‘Patrick, can this be the start of a dynasty?’ Chiefs, Mahomes could sustain this
Thirty-six minutes after the final snap, 18 after learning he’d become the second youngest quarterback to win a Super Bowl MVP award, Patrick Mahomes heard the word dynasty. He hadn’t yet removed his shoulder pads, hadn’t yet celebrated this one with his teammates, hadn’t yet even been in the locker room.
The timing of the postgame question, therefore, seemed silly. The topic itself is as well, right?
Right?
Well, maybe?
“I believe in maximizing every single day. That’s the thing with me,” Mahomes replied. “Obviously I’ve had a good start to my career. I’ve been blessed to be in a great organization with a lot of great players around me that make my job easier.
“But I know it’s gonna take a long time of consistency if I wanna be where I wanna be in the end. I’m lucky enough that I have a lot of great people around me that I have a chance to go out there every single year and compete.”
Two minutes after he completed the answer, the word came up again. Three minutes later, once more.
On Sunday, the Chiefs broke a 50-year championship drought with their 31-20 win against the San Francisco 49ers at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami.
Fifty!
But now the expectation is to do it all again one year later? Already? Of course it sounds absurd in that context.
But that’s kind of the point. A 24-year-old from east Texas who started at quarterback for the first time only seven years ago is a man who can make the impossible seem possible. Who can prompt belief — optimism, even — to a parade of fans who for decades have watched football games bracing for the worst.
Who can bring his team back from the brink of defeat once, then twice, then three times in a single postseason. Who can go 5-0 in a single season when trailing by double digits. Think of that one. At what point do you feel like you have him beat?
In two years, he’s still never lost a football game by more than a single possession.
“That is the golden child,” Chiefs wide receiver Sammy Watkins said.
So much can change in football. Sure, Tom Brady will be 43 years old by opening night next season, but nobody had Lamar Jackson winning a unanimous vote in the MVP ballot this season or Mahomes the year before. (He was listed at 66-to-1 for that honor).
That’s the absurdity in the question, even in the wonderment itself. And few know better than Kansas City, the subject of a quarter-century of postseason heartbreak, just how easily the tiniest of things can upset the path. Just once. It all has to come together so perfectly over time, and yet it requires only seconds for it all to go wrong.
But who would bet against him now? “I’m sure it won’t be his only one,” Chiefs linebacker Anthony Hitchens said. Mahomes is 24 years old. Here is the full list of players to have a Super Bowl and regular-season MVP award at that age:
Patrick Mahomes.
He threw for 50 touchdowns and 5,000 yards in his first year as an NFL starter. His coach, Andy Reid, said Mahomes was actually better this season than that one.
And he is far from content with his accomplishments. That’s what led to this moment, after all — that days after losing last season, one of the best by any quarterback in NFL history, Mahomes had built a workout program for this year. (He’s already done the same for this offseason, by the way.)
So if the questions revealed the belief he has inspired in others, his willingness to answer them revealed just that — that it isn’t the first time he’s thought of it.
“It’s pretty amazing the dynasty, or whatever you wanna call it, the Patriots have had these last 15 to 20 years. For me, it’s about taking it one year at a time,” Mahomes said. “We came up short last year. We understood how hard the challenge was to get to this position again, and we found a way to do it.
“But we understood next year when we come back, we enjoy this, and we come back next year, it’s gonna be the same heart, the same amount of tenacity and dedication every single day if we wanna be here. I think we 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’ll have no regrets on where we’re at.”
On Sunday, he was nowhere near his best. His first 31 pass attempts managed only 181 yards. If you like to base your opinions fully on statistics, you could make a compelling argument it was one of his worst.
In which case, in one of his worst nights as a professional, a 24-year-old just willed his team to a Super Bowl.
In one of his worst nights as a professional, he stood on a stage, the Vince Lombardi Trophy in one hand, a Super Bowl MVP award in the other.
This story was originally published February 3, 2020 at 12:43 AM.