The Chiefs Have Supplanted the Patriots in the NFL’s Villain Role
It's Part II of our 'Super Bowl Stories' series. In Part I, we featured 49ers QB Brock Purdy as he gets ready to become the third-youngest quarterback to start in the big game. But every good story needs a villain. The antagonist, if you will. NFL fans have been joking about “the script” for years now. The league even played along with its hilarious
preseason “table read” commercial for the 2024 script. In that 60-second clip, a mock writer jokes about writing the Patrick Mahomes character “out of the script entirely,” to which all the players delightedly agree. It’s fun to joke about. Even more funny to see the NFL embrace it. But alas, here we are again, on the brink of another Super Bowl, and that Mahomes character is here to stay in another NFL storybook ending.
“You Can’t Make This Stuff Up”
That was the tag line that ends the commercial, and it feels valid. You couldn’t write this, and neither could Hollywood. And that’s the beauty of live sports. Despite nuances to sometimes-awful officiating that benefits some teams more than others — sorry Chiefs, it’s true — the refs couldn’t make Ravens’ WR Zay Flowers fumble at the 1-yard line. So truthfully, you can’t make this stuff up. Factor in the Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift romance, and somehow the “script" talk quickly gets out of hand. Ironically, one T-Swift hit portrays the character that the Chiefs, Mahomes, and Kelce have suddenly embodied — the anti-hero.
21st Century GOATs & Villains
If you’re seasoned enough to remember “old school” football in the 80s and 90s, it was reckless. We used to watch highlight reels of hits that knocked people senseless. Safety measures have become (importantly) a major talking point as football has shifted in the 21st century. And within the sport’s new-age storytelling model lies a flag-happy transition to protecting quarterbacks. Sometimes, those penalty flags protect the most important QBs more than others. Enter Mahomes. He’s potentially going to end up as the greatest to ever play the game (ie. the NFL’s greatest asset), and that incites the latest GOAT debate unfolding in real time. Mahomes or Tom Brady? Brady won so much that he became the NFL’s highly-respect-yet-hated villain figure over the course of 20 years. He, too, got a lot of beneficial calls. And after Brady (eventually) walked himself out of the NFL scriptwriters room on his own accord, it became Mahomes' role to fill. He’s playing it quite well.
Super Bowls Since 2000
1 Included Tom Brady AND Patrick Mahomes
11 Included Tom Brady OR Patrick Mahomes
12 Didn’t Include Either
Super Bowl Success Rate
Brady: Won 7/10 in Super Bowls (70%)
Mahomes: Won 2/3 in Super Bowls (66.6%)
*Mahomes will be 3/4 with a win next Sunday
Only two quarterbacks have ever beaten Brady in the big game — Eli Manning (2) and Nick Foles (1). Mahomes’ only Super Bowl loss was against (who else?) Brady himself, meaning a legitimate half (50 percent) of the 24 Super Bowls since 2000 have featured either of the two super-villains. And as time goes on, Mahomes becomes evermore linked to a GOAT debate that comes with anti-hero status.
All Dynasties Must Fall
Before any readers misconstrue my narrative (nay, the NFL’s narrative), let me stop. Mahomes, Kelce, and Andy Reid are already legends. They’ve earned it, not through officiating generosity or shadow scripting. They truly are the NFL’s modern-day dynasty. But what that means for you, Chiefs Kingdom, is that you’re the new villains for 31 other NFL fanbases. Not because of Kelce screaming into microphones or dating Miss Americana. And not because of Mahomes' sometimes-cocky-but-necessary demeanor. No. The other 31 franchises quite literally
“hate you because they ain’t you” — for lack of a better cliche. Your team has earned it. They’re phenomenal when it matters most. But just remember, as Patriots fans have slowly realized, all dynasties must fall.
Read More
CBS Sports: Where Chiefs Rank Among NFL’s Greatest Dynasties
Sporting News: Tom Brady vs. Patrick Mahomes: Key Stats for the NFL’s GOAT Debate
WaPo($):
Is Patrick Mahomes Already the Greatest Quarterback in NFL History? The Numbers Are Intriguing.
