For much of the last six years, Patrick Mahomes has had to create the chip he carries on his shoulders because the Kansas City Chiefs have been so good for so long that they were almost always expected to win.
This is no longer the case. During a season in which the Chiefs struggled offensively, at one point losing five of eight games, they went from being a weekly favorite to something entirely different: an underdog.
They became the team that received points when the betting lines came out, instead of giving them up, and that chip on Mahomes’ shoulder suddenly appeared on its own.“He lit a fire in some guys,” Mahomes admitted, “including myself.”
He abandons the thought of giving the two-time championship and Super Bowl MVP another reason to feel like he has to prove himself. Yet that’s exactly what Mahomes did in the playoffs, where he played his best all season.
He threw for 262 yards and a touchdown in a chilly wild-card win over Miami, doubled up with 215 passing yards and two scores in a division win at Buffalo, and had 241 passing yards and a touchdown at Baltimore, the all without making an interception.
In the last two of those games, the Chiefs have been underdogs heading into kickoff, just as they likely will be when they face the 49ers in Sunday’s Super Bowl in the gambling mecca of Las Vegas.
According to Fan Duel Sportsbook, San Francisco is consistently 1.5-point favorites, although that number could change throughout the game.
Only five teams since 2000 have won the Super Bowl despite being underdogs in each of their last three games. “Listen, we understand the reasoning behind this. I mean, we get it, and that’s understandable,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said.
“We may not be the greatest duo, but we compete, and that’s the personality of this team.“I don’t think that bothers us,” Reid added. “We get it, so it is what it is.”In fact, the Chiefs seem to relish being the underdog. Mahomes certainly does.
He’s a 9-3 underdog, giving him the best winning percentage of any quarterback with at least 10 starts, including the playoffs, over the last 15 seasons.
The Ravens’ Lamar Jackson, who Mahomes beat in the AFC title game just over a week ago, is next in line as a 9-5 underdog.In fact, the bigger the underdog, the more success the Chiefs have had in recent years.
In five games in which they have been underdogs by at least 3.5 points since Mahomes became the starting quarterback, they have won four straight.
In their only loss, in a game against the Patriots in October 2018, they were four-point underdogs and lost by a field goal, covering the spread.
One player who doesn’t share the view that the Chiefs are underdogs is 49ers tight end George Kittle.
Four years ago, he was on the sidelines at the Super Bowl when the Chiefs rallied with three touchdowns in the fourth quarter to win their first Lombardi Trophy in 50 years.
The rest of the time, Kittle watched from afar as Kansas City won six straight AFC title games, winning four and lifting another Lombardi Trophy when they defeated the Eagles last year.“They should get all the attention,” Kittle said. ”I think they’re very used to it. I don’t think it’s a distraction for them.
But even though we may be under the radar, I think to people on the outside, I think the Chiefs are very aware that that’s not the case.No, one thing the Chiefs rarely do is overlook an opponent.
And it seems absolutely absurd that they would start the Super Bowl, especially against the 49ers, who have been favored in each of the 20 games they have played this season.
The only other team in the NFL often favored him? The Chiefs in 2021, when they lost in the AFC title game.“At the end of the day, these are playoff games. » You want to win.
“This is what you play for,” Mahomes said, “and I think the fire would have been lit — whether we were an underdog or not — because this is the season you work for and establish. ”
For. I think we believe that if we practice the way we do and work the way we do, we won’t let that happen. Every time we are there we will maximize our chances.”
