While Patriots fans have nothing to root for during these NFL Playoffs, some are finding something to root against.
With the Chiefs winning their fifth AFC title in six years on Sunday, a Super Bowl victory this season would give them their third in a row - something no franchise has ever been able to accomplish in the Super Bowl era.
This would also give 29-year-old Patrick Mahomes his fourth Super Bowl ring in six years, outpacing where Tom Brady was on ring count at that same age.
For protective Patriots fans, they’re having none of this.
Their beloved Patriots had a run of dominance never seen before in the history of the NFL, winning six Super Bowls from 2001 to 2018 with the same coach and quarterback.
In addition to the six Lombardi Trophies, Brady and Belichick also won nine Lamar Hunt Trophies and 17 AFC East division titles, putting together a two-decade resume unmatched by any other player-coach combo in the history of North American team sports.
For some in the region, what the Chiefs are attempting to accomplish this season is giving them an inferiority complex. In the what-have-you-done-for-me lately culture we live in today, the Chiefs are the new shiny GOAT toy at the store.
Even with Brady leaving New England to win a seventh ring in 2020 (against the Chiefs, by the way), some Patriots fans are worried their beloved golden boy’s spot at the top of the pyramid would be threatened by flashy No. 15 if he gets his fourth ring in 2024.
One day before Kansas City began its playoff run, and nine days before they beat Buffalo in yet another thrilling postseason game against the Bills, WEEI’s Adam Jones wanted to make sure Patriots fans were on notice.
“Whether you like it or not, whether they were lucky or not, they were the best team in football again,” said Jones. “I’m not gonna go as far as Pete Prisco saying that, ‘Mahomes is the GOAT if they win three in a row and win this Super Bowl.’ He’s on track to be, but he’s not there yet.
“But now it’s time to get ready to, I would imagine, really root against the Chiefs. And in three weeks-to-a-month’s time, you might have to bend the knee and say, ‘They’ve done something the Patriots, the greatest dynasty in the history of the sport, and Tom Brady never did. No one’s ever done it.”
Two weeks after these comments from Jones, and it looks like Patriots fans better start stretching.
“Really the only two things that Tom Brady didn’t do in his NFL career, I guess, would be the undefeated season, and the three-peat,” said WEEI’s Rich Keefe at the time. “And so we were watching that with the Chiefs even this year, right?
“They didn’t look great, but you’re like, ‘When do we start talking about undefeated?’ Like, they were rolling for a while. You’re like, ‘Alright, is that gonna be something? Could they do it in the same season?’ So alright - that one’s out the window. But you still have the three-peat on the table, and yeah - I don’t think four Super Bowls equals seven, just because you three-peat. Like, I’m certainly not going there. But man, he’s ahead of the pace. I think we’ve at least talked about that early on, where you take individual achievements with team success, first however many years in the league - he’s on that fast-track.”
“They are a team that can beat you multiple ways, and they do feel like the old Patriots,” said Jones. “So, I know you’re all rooting against them, and I’m curious A.) How nervous you are about it, B.) How much you think it matters?
“Like, already on the textline, ‘Oh, Terry Bradshaw was never the greatest, even when he had four Super Bowls,’ which I actually think, indirectly, is - you’re actually arguing against Brady there. But, you know, I agree - it’s not just a ring count, but that’s a good shorthand way to do it. And Mahomes and the Chiefs could do something that’s never been done in NFL history, something the Patriots couldn’t do. They went to three straight, but because they benched Malcolm Butler and couldn’t stop Nick Foles in a Super Bowl, they didn’t win three straight. You know to me, that would be a checkmark in their favor. It doesn’t settle the debate, but it would be a big checkmark in their favor. And if that happens, then you really do start measuring these two up.”
When this story originally ran, we were still a few weeks away from this debate having any legitimate oxygen. But with Mahomes and the Chiefs on the precipice of immortality, it's time to indulge two weeks of this conversation.
Super Bowl LIX takes places in New Orleans on February 9, with the Chiefs facing the Eagles in a rematch of Super Bowl LVII. You can catch the national call of the game from Westwood One right here on 93.7 WEEI-FM.