Arrowhead Pride
One of the greatest testaments to Michael Jordan’s greatness, even perhaps in line with his sterling 6-0 NBA Finals record, is the players he prevented from winning rings. John Stockton and Karl Malone in Utah. Charles Barkley in Philadelphia and Phoenix. Patrick Ewing in New York. Reggie Miller in Indianapolis. All Hall of Famers, all turned away.
Patrick Mahomes has not ascended to that level, but with five AFC titles and three Super Bowls in the last six years, there’s a similar air of inevitability within his conference. Think of the moments: the 13-second field goal drive to force overtime and then beat Josh Allen’s Bills in the 2021 playoffs, the late hit out of bounds he drew to beat Joe Burrow’s Bengals in the 2022 playoffs, the deep dagger to beat Lamar Jackson’s Ravens in the 2023 playoffs, the fourth-quarter rally to beat Allen’s Bills again last season.
They’re infuriating, or they’re magical, depending on your perspective. You just have to shake your head and laugh sometimes. Mahomes is 6-1 in the postseason against the AFC’s other “Big Three” quarterbacks, owning a 15-2 passing touchdown-to-interception ratio in those seven games.
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3) Travis Kelce believes his production might have “slipped” with “more focus” on his opportunities as an entertainer.
Taylor Swift is the greatest thing that has happened to the NFL since Tim Tebow. No, I will not be explaining any further. But for all Tay-Tay’s powers, it seems there will always be those pushing the narrative that she’s somehow to blame when her pass-catching beau struggles on the field or when his team gets smoked in the Super Bowl. Forget Kansas City’s 15-2 regular season and a berth in a third straight Big Game. They’ll say the reason Kelce and the Chiefs got poleaxed by the Eagles was because he was too busy cavorting on stage during a pop star’s world tour.
While Kelce himself didn’t put any blame on Swift in the comments published by GQ, he probably isn’t doing anything to quiet the narrative by suggesting that maybe he was a teensy bit distracted by his recently skyrocketed Q rating. After all, these days it’s hard to avoid seeing one Kelce or another podcasting, pitching products, or portraying poltergeists.
I can’t imagine the Chiefs loved hearing that analysis after one of the least productive seasons of his career. Good news! I’m here to offer a much simpler explanation: Maybe Kelce is just declining.
There’s no shame in that. I’m Pull-a-Muscle-In-My-Neck-While-Sneezing years old. I get it. Father Time eventually walks all of us down. According to Next Gen Stats, Kelce’s average speed, burst score and percentage of yards after the catch were...
