I don't to sports often, but as I think about the Thursday Night game coming up this week, my mind naturally went to the people a few years ago that were convinced that the AFC West was the best division in the NFL. Well, as we look at 2023 that certainly isn't the case.
What I'm wondering though, is why. Is it possible that as a response to Mahomes and the success of The Chiefs that all three other teams made increasingly bad decisions both in therms of players and salary cap which led to the current state of affairs? It is really possible that Patrick Mahomes single-handedly caused the downturn of the AFC West?
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What do you mean? Mahomes is just a player. He can lobby for compensation, but he can't truly force a given amount out of any owner. Owners and their people often react stupidly in their attempts to be competitive with the best, which the Chiefs have been. Sometimes, they do so in order to maintain their status as the best when players retire or are lured away by a better deal. So if it's any player, it's the entire Chiefs team which had been solid from one end to the other. If one QB is ever responsible, the Packers would always have been a contender for the Super Bowl. Few are as good as Aaron Rogers has been.
I mean that the rest of the AFC West has overspent (Russ), drafted badly (Bronco's receivers), and put themselves in an absolutely shitty position all based on trying to beat Mahomes. Much like Regan spent the Soviets into ruin, Mahomes has caused the AFC West to destroy themselves.
He's a villain!
1. Were you aware that the Bears passed on him in favor of Trubisky?
2. The chances that he would have had this level of success for the Bears is negligible.
3. He's a perfect fit for KC, but the team and the city.
4. He honestly seems like a pretty nice, genuine, sincere, and relatively humble guy.
5. I'd rather be the team with the Chief's record over the last 5 years, even if it comes with a bit of the villain. It didn't hurt Brady much and Mahomes is way more likeable than Brady.
6. It was interesting to see how many kids at the game last week had Mahomes jerseys, while their parents were Vikings fans. I know a fair amount of people who bleed purple, but who's kids love Mahomes.
1. Yes. It's surprising to know how many thought the rankings of Trubisky over Mahomes was correct.
2. No doubt. I've often made the argument that even Rogers or Brady could have, either.
3. He's certainly in a good place for his skill set. This goes back to #2. Could Trubisky have enjoyed notable success if he were in Mahomes' position?
4. He's a villain in the same way all great players who aren't on my team are.
5. That Brady's personality is suspect, it doesn't mitigate the villainy of Mahomes. See my response in point #4.
6. I don't think that's unusual, actually. Lots of kids are fans of LeBron James, as were many big fans of Jordan or Kobe Bryant.
If it makes you feel any better, there was definitely some support in KC to draft Mitch.
Unfortunately for a team with as much history as the Bears, they are currently a dysfunctional franchise with a horrible track record both with coaches and players. It'd be interesting to see how Fields would be doing under a different coach.
I don't think Mitch would have done as well. I think that Mahomes has a really highly developed sense of being able to see the field, go through his reads, and scramble to pass that Mitch doesn't have. I think he'd probably have been better than Alex Smith, but not the Super Bowl winning QB that Mahomes is.
I get it, and I'm learning to embrace being disliked the way the Patriots were. But Mahomes is still such a likeable, humble guy that it's kind of hard.
It's not necessarily unusual, it's just cool to see them repping the guy on my team. It's been a long time since Super Bowl 4, and we're having a lot of fun riding this train.
It's all in good fun. After all, it's sports, not anything important. That's how I can get away with hating the Packers!
Speculating how a given player would do on a different team is also fun, but, especially with football, a futile exercise. One just never knows. But it's also not uncommon to see a failure find outrageous success simply by being traded to a team who's plans, players and culture are more suited to that players skill set. Goodness knows, Chicago fans have seen players from any of our teams go on to greater success elsewhere. Conversely, we generally see "great" players come to us too late in their careers to benefit us.
It is all in good fun. But it's a little more fun to win.
Yes, it's speculation, and there are many factors. But I agree with Cowherd that there are certain NFL franchises that are dysfunctional from top to bottom. I kind of respect Williams coming out and saying that he won't play for certain teams. It's one reason why Mahomes had the success he did. He got drafted by a playoff team with a few winning seasons, some really good talent, and the perfect coach for him. I do think that Fields could succeed in a different system, if nothing else he could be a 10-12 year backup and make good money for holding a clipboard.
Oh, absolutely some teams are dysfunctional! Again, we Chicago fans are not unaware of this fact at all!
I'm still on the fence about Fields, though the last two games demonstrated he could be far more than a career backup. Eight touchdown passes in that time, and I saw a meme (didn't check on how factual it is), but it showed him among the top four who have managed the amount of passing yards and rushing yards he has in the first...what is it?...39 games played. But then, Jay Cutler broke a bunch of franchise QB stats for the Bears and what good did it do?
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