The Kansas City Chiefs disappointingly ended another season.
All they needed to do was to stop the Cincinnati Bengals for one more half.
Instead, the tables turned, and the road team won via a field goal by Evan McPherson.
The Chiefs’ collapse brought sorrow to their loyal fans and joy to their growing legion of haters.
Love y’all #ChiefsKingdom. This one hurts but we will be back! See y’all next year!
— Patrick Mahomes II (@PatrickMahomes) January 31, 2022
Unfortunately, success will bring more enemies, leading to endless criticism.
Detractors say that the Chiefs have reached their ceiling and can’t improve further.
As expected, Patrick Mahomes is also a subject of ridicule and hate.
But say what you want about the starting quarterback because he’s still a superstar despite the monumental collapse against the Super Bowl-bound Bengals.
Playoffs Or Nothing For Mahomes
Never forget that the former Texas Tech standout already has a Super Bowl victory under his belt in a postseason wherein the Chiefs completed three comeback victories.
Kansas City was still trailing in the fourth quarter of Super Bowl LIV against the San Francisco 49ers when they weaved their magic once more.
That outcome also gave Mahomes Super Bowl MVP honors after already becoming the league MVP and Offensive Player of the Year.
He accomplished the game’s ultimate goal in his third NFL season and second as the team’s starter.
This is still one of my favorite moments from Patrick Lavon Mahomes II. He's just special. 🥰 pic.twitter.com/S4ur7nCaeJ
— Angie 💅🏾🌸💄 (@Unb0theredAngie) January 23, 2022
In some ways, he’s the template that Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow is following.
But take away Mahomes from the Chiefs and imagine where they would be.
There’s no doubt that he can make throws downfield, but he’s completing them using different angles.
He can also avoid sacks and extend plays to get something out of seemingly nothing.
Don’t let Patrick Mahomes get outside the pocket pic.twitter.com/nv7bGntXQE
— PFF (@PFF) February 2, 2022
They may be eliminated this season, but his naysayers must be ready because the Chiefs will be back.
Mahomes is still one of the best quarterbacks in the league, though he might have some streaks of inaccuracy in him.
Yet his chemistry with Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce elevated their production.
Both of those players became All-Pros and Pro Bowlers when they started playing with Mahomes.
Failure Is Normal In The NFL
There’s a high probability for upsets during the NFL playoffs because of its knockout format.
Any lower-seeded team can defeat their opponent with the home-field advantage given the right breaks of the game.
Compare that to the NBA or MLB playoffs, wherein it’s difficult for an underdog team to defeat a better roster four times to advance.
That said, the sudden death nature of the NFL postseason made it normal for the greatest players to suffer losses in the biggest of games.
"Go win it all."@PatrickMahomes gave @JoeyB some parting advice.
(via @nflfilms, @insidethenfl) pic.twitter.com/sV4RWGA7uu
— NFL (@NFL) February 1, 2022
Joe Montana did win four Super Bowls in as many appearances, but he also suffered four NFC Championship losses during his tenure with the San Francisco 49ers.
Tom Brady lost three Super Bowls, two of which came against the New York Giants.
Peyton Manning lost two Super Bowls, and Aaron Rodgers hasn’t returned to the big game since winning it in 2010.
Four AFC Championship Games and two Super Bowl appearances are no fluke for Mahomes and the Chiefs.
.@PatrickMahomes: WR1
📺: #CINvsKC — 3pm ET on CBS
📱: https://t.co/dKNUFkfJkm pic.twitter.com/BpBE8vNQ3e— NFL (@NFL) January 30, 2022
However, the game’s brutal nature makes it challenging to win it all every year.
That’s why no team has won back-to-back Super Bowls since the 2003 and 2004 Patriots.
Therefore, stop talking about Mahomes not being a star anymore.
You’ll keep quiet when you look at what he’s done and let those achievements speak for themselves.
NEXT: Have The Chiefs Hit Their Ceiling?