The Kansas City Chiefs are on track to become the NFL's next dynasty, but Patrick Mahomes claims the team isn't there yet.
The Kansas City Chiefs have won two of the last four Super Bowls. Patrick Mahomes is the undisputed best player in the NFL — the heir apparent to Tom Brady's status as the unbeatable supervillain who compels the ire of every other fanbase.
Mahomes is 27 years old with one of the most impressive quarterback résumés in NFL history. Andy Reid has established his reputation as a true all-time great — the kind of sharp offensive mind who comes around once a generation. You wouldn't be blamed for calling them a dynasty.
Ask Mahomes, however, and the Chiefs aren't there yet.
Patrick Mahomes says Kansas City Chiefs are close to NFL dynasty
"I think we're the beginning of [a dynasty]," Mahomes told reporters at Chiefs training camp. Then he unveiled his personal qualifier: "I always say you gotta win three."
Let's be real — it would be absolutely shocking if Mahomes and Kansas City didn't win another Super Bowl. The NFL is a hard league and it's exceedingly rare for a player to get one Super Bowl, not to mention three. But the Chiefs are so far ahead of the field that a drought for the remainder of Mahomes' career is borderline unfathomable.
Again, it's that Brady thing: Mahomes just exudes an air of inevitability. Teams will build leads and put Kansas City in tough positions, only for Mahomes to string together unthinkable play after unthinkable play en route to victory. The Chiefs are impossible to keep down and out; the No. 1 seed Eagles led by 10 at halftime in February's Super Bowl and we all know how that ended.
Philadelphia lost one game all year with Jalen Hurts in the lineup. The Eagles were the best regular season team in the NFL last season — even better than the Chiefs on paper — and it didn't matter. When rubber met the road in the fourth quarter, Mahomes and Kansas City made mincemeat of the NFL's top-ranked defense.
The Chiefs can't take their status as NFL juggernauts for granted. Last summer brought many questions about the state of the roster, primarily on defense and in the receiving corps. And yet, the defense showed up big-time in the playoffs and the receivers, while not great, certainly were good enough to support the best arm in football.
Kansas City's best defender, Chris Jones, is currently in contract negotiation limbo with the front office. If the Chiefs were to lose him it would be an undeniable hit to their title odds. Meanwhile, the same questions remain about the receiving corps. The running back position has a few question marks too, especially if Isiah Pacheco fails to relocate last season's magic.
And, despite all those concerns, the Chiefs will be heavy title favorites next season — and probably every season for the foreseeable future, so long as Mahomes and Reid remain joined at the hip.
Kansas City was the No. 1 scoring offense in the NFL last season. Mahomes' connection with tight end Travis Kelce is the stuff of legend and there's not a single quarterback more adept at cracking big plays against any defense.
The Chiefs may not be a dynasty yet, but it sure feels like it's only a matter of time.
