The national disrespect for Patrick Mahomes is wrong (and unnecessary)

When the disrespectful takes first started coming from NFL analysts or talking heads at some of the biggest sports outlets in the country, it was shocking. At this point, the disrespect for Patrick Mahomes is laughable.

This would be the best time to insert a clip of Russell Crowe in Gladiator asking, “Are you not entertained?” as a good representation of what Mahomes should be saying to people who somehow have developed these platforms despite saying such non-sensical things.

To date,  Mahomes has done nothing but completely reset every standard or benchmark for quarterback play in his first few seasons as a starter for the Chiefs. There’s a regular season MVP win in his first year after putting up 5,000 passing yards and 50 touchdowns. He’s been a finalist for MVP in every season since then, and he will be again this year.

The national disrespect for Patrick Mahomes is laughable at this point.

Beyond that, Mahomes has moved the meter for the Chiefs from division champ to Super Bowl favorite on an annual basis. The Chiefs have made it to the last two championship games and was a Dee Ford offsides call away from a third one—in Mahomes’ first three seasons. He’s won 49 of 61 starts during the regular season and has a 6-2 playoff record as well.

Mahomes has  thrown for 161 touchdowns and only 41 picks between the regular season and postseason combined and even has 1,100+ rushing yards in four seasons with another 8 rushing scores to his credit.

Honestly, why am I typing all of this? Mahomes is only 26-years-old and already has enough accolades and achievements to make it into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The Chiefs have him locked up for another decade. There’s not a single franchise in football that wouldn’t trade any and all pieces it would take to get Mahomes in house.

Wait. Let’s say that one again: There’s not a single team in the NFL who would not package together any number of picks and players together for Patrick Mahomes in a trade. That should be enough.

Somehow it’s not. We’ve seen this happen all season long as Mahomes has been denigrated as the lesser quarterback in several matchups this season from Josh Allen to Justin Herbert to this week’s scenario against Joe Burrow. No offense to any of those fine young quarterbacks but no one remotely holds a candle to Mahomes at this stage. None of those three are even sure they’re going to win their own division yet and it’s going to be Week 17.

Still that doesn’t stop these asinine takes from making their way to the surface at times.

“Here’s the point,” says Skip Bayless in the statement broadcast above on Undisputed, a television show intended to redefine what is meant by “lowest common denominator”. He goes on to say his point: “Does Mahomes have the confidence right here, right now to match throws with the fastest, newest gun on the block. I don’t think he does.”

That fastest, newest gun on the block is Joe Burrow, who is having a fine season and even threw for over 500 yards last week. It was a great performance and it sounds even better knowing it was against the Baltimore Ravens. That is, until you realize the Ravens are starting street free agents and practice squad players at numerous positions on both sides of the ball.

But they aren’t the only ones. Check out this insanity.

Somehow the Chiefs aren’t getting any respect from multiple experts who are looking at the Bengals like some No. 1 seed rolling through eight straight opponents… oh, wait, that’s the Chiefs.

Earlier this week, Damien Woody decided to get in on this with a take that screams, “Wait, include me in this parade of stupidity!”

All of this has come ahead of the Chiefs’ matchup in Week 17 with the Cincinnati Bengals, but the truth is that we’ve heard these sorts of takes all season long. Ryan Clark has tried to build his own anti-Chiefs channel this season by calling Mahomes broken and then saying the same of tight end Travis Kelce. Honestly, if you’re going to bash a player, you might want to make sure he’s not the very best at his position in the NFL.

Mahomes has been the first to own his mistakes and even that of his teammates, especially as the Chiefs struggled through the most of the season’s first half. It was a rough stretch for the Chiefs as they adjusted to injuries and new faces to go with the pressure of taking every team’s best shot. They were sloppy and likely even believed some of their own press. Since then, however, the offense has remained electric as the defense has turned a significant corner and the team has seized control of the No. 1 seed.

It’s one thing to offer nuanced critique of Mahomes or to provide perspective. There’s a need for that to educate fans and tell the narrative of a coming game. Part of that narrative for Week 17 is (and should be) the potential of Joe Burrow and the ascent of the Cincinnati Bengals. But at this point, people seem excited to disparage Mahomes and even the Chiefs any way that they can to score some weird “told you so” points in case the Chiefs shoot themselves in the foot again.