How Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes channeled the 2022 offseason chatter and doubt
Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes was well-aware of the critics during the 2022 offseason.
He knew multiple analysts didn’t pick the Chiefs to win the AFC West, much less make the Super Bowl.
The chatter was loud, perhaps because the Chiefs went through transition at multiple positions, while the other teams in the AFC and within the Chiefs’ own division loaded up.
Mahomes heard it all and perhaps even kept receipts for extra motivation.
“It’s hard not to hear that stuff, especially in today’s age of social media and everything like that,” Mahomes said Monday. “So, you hear how not good we’re going to be and all you can do is prove it on the football field.
“I’m not a guy who’s going to respond and say stuff back to people or anything like that on social media. I’m just going to go out there and prove it on the football field. And once you do that, it doesn’t really matter what people are saying.”
Point taken.
Mahomes more than proved that the Chiefs remain among the NFL’s elite teams after guiding the team to a 14-3 record to secure the AFC’s No. 1 seed in the postseason. The Chiefs also clinched a seventh straight AFC West title, sweeping the division despite the Denver Broncos, Los Angeles Chargers and Las Vegas Raiders bolstering their respective rosters during the offseason.
Along the way, Mahomes collected hardware. Lots of hardware.
He garnered first-team All-Pro honors and was named to the Pro Bowl for a fifth straight season. Mahomes also collected his second career NFL MVP award last week after he threw for a career-high 5,250 yards and a league-best 41 touchdown passes during the regular season.
Oh, Mahomes also helped lead the Chiefs to a 38-35 win over the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LVII and he was named as the game’s MVP, the second of his career.
Not bad at all for a player and Chiefs team some analysts didn’t pick to win the AFC West.
Looking back, the Chiefs’ signal-caller took it all in stride.
“We had a good team,” Mahomes said. “We had a lot of young players. (Chiefs general manager) Brett Veach did a great job of getting a lot of great players that contributed for us, in this game especially.
“I said it before the year and I’ll always say it: As long as Andy Reid is coaching us, we’ll always have a chance. I’ll keep the big guy around a couple more years at least and we’ll try to be back to this game as many times possible.”
This story was originally published February 13, 2023 at 11:44 AM.
