That was a textbook example of a championship victory. The Kansas City Chiefs once again showed why they are the reigning champions of the NFL as they overcame a dreadful performance against the Jets to continue their Super Bowl defense and improve to 4-1 on the year.
That’s how champions win Super Bowls.
Despite playing dreadfully for large portions of that game, the Kansas City Chiefs managed to overcome a Jets onslaught and eke out a 23-20 victory to continue their Super Bowl charge and push their lead atop the AFC West division with a 4-1 record. And, even though I have doubts about their chances of winning the Super Bowl again this season, you can’t argue against them having a champion’s winning mentality.
Okay, I won’t get into a full recap of the game as everyone has probably already seen it, so I really just want to focus in on Patrick Mahomes, the Chiefs, and how they managed to win this game.
It’s really kind of incredible how this team, despite the circumstances and cultural buzz (there must have been 10 celebrities at that game…along with Taylor Swift again) surrounding this team on a constant basis, was able to win this game after looking like utter dog crap for large stretches of the game.
Sure, they opened really well with the Chiefs scoring the first 17 points of the game with the crowing jewel score being Patrick Mahomes a beautiful touch pass over the Jets defense to Noah Gray (1 REC, 34 yards, 1 TD) for a 34-yard TD.
And, after that score, I thought this game was going to be a complete and utter blowout as the Chiefs had a far better offense than New York, the QBs aren’t even remotely comparable, KC’s defense was shutting down the Jets, and the New York crowd was even in their favor…as a good 35-40% of the stadium was filled with Chiefs fans and the celebrities pretty much were all in support of KC (with Taylor Swift obviously now being KC’s biggest fan, and the NFL’s biggest unpaid marketer).
So, with the Chiefs up 17-0 and driving early on in the 2nd quarter, I thought this game was over…until Jawan Taylor bungled the Chiefs momentum and catapulted a furious Jets comeback.
I mean, I really don’t know how Taylor is still the starting right tackle for KC as the guy can only do one thing right, and that’s taking penalties. And he stupidly grabbed Bryce Huff’s (0 tackles, 2 QB hits, 1 safety) facemask as the Jets edge rusher was chasing after Mahomes in the endzone, which caused a safety and gave the Jets a little momentum.
And then Patrick Mahomes and Zack Wilson must have switched bodies for the next two quarters as the Chiefs scored just a single field goal with Mahomes going 18/30 (60% completion percentage), 203 passing yards, 1 TD, 2 horrible interceptions to Ashtyn Davis (2 tackles, 1 PD, 1 INT) and C.J. Mosley (11 tackles, 1 PD, 1 INT), and just looking panicky and scared in the pocket.
He just looked woeful…which was made even worse give Zach Wilson ABSOUTELY BALLED OUT with him picking out dimes as he went 28-39 (72% completion percentage), he threw for a season-high 245 passing yards, and had two picture-perfectly thrown TDs to Allen Lazard (3 REC, 61 yards, 1 TD) and C.J. Uzomah (1 REC, 1 yard, 1 TD).
And, the Jets went on a ruthless 20-3 run and saw them primed and poised to take the lead with a little over 7 minutes left in the game…until these two guys switched back their bodies in time for Mahomes to be Mahomes, and for the Chiefs to be the World Champion Chiefs.
After Wilson botched a snap and gave possession back to KC at the Jets 45-yard line, Mahomes methodically worked the clock, wore out the Jets defenders, rushed for 20+ yard carries to pick up long 3rd down conversions, ignored a raucous Jets crowd (they got back into the game), and dwindled away the hope of the Jets pulling off an incredible comeback as he broke containment and slide for a 1st down right inside the Jets 5-yard line to seal the victory.
Yes, Mahomes should have been punished for another dreadful pick early in the 7-minute, game-killing drive and was bailed out by the refs calling a stupid holding penalty on Sauce Gardner (3 tackles), but that’s the luck of the draw sometimes. And only the best of the best QBs can take advantage of those boons, and Patrick Mahomes did that and more with this victory.
Oh, and with a little help from Isiah Pacheco and the running game too as they destroyed the Jets defense with 200+ rushing yards.
Of course, I think the Chiefs defense, which had a decent game with 55 tackles, 2 sacks, 4 TFL, 3 PD, 10 QB hits, 1 FF, and 1 FR, did play pretty well (though, every team should be getting to the QB against that Jets O-Line), but there’s just something a little off about this team.
Maybe it’s the new-found media hype given all the celebrities and pop culture circumstances or the added attention of them being the defending Super Bowl champions, but they are making what should be layup games into 5k marathons for no reasons aside from carless decision making.
And, even though they showed their championship-winning mentality, I think it’s going to bite them in the end against some of the hungrier, revenge-filled, and more desperate teams in the league (aka: Eagles, 49ers, Cowboys, Bills, Ravens, and maybe the Bengals if they can get their act together).
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