SaulGoodman

Obviously he wouldn't have 3 SBs this soon if he had landed with a terrible organization, but no QB in history would. A run like this requires several things to be in place. That said, the narrative that Mahomes has had everything a QB could ask for is way off. Bad WR play this year, weak WRs last year, weak running game most years, worst run blocking in the league for a few years, bad tackle play at times, defenses that ranged from bad to average-ish until this year. And when he had a truly loaded offense in his first season, he had arguably the worst defense in the league. To this day, I don't think there's been a truly balanced KC roster. They finally put together a really good defense, and then the offense takes a big step back. I don't think it's going to get any easier for opponents the next few years, because I think Veach is going to aggressively look to bolster the offensive talent this offseason, and there will be some solid receivers available.

People who want to discredit Mahomes have adopted the narrative that Reid’s an unrivaled football savant who creates an unfair advantage over every other coach. It’s silly. This is a great example. One of his “genius” plays that everyone prattles on about was actually stolen from the “unimaginative” Bills staff. Sure, he’s a good coach and a good offensive mind. But nothing that he does is beyond the capability or grasp of other good offensive minds. Not to mention, Nagy (and Bienemy before) calls a lot of the plays. Reid is far from without faults. Before Mahomes, he was much maligned for his clock management failures and situational awareness, choking leads, getting too conservative, neglecting the run game, etc. People tear McD apart for his handling of the 13 seconds game, but Reid’a had many such instances. I find myself criticizing KC’s play calling and conservative approach a lot. I also notice a lot of other teams doing things that I wish KC would do. There are plenty of good play callers and solid offensive minds out there, including the Bills staff.

Do you expect a GM to be perfect? Even the best are going to have some underwhelming picks. Wouldn’t call Hardman a bust though. And Toney’s got a lot of talent. He’s just an injury-plagued headcase. They took a flyer on him, and I wouldn’t say it was a terrible decision, because he had a record-setting punt return in the SB last year and basically contributed 14 pts in a close win. Veach does deserve criticism for picking Moore over Pickens. That one’s hard to defend.

Allen has played against the weaker defense every year until this one.

I’d say Allen has two advantages over Mahomes. He’s bigger, and therefore will occasionally run somebody over, and he has a slightly stronger arm. But I think Mahomes checks more boxes, especially mentally.

Mahomes has had the most successful start to a career of any QB in history, both in terms of wins and stats. With a ton of highlights and iconic moments along the way. I'm not sure why Bills fans feel slighted when the media praises him. Imagine if everything were reversed, and Mahomes had Allen's skillset and accomplishments and vice versa. Do you think there's a Bills fan in the world who would concede that Mahomes were as good or better? And yet, plenty of pundits HAVE compared Allen favorably to Mahomes. An ESPN graphic gave the Bills the edge at QB before the last matchup. And it's not the first time I've seen that. I'd say that's plenty of respect. I see talking heads slobbering over Allen virtually every time he's mentioned. IMO, Allen and Mahomes are in a league of their own. I don't think any other QB is all that close. But I do think Mahomes has a little separation at the top. When one QB has 3 SBs, 3 SB MVPs and two league MVPs, while the other has none of those, there would have to be an obvious gap in ability and stats to rank him higher. I think the biggest thing that's separated the two so far is Mahomes' ability to avoid mistakes. Allen has a much higher INT% and far more fumbles.

No one ever mentions how bad KC's defense was in the 13 seconds game. That game is probably a comfortable win for KC if DBs didn't literally fall down multiple times, leaving Bills receivers wiiiiide open at the worst possible moments. Mahomes was absolutely let down by his supporting cast in that game (also two rare missed kicks by Butker). And the Bills have had the better offensive supporting cast the last two years.

Basically every pundit said the Chiefs looked like the better team in that game. The only thing that kept it a one-score game was Hardman's goal line fumble.

Based on...?

Just like it didn’t seem to matter that Mahomes was playing behind a third string turnstile OL in Tampa, or that his receivers dropped numerous TD passes. The narrative was that Mahomes can’t beat Brady in the playoffs. But this is very different from that situation. Analysts said that Bucs team had the advantage at all but a handful of starting positions. KC didn’t have that advantage vs the Bills. All year long the narrative was about how poor their offensive personnel was. Meanwhile, everyone in the media was saying that the Bills were just flat better than KC. You really don’t think the Bills’ offense has more talent right now? They have a better, more consistent running game. Better receiving corps even without Davis (I get that Diggs’ numbers weren’t amazing down the stretch, but I don’t think it’s because he suddenly lost the ability). And don’t forget that everyone was saying that losing Davis was addition by subtraction. Your fans think he’s garbage (I don’t—I think he’d have been the best receiver on KC’s roster until Rice emerged late in the year). Plus, Kelce is slowing down and the tackles are mediocre.

Yes, supporting cast matters. But it’s debatable that KC’s had the better supporting cast, especially the last two years. People pick and choose whatever fits the argument. First it was that he had Tyreek Hill. When he was traded, the narrative shifted to it’s unfair that he has an all world TE. Now that Kelce is aging, and the WRs and tackles are weak, the narrative shifts to he has a better defense. Let’s not forget that the Bills were favored in that game. Allen was at home and had more offensive talent around him. Not sure I’d say he had the harder task. Mahomes had to play a near-perfect game to win. Also, there seems to be a lot of revisionism regarding Buffalo’s talent. Leading up to the divisional round, almost every Bills fan was predicting a win and a run to the SB. Only after the game did I see the claim that they lacked the talent to do it.

Like I said, I don’t think it’s rational to expect a defense to shut down a team that’s 15-3 in the playoffs and has been a scoring machine every year before this. You’re going to have to outscore them. I’ve often heard it said that Allen couldn’t have done more in the divisional game in 2021. Well, they punted on half their possessions, so clearly the offense could have done more. And it’s never mentioned that Mahomes was facing the #1 rated D while Allen was facing a mediocre one. Or that several of the big plays occurred because receivers were running wide open due to broken coverage and DBs falling down.

I’ve seen a lot of complaining on here about Allen’s supporting cast. Yet you think he’d kill it with worse tackles, much weaker receivers and a weaker running game?

If you take out the KC games, Allen’s defenses have allowed 20 ppg in the playoffs. Only one team scored 30 and the Bills won that game. I don’t think it’s rational to expect a defense to shut down Mahomes/Reid/Kelce in the playoffs. Mahomes’ defenses before this season allowed over 25 ppg in the playoffs. They’ve allowed 30+ 5 times.

Allen’s had more offensive talent around him the last two years and a better defense every year but this season.

So it was “just” one of the top 5 most-watched Super Bowls. Doesn’t really help your argument. Bottom line is that there was plenty of interest in their last SB appearance and also in their last game. To claim that interest suddenly fell off a cliff two weeks later, before a matchup with a team that’s been favored in all 20 games this year, is absurd.

Supposing they are the most hated team in the league right now, you realize that doesn’t equate to a lack of interest, right? If having “fatigue” causes a lack of interest, why were the Patriots involved in several of the highest-rated Super Bowls? And not early, when they were something new…the later ones. On one hand, you have people claiming that the Taylor Swift effect is so profitable that the league is fixing games for KC. Now I’m being told that no one cares and it will be one of the lowest-rated Super Bowls ever. Btw, did you know that the last SB was the most-watched telecast ever? Or that the Chiefs-Ravens game set records? I get that you hate KC, but you’re not even using logic.

Aside from the popularity of Mahomes/Kelce/KC in general, you realize they’re also bringing a legion of Swifties, right?

Mahomes wasn’t as hampered in the Super Bowl, but he’d had two more weeks to heal. He basically didn’t even attempt to run throughout the postseason other than when the game was on the line at the end of the AFCC and SB. In that situation, adrenaline takes over. High ankle sprains are no joke and they keep most players out several weeks. When players do play, they rarely produce at their usual level. The Jags lost their last 6 games after Lawrence had a high ankle sprain this year. His completion percentage went way down and his turnovers way up. Roethlisberger struggled mightily when he attempted to play, etc. As for the WRs in the AFCC, Toney went down early in the game. Hardman a bit later and then Smith-Schuster a bit later. Watson was out the whole game. They were left with MVS, Moore and practice squad guys. KC was also without Sneed and one of their best LBs. People can downplay this, but a healthier Buffalo team lost handily to the same Cincinnati team at home a week earlier. I don’t agree that losing Chris Jones would cripple KC. They held the Detroit offense to 14 without him this year and have done fine without him in the past. I expect them to let Jones walk this offseason and I predict the D will still be strong. Even if the defense took a step back, Mahomes has been supported by mediocre defense every year til now. I don’t disagree that KC’s had mostly good luck with injuries throughout this run. But I wouldn’t say they were lucky last year or in 2020. Although I don’t think Buffalo has been horribly unlucky overall either. Definitely not to the level of what we’ve seen in Baltimore, SF, Tennessee, LAC, etc.

Mahomes didn't have much mobility during that playoff run and mobility is a huge part of his game. They were also down 4 of their top 5 WRs in the AFCC, along with Sneed and Gay. I don't know how you can say these injuries didn't matter. When have the Bills had a ton of significant injuries before this season? Let's not forget that even with those injuries, they were favored to beat KC. And the vast majority of your fans expected to not only win that game, but to have a good shot at winning the SB. If you want to think that Mahomes is a few plays from 6 straight SBs due to luck, so be it, I guess.

Jawaan Taylor was flagged as many times this year as all four years in Jax combined. If the NFL is pushing KC across the finish line, they have a strange way of showing it. Numerous TDs were taken off the board throughout the year, including two in the playoffs (they were the only team to have even 1 TD negated in the postseason), and they had the 2nd-highest penalty differential. Meanwhile, their opponents were the 2nd least-penalized.

Mahomes didn't deserve MVP this year, but he played better than the numbers indicate. 2nd in the league in percentage of on-target passes (behind Dak), but his WRs can't catch. Frankly, I don't see why Prescott didn't get more consideration for MVP, or even win it over Lamar. I don't think he's anything special, but he put up the best stats this year.

Henne's 23 yds in that game convinced you that Mahomes isn't as valuable to his team? 🤣 In a slightly larger sample in 2020, Henne had a 58 rating and almost lost the divisional vs the Browns despite being handed a 12 pt lead in the 2nd half. We haven't seen the Bills without Allen, but I don't see why another QB couldn't do okay in that offense. Good running game, at least 4 good receiving options, solid tackles....other than a slightly better WR 3 and maybe an upgrade at guard, what are they missing?

I think a high ankle sprain definitely qualifies as an injury. You don't often see QBs playing well with one, if they play at all, and Mahomes was limited by it. Aside from that, KC was missing numerous players in the AFC title game and Mahomes was throwing to practice squad guys. The WR corps was mediocre at full strength, so imagine the ability of the practice squad receivers. I wouldn't say their luck was great throughout last year's run, and they didn't have much luck in 2020. Third string OL and Mahomes missed an entire half in the divisional round. KC's currently down three starters on defense, including their best edge rusher. They've also been without McKinnon and their best offensive lineman, among other contributors. Could definitely be worse, but they're not perfectly healthy. Missing a SB appearance due to Dee Ford being lined up a couple inches offside was pretty brutal luck. Plus the bobbled INT on a perfect throw in OT vs the Bengals in 2021. If the stars had consistently aligned for Mahomes, he'd have 6 SB appearances in 6 years, and probably another ring or two.

I've always respected Reid a lot, but a lot of NFL fans didn't, prior to Mahomes. To many, he was a perennial choker with horrible clock management skills who neglected the run game. You didn't hear anyone calling Andy Reid a massive advantage pre-Mahomes.