In years past Patrick Mahomes had to be Quarterback Jordan. En route to his second Super Bowl, he became the first throwzini to lead the league in passing yards and win a Super Bowl in the same season. Last year, he had to will Kansas City through the postseason by scrambling on a high ankle sprain. It was magical to watch him Willis Reed around the field on one leg, passing for 326 yards and two touchdowns, including a scramble that put Kansas City in position for the win.
But don’t let The Last Dance fool you. Even Jordan had to be propped up by his supporting cast from time to time. For much of the season, Mahomes and the Chiefs were reminiscent of MJ clanking against The Glove in the 1996 Finals. He couldn’t trust his receivers, surrendered a career-high 14 picks and a career-low QBR. He was less Mahomey than usual. All Mahomes had to do Sunday was let Baltimore cannibalize themselves while Steve Spagnuolo’s physical defense dropped the hammer.
Kansas City was content for Mahomes to play like Alex Smith circa 2017 in Sunday’s AFC championship. In the final 10 minutes of the fourth quarter, Mahomes completed only one pass. All in all, the Ravens’ defense contained Mahomes as well as can be expected. Mahomes attempted 38 passes for only 209 yards, but the Chiefs’ mauling defense gave him a piggyback ride. Nope, Baltimore did their work for them. It’s already hard enough upsetting a defending champion, but they added an unnecessary level of difficulty by committing blunder after blunder after blunder.
Mahomes managed the game with the efficiency of a mob accountant, avoiding mistakes at the expense of productivity while Baltimore tried to club Kansas City in broad daylight.
Despite the final score showing a one-score game, Baltimore almost never seemed to threaten the Chiefs until the final two minutes. Obviously, Mahomes isn’t your typical game manager. When he needed to answer the call, he stepped up to the executive pay scale. Andy Reid’s conservative playcalling put the Chiefs in a hole on 3rd and long. Mahomes entrusted Marquez Valdes-Scantling with a lob 32 yards downfield after Scantling leaked over the top of the secondary. The play was reminiscent of a similar scene that has played out countless times in Scantling’s career between Green Bay and Kansas City. This time he caught it.
Baltimore’s well-deserved loss might be the growing pains they needed. Seven years ago, in Mahomes’ AFC championship debut, Dee Ford lined up offsides and nullified an interception by Charvarius Ward which would have sent the Chiefs to the Super Bowl.
A year ago, Joseph Ossai’s roughing the passer penalty tacked on 15 yards to an unlikely 60-yard field goal attempt by Harrison Butker. Once the Ravens’ blood eventually began coursing through their veins, they began matriculating the ball at will in the second half. Finishing drives became a problem. One drive ended in a Zay Flowers fumble at the one-yard line while he attempted to extend his arms across the goal line.
That one yard wouldn’t have even mattered if Flowers had not taunted and shoved Chiefs defensive back L’Jarius Sneed while trailing by 10. On an ensuing drive, Baltimore had another opportunity to pull within one possession. This time, Lamar Jackson pressed too hard and tried to thread a needle into triple coverage and was picked off in the end zone.
On the Chiefs’ final drive, Roquan Smith left offside, but went too far by running through an offensive lineman, drawing an unnecessary roughness penalty. Mahomes has proven he has the range to adjust his style based on whatever Kansas City needs.
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