Chiefs Chronicles: KC's Quest for Football Immortality Begins- 2024 Season Playoffs Divisional Round
KC's Quest for Football Immortality Begins, The Origin of a Playoffs Legend: Patrick Mahomes, A British Ginger > Carson Wentz AKA Prince Harry, Patrick Mahomes' Voice is a Thing Now, & My Predictions!
KC's Quest for Football Immortality Begins
First off, doesn’t KC’s Quest for Football Immortality sound like a Sega game you’d have played in the early ‘90s? I know I would have been all over that! Eating a truckload of Cool Ranch Doritos, drinking a Josta or a SoBe, and binging some KC’s Quest with my bros! Is it possible to be nostalgic for something that I’m pretty sure never happened?
I’m not sure. Oh well, I guess it’s back to reality (⬅️totally forgot about this song) for me.
The Chiefs are attempting to complete an unprecedented NFL Three-Peat by winning their third straight Super Bowl. If they are able to do that…?
Then this Dynasty and its Football Immortality will be assured. The Quest starts tomorrow (or today, depending on when I publish this or where you live) at 3:30 CST with the Divisional Round game versus the “hey, those guys stole our old team name” Texans.
It seems like forever since we last watched the Chiefs play live, but it’s only been a little under two weeks. Actually, we won’t count the Denver game since very few starters actually played (a bit more on that below). Taking that travesty of football out of the picture, we haven’t seen the real Chiefs play in 24-ish days (depending on how you’re counting).
The majority of the “experts” that I’ve seen or read (nearly always in passing- most talking heads annoy me) in the lead-up to tomorrow’s game have agreed that letting all of the Chiefs stars/starters rest for so long was a terrible idea and a big mistake by Andy Reid. The Chiefs will be rusty and the Texans are playing hot.
To this I say:
I honestly don’t think that most of them really believe this, except for the most hardcore of the haters. What I think they’re actually trying to do is shield themselves from the large and rabid anti-Chiefs movement that will descend on them the second they say anything positive about the Chiefs.
“They” (AKA “folks who hate the Chiefs”) are closely related to “them” (AKA Giant Ants!!!) and are literally everywhere. While doing research for this column (I’m sorry but I can’t and won’t call Chiefs Chronicles a newsletter), I found this little gem of “their” propaganda tucked away on the Super Bowl LIV wiki page. Can you spot the hater-prints (they’re like fingerprints but left behind by haters)?
Et tu, Wikipedia? And here I was thinking that a fully community-edited information site would make sure to post only the straight, unbiased truth. Another illusion shattered.
Putting all of that nonsense to the side, the excitement and anxiety I’m feeling about the Chiefs’ prospects for this game are trying to fight each other for dominance, but they are being suppressed (mercilessly, I might add) by the pain I’m suffering- a flare-up by my old enemy sciatica.
The meds I’m trying to combat the pain with are doing two things:
1) They are possibly (I can’t tell) taking the edge off.
2) They are making me crazy sleepy/slightly loopy and that makes finishing this column (and keeping track of what’s real) kind of hard. That fight in the GIF below might be really happening or it could just be a wonderful dream I’m having. I know one thing for sure- I could straight-up murder a grilled cheese and/or a taco right now.
Since I’m hungry and the next section of the column is already written, let’s move along, shall we?
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The Origin of a Playoffs Legend: Patrick Mahomes
In 2018, Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs had gone toe-to-toe (though it was Dee Ford’s fingers, not his toes, that cost KC a probable Super Bowl win that year) with the eventual Super Bowl Champion Patriots in the AFC Championship Game, before losing in overtime. That was an amazing individual season for Mahomes and he’d performed well in both of their playoff games, but that wasn’t where his status as a Playoffs Legend started.
We have to go back in time five years to see where it all began.
The origin of Patrick Mahomes as a Playoffs Legend began about a year after that heartbreaking loss to the Pats, on January 12th, 2020. That was the day the Chiefs faced off against the Texans at Arrowhead Stadium in the Divisional Round of the Playoffs.
The game tomorrow is nothing new for him or the Chiefs- this has all happened before. (Note: Are we in some sort of awesome football time loop?)
The Chiefs went 12-4 in the regular season and got the #2 seed which, at the time, meant they got a 1st Round bye. Going into their game against the #4 seed Texans, they had to feel good about their chances. Even removing all other considerations, it was still Andy Reid’s team after a bye- that’s as close to a sure thing as you’re gonna get in sports.
Even with all of the playoff watching trauma I’d suffered as a Chiefs fan over the previous 30 years, I was cautiously optimistic. This Mahomes kid was really good and they’d gotten so close the year before. I allowed myself to hope that maybe this was finally their season to win it all.
Then the game started.
Do you remember how you felt with 10:54 left in the 2nd quarter of that game? I know I do. Completely stunned. The Texans had just added a field goal to stretch their lead to 24-0 and I (along with all of Chiefs Kingdom) was trying to figure out what in the world had just happened.
According to ESPN, the Texans’ Win Probability about a minute before they kicked that field goal (it’s weird to me that kicking the field goal made their win probability decrease) was 93.9%, leaving the Chiefs with a measly 6.1% chance to come back and win. Those are some pretty long odds.
What we know now, but didn’t know then (although we were starting to see it), is that Patrick Mahomes doesn’t care what the odds are.
Ever.
He always believes not only that he can win, but that he’s going to win.
Take a closer look at the time and the score in the GIF at the top of the column. Patrick’s celebrating the touchdown that he just threw to Damian Williams… less than a minute (9:55 on the clock) after the Texans field goal.
That put the score at 24-7, Texans. Still not great, but it was an encouraging sign.
The Chiefs offense had found their rhythm in that 2nd quarter and it shows when you look at the numbers (I’ve included the TD that I already mentioned because it’s prettier when you can see all of it):
2019 AFC Divisional Playoff Game- Chiefs Offense in the 2nd Quarter
(9:55 on the clock) Mahomes TD pass to Williams (Score 24-7, Texans)
(8:05 on the clock) Mahomes TD pass to Kelce (Score 24-14, Texans)
(6:31 on the clock) Mahomes TD pass to Kelce (Score 24-21, Texans)
(0:44 on the clock) Mahomes TD pass to Kelce (Score 28-24, Chiefs)
Just look at those beautiful numbers. The Chiefs offense possessed the ball for just 4:10 in the 2nd quarter and scored 28 points. That’s an average of a TD every 62.5 seconds. Wow! Was that offense fun to watch or what?!
Damian Williams rushed for two TDs in the 3rd, which put the Chiefs ahead 41-24 (Butker missed an extra point). Deshaun Watson* ran in a TD at the very end of the 3rd quarter to make the score 41-31, Chiefs. That was the last time the Texans would score in the game.
(* Aren’t we glad that the Chiefs didn’t listen to all of the so-called experts who said that they should draft Deshaun Watson over Patrick Mahomes?)
Patrick Mahomes had another TD pass in the 4th quarter, this time to a tight end not named Travis Kelce (it was to Blake Bell AKA The Belldozer). Harrison Butker finished off the scoring with a FG to complete a mind-blowing 51-31 comeback victory for the Chiefs over the Texans.
Here are the records for Patrick Mahomes & the Chiefs in that game:
• First team in postseason history to score 41 consecutive points after falling behind by at least 20*
• First team in postseason history to win by 20 points after trailing by 20*
• First team to score a TD on 7 consecutive drives in a postseason game*
• First team to lead at half after falling behind by 24 points*
• 11th time a team scored 41 consecutive points in a playoff game and first since the 2002 Jets*
• First team to score 50 points in a postseason game after going scoreless in 1st quarter
• 24-point comeback win tied for 4th-largest comeback by any team in postseason history
* Courtesy of Elias Sports Bureau
A win like that could be the seed of a perfect origin story for a QB to become a Playoffs Legend, but the player must first complete the journey and win it all. Only then, will the seed of his legend start to grow. Lose the next week or in the Super Bowl?
The seed dies.
It takes a lot of things going right to make it to that elevated level of fame. One or two great games in the playoffs isn’t enough to make someone a Playoffs Legend. Even a single amazing playoff run that leads to a Super Bowl win can’t, by itself, make a QB legitimately legendary, but it can kick things off.
To wit:
The Official Rules for an NFL QB to become a Playoffs Legend:
The only way to start down the path that leads from great player to Playoffs Legend is to win it all once.
The only way to actually become a Playoffs Legend is to continue winning in the postseason. Even twice won’t do- we’re talking sustained success.
Beginning with the Texans game in the 2019 NFL Playoffs and continuing through the rest of that postseason, Patrick Mahomes showed everyone that he was ready to begin his journey. A journey that would take him from being simply a great player and transform him into a Playoffs Legend.
He and the Chiefs went on to overcome 10-point deficits in both the AFC Championship Game (where he had this crazy run against the Titans) and the Super Bowl, becoming the first NFL team ever to come back from a 10-point (or more) deficit in three playoff games in the same season. The Chiefs won their first Super Bowl in 50 years (thanks to a little play called 2-3 Jet Chip Wasp) and Patrick Mahomes was named the Super Bowl MVP.
Not too shabby.
Since 2018, his first season as a starter, Patrick’s never missed an AFC Championship Game, has racked up a 15-3 record in the playoffs (with a 105.8 QB rating), and the Chiefs have won three of the four Super Bowls they’ve been in.
All of that was accomplished over just a 6-year span. The list of NFL QBs (in the Super Bowl era) who’ve had less playoff success, over the course of their entire careers would include nearly every QB that’s ever played.
In fact, the list of NFL QBs (in the Super Bowl era) who’ve had equal or better success in the playoffs is so short it hardly qualifies as a list. Here it is:
Most Playoff Wins (w/ Win % & SB W/L Record) QBs in the SB Era
Tom Brady - Record: 35-13 | Win %: .729% | SB Record: 7-3
Joe Montana - Record: 16-7 | Win %: .696% | SB Record: 4-0
Patrick Mahomes - Record: 15-3 | Win %: .833% | SB Record: 3-1
Terry Bradshaw - Record 14-5 | Win %: .737% | SB Record: 4-0
(Note: Troy Aikman is #9 on the playoff wins list with an 11-4 record, but his playoff win percentage of .733% is good for 3rd best amongst QBs with 3 or more Super Bowl wins. That, and his sparkling 3-0 record in the Super Bowl, means that he has to be mentioned with the other four. He’d be on the list above but I couldn’t figure out how to jump from 4th to 9th place on it.)
Patrick Mahomes playoff record compares very favorably to the other QBs listed above (all Playoff Legends in their own right), at least until you factor in how long each of them played while compiling those records. That’s where he blows his competition away.
Playoff Legends Ranked By Seasons Played
Tom Brady - 23 Seasons
Joe Montana - 16 Seasons
Terry Bradshaw - 14 Seasons
Troy Aikman - 12 Seasons
Patrick Mahomes - 8 Seasons (includes the current season in progress)
We’ve watched him progress from that initial glimpse of what he might be (making a splash in his first career start against Denver), to what he’s been so far as the Chiefs QB1 (the always dangerous 2X MVP/3X Champ & Big Bad to the rest of the NFL), all the way up to today (a man on the eve of an attempt to pull off a never-been-done-before Super Bowl Three-Peat).
He’s already done more than enough to qualify as a Playoffs Legend. Only the biggest haters deny that he’s one of the best, if not the best quarterback in the history of the NFL. His Hall of Fame Gold Jacket has already been reserved.
Completing the Three-Peat will take him to whatever the level is above Playoffs Legend. I’m not sure what that will be called, but I do know that Patrick Mahomes is only three wins away from reaching it.
(Note: Some folks would say that Tom Brady has the answer to the question of what’s above Playoffs Legend. The video below ⬇️ nicely sums up how I feel about a lot of Tom Brady’s alleged “accomplishments”. Nicely done, Mr. Smith!)
A British Ginger > Carson Wentz AKA Prince Harry
I want to quickly say that I was sorry to be proven right about the Chiefs backup QB actually being Prince Harry. That’s got to be why it looked like it was his first time playing American football, right? Carson Wentz has to be better than that because if something happens to PM15 and that’s the level of play Wentz brings to the field, the Chiefs are doomed.
To be fair, there are plenty of backups who would have looked just as bad playing vanilla offense with 2nd-4th stringers against a motivated team using their starters.
Still, I thought he’d have a much better showing than he did. Perhaps by using his “British Ginger Power” or something like that. There is precedent in the form of one Amy Pond (played by Karen Gillan AKA Nebula in Guardians of the Galaxy), who is Scottish but still a British citizen. Could our backup QB be anywhere near that cool, though?
Patrick Mahomes' Voice is a Thing Now
I saw this commercial and thought, “Give this guy a few years worth of yelling out snap counts to roughen that voice up a little and he sounds just like Patrick Mahomes.” The bigger Patrick Mahomes gets, the more we’re going to be hearing guys with that type of voice.
Like that weird, babyish/nasally way many women started talking on TV and online because of the… Kardashians? I don’t know. Seems like that was a thing.
Wasn’t it?
(Note: After taking a break for a couple hours the pain, exhaustion, and meds are running the show. Time to wrap this up.)
My Predictions
For this afternoon’s game I predict that Taylor Swift will be there, she’ll be dancing & singing, and a rested/motivated Playoff Trav is gonna put on a show for her.
I predict it won’t be as cold as it was for the Miami game last year but it will still be plenty too cold for the “we can close our roof when the weather’s too scary for us” Texans.
I predict the well-rested and as close to full power as they’ve been all year Chiefs are going to look fantastic on both sides of the ball. Plenty of touchdowns for the Offense, sacks & forced turnovers for the Defense, and I get the feeling we’re going to have at least one big Special Teams play.
And finally…
I predict that the Chiefs will beat the Texans, in a blowout (that’s right- not gonna change how I do things now) and the final score will be:
37-13 for the Chiefs who will move on to the AFC Championship Game.
The Simpsons, as it often does, helped with the column a little. In the Season 3 episode of The Simpsons called Lisa the Greek, Lisa (while helping Homer gamble illegally) picks the Chiefs as her lock to win.
In the early days of the show Lisa was never wrong, so we’re going with the little know-it-all. Lock it in!
Final Thoughts
Well, that’s it for this week. Sorry for any editing mistakes- not even going to do a read-through this time. Hopefully, there will be a lot of good stuff to write & talk about after today’s game.
Stay safe everybody, have fun, and, as always…
GO CHIEFS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I have no doubts about defeating the Texans. It's a very easy matchup, and I think your prediction of about 17 Houston points is correct. Any offence led by such a bad QB as CJ Stroud is going to struggle immensely to score against this Chiefs' defence, so since this week is of very little worry, let's dig into this Patrick Mahomes playoff legend stuff.
I spent a few minutes trying to dig through NFL history to find a six year playoff stretch that matches up to 2018-2023 Patrick Mahomes. The requirements are there can be at most two bad blowups that cause the team to lose (like Pat in 2020 and 2021), they must have made the playoffs all six seasons (a necessary barometer of regular season performance, in my opinion) and there must be at least three championships. The results I found were as follows:
Terry Bradshaw 1974-1979
Troy Aikman 1991-1996 (he was awful in 1991 and 1996, but two awful performances are allowed here, and the four years in the middle were fantastic)
Tom Brady in either 2014-2019, or 2015-2020. Neither can avoid the horrible performances in 2015 and 2019, so it's basically whether you like the 2014 or 2020 championship better.
That's it. Very few people have won three championships in six seasons while having no interceding playoff misses in the Super Bowl era to begin with, and Joe Montana loses out for having three blowups in a row in 1985, 1986, and 1987 in the middle of championships in 1984, 1988, and 1989.
Out of these four stretches, you can rank them any way you like. It's really splitting hairs, with the caveat that Troy Aikman and Tom Brady are definitely the junior partners here. There's a clear top two, and a clear bottom two.
Patrick may be number one. He may not be. I think I'm inclined to go with Terry Bradshaw for now. He was awful in the playoff loss in 1977, but every other playoff run he was fantastic in pretty much every game. The same is true for Patrick Mahomes, but he generated negative EPA/Play in two different playoff games over the past six years instead of one (like I said, we're hair splitting), and he did it right in the middle, so in six-year stretch terms, 2020 and 2021 are going to be really hard to get rid of. Therefore, even if there is another championship to get to four in what would be the 2019-2024 stretch, that only brings him even with Terry, and I'm not sure if he would pass him.
Still though, coming in behind only 1974-1979 Terry Bradshaw amongst all players, all time for the best six year playoff stretch is nothing at all to scoff at, and it's something many thought they would never see again in the days of the more even talent distribution of the modern NFL. All due credit to Patrick. With the league throwing more barriers in the way of the top teams all the time, it's possible we may never see a stretch like this ever again.
All the advantages seem to heavily favor the Chiefs, and for some reason when your team is picked to steamroll the competition by all the so-called experts, it can make one incredibly nervous instead of confident. I predict KC gets it done 31-20. Mahomes has that ability to never panic and his mistakes never seem to cost the team a victory.