Patrick Mahomes wasn't the problem in Super Bowl LV loss

The Chiefs might have lost Super Bowl LV, but saying that Patrick Mahomes had anything to do with that is a bad take.

Patrick Mahomes did all he could to get the Kansas City Chiefs their second straight Super Bowl title and he accomplished quite a lot in this season, despite the good guys falling just shy of a championship.

It is really difficult to go to a Super Bowl, and next to impossible to go back-to-back and win both times, but that is exactly what the 2020 Chiefs set out to do and in a pandemic season no less. They obtained the best regular-season record in franchise history and they practically cakewalked through the divisional round and AFC Championship of the playoffs.

Unfortunately, going up against a loaded Tampa Bay team, led by six-time Super Bowl champ and the GOAT Tom Brady, the Chiefs’ Mahomes Magic ran out against a buzzsaw Tampa Bay defense and Brady’s litany of offensive weapons. The Chiefs fell short of their goal by losing Super Bowl LV… ah, alright, I said it or typed it anyway.

Writing is supposed to be cathartic, so let us give it a try as I attempt to purge myself of all my feelings surrounding Super Bowl LV.

First and foremost, if you are expecting or hoping to read a piece about how the Chiefs did absolutely everything they could, but the refs robbed them of a second consecutive Super Bowl victory, you might want to back out of this article at once. Did the refs have a helping hand in the Brady and Bucs victory? I will neither confirm nor deny that, but I will say these two things.

First: Blaming the refs is the ballad of the loser. You never hear a fan of the winning team say, “Man, that officiating was absolutely horrible.”
Second: Believe what you want about the officiating, but it wasn’t an offensive line of refs charged with protecting Patrick Mahomes (although it might as well have been). It wasn’t the refs who dropped all those passes. It wasn’t the refs that scored nothing but three field goals the entire game. Some of those things should be laid squarely on the shoulders of the Chiefs, and some are circumstantial due to injuries, but none of them were because of the refs, so let’s just put that excuse to bed right now.

Now, Patrick Mahomes.

As the title of my piece would suggest, I do not place the blame for the lack of offensive success on Patrick Mahomes whatsoever.

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The offensive line is one of the most important, and often the most overlooked position in football, but it can not be overstated that a good offensive line is key to success and even the great Patrick Mahomes is no exception. I don’t know about you, but the loss changes absolutely nothing about how we feel about Mahomes, and it absolutely should not.

Mahomes is still one of the best, if not the best quarterback in the league, and quite possibly one of the best to ever play the position, but it is hard to make those Mahomesish-like throws when he is running for his life or laying on his back, which is how Mahomes spent the majority of the big game.

This is not necessarily the fault of the offensive linemen who are charged with keeping him upright and giving him time to throw. The Chiefs offensive line was missing three out of five of its starters (including Pro Bowl left tackle Eric Fisher) and the back-ups were thrust into action with just a couple of weeks to prepare against an absolutely vicious Tampa Bay defense.

Not to mention that Mahomes himself was dealing with his own lingering injury going into the Super Bowl, as he was still suffering from turf toe, which will require surgery during the offseason.

Some believed that we would see the same outcome in Super Bowl 55, that we saw back in November when the Chiefs faced the Bucs during the regular season, but there were several notable differences between that game and the Super Bowl. Mahomes was behind a healthy offensive line, the Bucs were missing several defensive starters, their defensive scheme against playmakers like Tyreek Hill just did not work out for them at all, and defensive coordinator Todd Bowles would not make that same mistake twice.

Going into the game, the Chiefs were favored by a field goal, and I honestly didn’t understand why.

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They were playing with a quarterback hampered by a lingering injury, behind an offensive line that was in tatters, going up against a loaded Tampa Bay team, lead by the GOAT Tom Brady, who got to be the first team to play a Super Bowl in their home stadium.

I frankly thought the deck was stacked against the Chiefs going in, and can only assume that the reason they were favored is because of Patrick Mahomes. Typically that would be a good reason, but no matter how good he is (and he is really good) even Mahomes needs a couple of seconds to make magic happen, and that was a couple of seconds he didn’t have one single time Sunday night.

I have no doubt that a lot can be said for the defense, and the number of penalties they stacked up throughout the game, but someone else might want to purge themselves by writing that article.

Unfortunately for Mahomes, he produced his most abysmal stat line of the season, going 26-of-49 for just 270 yards, one interception, and worst of all, no touchdown passes, making it the first game in over 20 outings that Mahomes didn’t throw at least one touchdown pass. He went on to lose the Super Bowl, and his touchdown pass streak would be broken. Indeed it was a rough night for superstar Patrick Mahomes.

I realize that most of my article has been doom and gloom, and that is because I get paid to write about the Kansas City Chiefs, and not necessarily the Kansas City Chiefs winning, but let me leave you with this.

I mentioned this in my piece after the AFC Championship Game, but it bears repeating. Not only did the Chiefs make it to back-to-back Super Bowls, but they did so during a pandemic season, accomplishing their best regular-season record in franchise history along the way. It can not be overstated just what a huge accomplishment this is.

It has been a very hard and very stressful year for all of us with no exceptions, but I will speak for myself when I say, thank goodness we had the Chiefs to fall back on and enjoy, and Patrick Mahomes, Andy Reid, and anyone and everyone else associated with the Chiefs organization deserves our gratitude.

Next. Five Things We Learned in Super Bowl LV Loss to Bucs. dark

Also, I would like to take a moment to thank the voice of the Chiefs Mitch Holthus, for risking his health to bring Chiefs to the ears of this blind Chiefs fan, not to mention anyone else who listens to the Chiefs over the radio.

Secondly, most of the pieces from this year’s Super Bowl run will be returning next season, and we know that Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes will be, so we will be back.

The Chiefs lost this one, but they won’t take it lying down. They will figure out what went wrong, fix it, draft new players and sign others in the offseason and be back with a vengeance in 2021. So get ready, Super Bowl 56, for Patrick Mahomes, Andy Reid and the Kansas City Chiefs are coming for you.

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Patrick Mahomes wasn’t the problem in Super Bowl LV loss

By Cameron Black | Feb 9, 2021

As the title of my piece would suggest, I do not place the blame for the lack of offensive success on Patrick Mahomes whatsoever.

Going into the game, the Chiefs were favored by a field goal, and I honestly didn’t understand why.

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