hold Mahomes an entire game. By the same token, neither Ryan Tannehill nor Garoppolo could produce enough offense and get the job done.
So the Pats have some work to do to keep the Chiefs on their radar, and that’s with or without Brady.
The GOAT gives them a chance if he remains, but they’re also going to have to find a quarterback who can go toe-to-toe with Mahomes for at least the next decade.
“The scary part is he’s only going to get better with time just because of experience,” Andy Reid told NFL Network after the game. “As phenomenal as he is now, he wants to exhaust you to find a way to make him even greater. That’s the part you love about coaching him. So this is all real. This isn’t a stage show. We get this every day, and love every minute of it.”
While the Chiefs didn’t exactly look like world-beaters in topping the Niners, 3120, the presence of Mahomes, with a cast of young weapons (Tyreek Hill, Mecole Hardman, Travis Kelce), is still daunting. The Chiefs’ third-year quarterback was 5-0 this season when trailing by double digits, including 3-0 in the postseason.
According to Hall of Famer Gil Brandt, Mahomes also became the fifth quarterback to beat a No. 1 pass defense in the Super Bowl, with Brady (XLIX), Peyton
Manning (XLVIII), Kurt Warner (XXXIV), and Ken Stabler (XI) the others.
The point is, the Patriots can’t sit still, on either side of the ball. Whether Brady returns or not, the 2020 New England quarterback needs a tight end, and a receiver with speed at the very least.
They also need to re-sign a few of their free agents on defense; be it Devin McCourty, Kyle Van Noy or Jamie Collins.
After beating the Niners on Sunday night, Mahomes was asked if the Chiefs might have the makings to build a similar dynasty to the Patriots?
“It’s pretty amazing the dynasty or whatever you want to call it the Patriots have had these last 15 to 20 years, and so for me it’s about taking it one year at a time,” Mahomes said. “We came up short last year. We understood how hard of a challenge it was to get to this position again, and we found a way to do it. And we understand next year that when we come back and we enjoy this and we come back next year, it’s going to be the same amount of tenacity and dedication every single day if we want to be here.
“I think we just take it one year at a time, one day at a time and try to put together great years, then at the end of it all we will have no regrets on where we are at.”
If the Chiefs wind up paying Mahomes $40 million a year, that’s where KC’s roster might suffer down the road. Will he be like Brady and take less, allowing the Chiefs to keep most of top their players and continue reloading? Or will he try and break the bank?
Mahomes at least sounded like he knew what was needed to keep the Chiefs on top, and preserve their potential to keep winning.
“Yeah, I think as long as we keep the people that we have in this organization on this team,” Mahomes said. “With the coach that we have, I think that we have a chance to be good year in and year out.”
On the flipside, what exactly does Belichick have in mind to keep the six-time Super Bowl champs in the mix?
There was a report Sunday the Patriots were willing to pay Brady “in excess of $30 million per year” to have him stay. Beyond that, the report suggested Brady wants to see the team spend on some weapons.
To be able to ultimately thwart Mahomes and the Chiefs, the Patriots are going to have to do more, and get more. That’s what the postseason told us.