Patrick Mahomes saw this coming.
He knew NFL fans would grow tired of him. And his prescience — that he knows all (or is a know-it-all) — probably makes you dislike him even more.
Before Super Bowl LVIII, the Kansas City Chiefs QB predicted he’d win his third championship and would kick off a dynasty. For years, he’d been a superhero, the NFL’s most exciting player. But the tone of the conversation changed. He’d heard it.
“You turn into that villain. You turn into that team that everybody doesn’t want to win. You have to embrace that, too, in order to be great,” Mahomes told CBS’ Nate Burleson last January.
If people were beginning to dislike Mahomes in 2024, they’re openly hating on him now. The Chiefs are easily the least-liked organization in the NFL. People are tired of seeing them win.
Just look at what Baltimore Ravens cornerback Marlon Humphrey tweeted this week:
Cue the GIF of Jesse Pinkman screaming: He can’t keep getting away with this!
The Chiefs and Mahomes have this insidious quality that might remind you of “Breaking Bad’s” Walter White. White, after all, side-stepped all the rules and laws. Though he was in constant danger of failure, he somehow succeeded in the ways only fiction allows.
And perhaps that’s why people feel that the Chiefs’ run is a thing of fiction.
More than any team since the Patriots‘ dynasty, the Chiefs face accusations of referee favoritism. If you look on X after a mildly controversial call, you’ll see complaints and memes of Mahomes kissing officials. Any call in favor of the Chiefs is enough to stoke conspiracy theories. The widespread response stems from Chiefs fatigue that’s comparable only with other major dynasties.
Jason McCourty won a Super Bowl with the Patriots after eight seasons with the Titans and one year with the Browns (and no playoff appearances). The former NFL cornerback and current CBS/ESPN analyst explained what it was like to witness the Patriots’ dynasty before joining it.
“When I was in Tennessee, we never made the playoffs. We lost every year,” McCourty told FOX Sports. “We’d play a team right after my brother [former Patriots safety Devin McCourty] played the team, and it would go the exact opposite way. And forever for me, I’m sitting there just like, ‘What’s going on inside [the Patriots’] building? Why?'”
Jason didn’t quite hate the Patriots, because his twin brother played for them. But he understood why there was resentment. That said, once he joined the Patriots, it all flipped.
“You relish in that,” McCourty said. “You love the fact that people are complaining and saying the refs love [Tom] Brady and this team has an ‘advantage.’ You absolutely love that everybody’s complaining about you, that you’re turning the TV on, and it’s constant talk about how to beat you, and all of those different things. You dive right in. … Getting into that locker room, you assume the hate, and you absolutely love it.”
Are the Chiefs invincible with a 22-2 record in their past 24 games?
If there’s one area where fans are most fixated, it’s on officiating and penalties.
But the bottom line is that the Chiefs are just like everyone else when it comes to penalties. Per the AP’s Josh Dubrow, since Mahomes took over as QB1 in 2018, the Chiefs have been penalized for 693 more yards than their opponents, playoffs included. That’s the fourth-worst differential in that span.
Focusing solely on the playoffs since 2021, however, K.C. has had an advantage, with 36 penalties for 319 yards to opponents’ 66 penalties for 541 yards over 11 playoff appearances, per ESPN. The Chiefs’ opponents had more penalties in 10 of the 11 games and the same number in the remaining one. That’s significant.
We would be foolish not to acknowledge that the Chiefs’ ability to work officiating crews is clearly a part of their game plan. This was how it worked in New England during its dynasty.
It’s not like other teams aren’t trying to do the exact same thing. Look at the Jets, who hired a situational football and game management coordinator to help educate players, in part, about tendencies of officiating crews. New York tried to do what Kansas City was doing. The Chiefs are simply doing it better than everyone else.
Tom Brady discusses officiating and the Chiefs
A wise woman once said: “The haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate.”
And that wise woman might actually be a part of the league-wide fatigue. Taylor Swift began dating Travis Kelce last season before he won his third Super Bowl. Though many Swifties have embraced the NFL, some NFL fans have not embraced Swift. Her appearances on Chiefs broadcasts created an uproar. (Which was totally ridiculous, by the way.) She somehow ended up as another reason to dislike the Chiefs.
Swift’s album collection is one of the greatest dynasties in pop music — ever. So as illogical as it is to dislike people for being successful, it also makes sense that the haters would dislike the Chiefs even more by associating them with one of the most successful musical artists of all time. In for an inch, in for a mile.
Kelce’s ex-girlfriend, Kayla Nicole, is among those who don’t want to see the Chiefs in the Super Bowl this year. She said she wants the Bills to win on Sunday in the AFC Championship Game.
“Yeah, I do. Somebody new. I’m bored. You wanna see the Chiefs in the Super Bowl again?” Nicole said in an appearance on the “I AM ATHLETE” podcast.
The problem with all this hate is that, at a certain point, it starts to fuel the Chiefs.
They use it as bulletin board material: It’s us against the world. To some degree, they’re right. The Chiefs have few supporters outside their city. Last week’s Chiefs game set an ESPN record for most viewers. The bulk of those viewers may have been rooting against Kansas City.
“When you get in the playoffs,” Mahomes said last year, “and you know it’s just you and your teammates against everybody, it’s a different perspective. … I do [like playing the villain role].”
I won’t be naive. I won’t ask that fans simply enjoy witnessing greatness. I covered the Patriots for long enough to know that sort of appeal never works.
But I will say this: It’s ironic if you hate Mahomes so much. Because he’s channeling that negative energy into even more success, which is exactly why you hate him so much.
Prior to joining FOX Sports as an NFL reporter and columnist, Henry McKenna spent seven years covering the Patriots for USA TODAY Sports Media Group and Boston Globe Media. Follow him on Twitter at @henrycmckenna.
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