No team has ever won three Super Bowls in a row, a fact that has been beaten into the consciousness of the Kansas City Chiefs ever since they captured a second consecutive title in February.
The goal this year was simple: win again (of course) but also create history.
Tuesday the diagnosis for Patrick Mahomes arrived, a “mild” high ankle sprain that makes the superstar quarterback’s playing availability a week-to-week proposition. It doesn’t end any chance of the Chiefs winning another Lombardi of course, but it is the latest reminder of why the three-peat has proved impossible.
Injuries. Luck. Timing. Age. Complacency. Opponents.
Just having the best team or the best player isn’t always enough in a hyper-competitive league built to level as many ships as possible.
This is a temporary setback for Mahomes, but it comes at a challenging time of the season. Kansas City hosts Houston on Saturday — already a short week — and then travels to Pittsburgh for a Christmas game just four days later.
Three games in a 11 days on a bum ankle. It’s enough to remind everyone about unexpected hurdles teams go through during a 17-game season, and why Kansas City has entered full debate mode of what to do with their QB.
They hold a two-game lead (but not the tiebreaker) in a battle with the Bills for the AFC’s top overall seed, which provides a first-round bye in the playoffs. But KC’s remaining schedule — Texans, Steelers, Denver — is a gauntlet compared to Buffalo’s — Patriots, Jets, Patriots.
Rest and recovery for Mahomes or do everything to keep playing?
“You have to (try),” Mahomes said on Tuesday. “That’s the reason you play this game, to push to play. I’m not going to put our team in a bad position. It’s about seeing where I’m at. I’m a competitor. I want to go out there and play.”
“Let’s just see what he does,” coach Andy Reid added. “Today’s a lighter day. He’ll talk to me. The doctor will talk to me. If he can go, he’ll go. If he can’t, he can’t. It’s that simple. That’s how we’ll roll. I’ll just take it day-by-day and see how he does.”
Kansas City could clinch the top seed by beating Houston and Pittsburgh, thus allowing a chance to rest during a Week 18 game against Denver — essentially a double bye-plus — until the divisional round on either January 18 or 19.
“Just as important as it is to get healthy, it is to get that No. 1 seed,” Mahomes said.
“Just like the playoffs being three weeks away, go out and win two games, you are going to have a long break …,” Mahomes said. “You are going to have another extended amount of time.
“If you can get through these games and win these games against two great opponents, it would give you some momentum going into the playoffs and hopefully give you a little bit of a break there at the end,” he continued.
True.
Yet winning is not guaranteed. Neither is Mahomes not further aggravating the ankle or anything else. Injuries are part of football, always, but risk factors need to be considered.
Mahomes also joins a parade of injuries at key positions — wide receiver Rashee Rice, cornerback Jaylen Watson, wide receiver Hollywood Brown and so on. Running back Isiah Pacheco and kicker Harrison Butker have missed time as well.
All of this is part of the game, of course. And injuries — including to Mahomes — have impacted other Super Bowl seasons. The NFL is always a game of attrition and no one has handled it better than Kansas City.
Still, it’s another hurdle to deal with — with Buffalo, Baltimore and others with their own Super Bowl aspirations.
What Kansas City is attempting to do is what New England (2003-04), Denver (1997-98), Dallas (1992-93), San Francisco (1988-89), Pittsburgh (1978-79 and 1974-75), Miami (1972-73) and Green Bay (1966-67) before them couldn’t manage.
Many of those teams weren’t even dealing with salary cap restraints or other parity-seeking initiatives. Yet it is on Mahomes to do what Tom Brady, John Elway, Troy Aikman, Joe Montana, Terry Bradshaw (twice), Bob Greise and Bart Starr couldn’t.
That’s how difficult it is. That’s how much it goes beyond talent and scheme and coaching and desire.
The good news for Kansas City is that Mahomes should be fine come January. The bad news is they may not have that advantageous path to the Super Bowl if he has to sit in order to heel up in the meantime.
There’s no telling what is to come and no one should ever doubt KC and its quarterback, but the three-peat has never been accomplished for a reason.
History is hard to make.
