Bill Self believes Patrick Mahomes gives Kansas City Chiefs a mental edge. Here’s why
Bill Self was surprised to learn the Kansas City Chiefs are considered the underdogs in their Feb. 11 matchup against the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl LVIII.
“That shocks me,” Self, Kansas’ 21st-year men’s basketball coach and longtime Chiefs fan, said on Monday’s Hawk Talk radio show.
The 49ers, who defeated the Detroit Lions 34-31 Sunday in the NFC Championship game, opened as 2 1/2-point favorites over the Chiefs, 17-10 winners over the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC title game.
“I don’t know anything about X’s and O’s, but to me the mental advantage without question goes to the Chiefs,” Self stated, “in large part because of one person.”
That person of course is two-time Super Bowl champion quarterback Patrick Mahomes of the Chiefs.
“Well, first of all coach (Andy) Reid and his staff are off-the-charts good and everything, but I think there’s one thing that when you play the Chiefs, the opposing quarterback thinks he has to come close to matching Patrick,” Self said.
That in Self’s theory would give the Mahomes-led Chiefs a mental edge over the Niners and QB Brock Purdy.
“It’d be like going against Tiger Woods in the final round in his prime saying, ‘Well, I’m one stroke ahead and I’ve got to play better than Tiger.’ And if the guy (opponent) is focused on Tiger, he’s already lost focus on the next shot or whatever,” Self said. “So I think that one guy gives you an advantage over everybody just because he is different.”
He continued.
“We are pretty spoiled being at a time in Kansas City where you may have arguably the greatest of all-time under center in Kansas City. The other guys are great,” Self added of the likes of NFL quarterbacks Purdy and Lamar Jackson of the Ravens, “but to me, (Mahomes) just gives you an air of confidence when you walk in that I don’t think any other professional team has.”
Self last week predicted the Chiefs would beat the Ravens in the AFC title game.
“I think there’s something about people saying (the Chiefs) have had an easier path, because they haven’t played a road game (in their recent runs to the Super Bowl),” Self said last week. “That galvanizes a locker room, (so) when you go to a place, you are more connected than you ever have been. I’ll take (KC quarterback) Patrick.”
Self was asked Monday on Hawk Talk if there are any common denominators between Self and Chiefs coach Reid.
“I would say he’s cooler under pressure. He’s definitely better on commercials,” Self joked. “He can grow a mustache. There’s a lot of things different. I don’t know of that many similarities.”
