Patrick Mahomes was not supposed to get to the Super Bowl this year.
Though he and the Chiefs are the defending champions, it felt that people doubted them at every turn.
They lost to the Lions in the first game of the season, and that brought questions. Their receivers looked below average.
Travis Kelce had a worse season than he has ever had with Mahomes. They lost four of six games in the middle of the season. They looked awful in a Christmas Day defeat to the Raiders.
All of it added up to it feeling like this would be a reset year for the Chiefs. Sure, they probably would make the playoffs, but it felt like they would fall short of the Super Bowl.
Then Mahomes turned into playoff Mahomes, and the Dolphins, Bills and Ravens paid the price.
There should be no more doubters for the 28-year-old Mahomes, but the 49ers are the favorites in the Super Bowl, something that surely will fuel the Chiefs star.
You wonder if Lamar Jackson being the favorite to win the MVP gave Mahomes something extra in Baltimore last week for the AFC Championship game.
Remember Michael Jordan explaining in “The Last Dance” that Karl Malone winning the MVP in 1997 drove him in the NBA Finals when they played that year?
Mahomes was supposed to be challenged by the other quarterbacks in the AFC. His contemporaries — Jackson, Josh Allen and Deshaun Watson — were supposed to give him competition. But none of them have reached the Super Bowl.
The up-and-comers — Joe Burrow, Tua Tagovailoa, Trevor Lawrence and Justin Herbert — posed another threat, but only Burrow has a playoff win over Mahomes, and Mahomes avenged that last year.
Even some old gunslingers in new places — Russell Wilson and Aaron Rodgers — were thought to pose a threat. But Wilson has been a total disaster for the Broncos, and Rodgers has yet to complete a pass for the Jets.
Despite all these challengers, Mahomes remains the unquestioned king at the most important position in sports. He has moved into the category of chasing history. Most notably, can he surpass Tom Brady and become viewed as the greatest ever.
Mahomes has a chance to do something that Brady was the last quarterback to do — win back-to-back Super Bowls. Brady’s Patriots won consecutive Lombardi Trophies in 2003 and 2004. No one has done it since.
Mahomes and the Chiefs had a chance to repeat in 2020 when Brady’s Buccaneers stopped them. Mahomes compared this shot at going back-to-back with that one this week.
“They’ve been such different seasons, I think that’s been the biggest thing,” Mahomes said. “The last time we tried to go back-to-back we won like — I think we were like 14-1 going into that last week, got to rest, lost that game and then kind of rolled through the playoffs. It’s never easy, but we played well, and we were just kind of like, ‘Oh we’re going to do it again.’ We’re going to go out there and play again, and we got our butt kicked.
“This year it’s been completely opposite. It’s been a struggle throughout the season, and we’ve had to continue to get better and better. That’s what I’ve always preached. … I think now it’s not just being satisfied with getting there — this is a great football team we’re going up against, it’s going to take our best football, kind of like it’s taken the last three weeks that we’ve played.”
These Chiefs feel like a more complete team than any Mahomes has been on. Steve Spagnuolo’s defense has been terrific in the playoffs. Isiah Pacheco gives Mahomes a better running game than he has had before.
His surrounding cast in the passing game is not as star-studded as a few years ago, but you have to wonder if it matters with Mahomes playing quarterback.
It would be an exaggeration to say no one expected Mahomes to be here. But he has faced more doubts this year than he has since 2019, and he has quieted all of them. It feels like Mahomes has been on a mission, and the 49ers are the only thing standing in the way from him adding another line to his already amazing résumé.
