A yougov survey published this week found some hard evidence that America is suffering from Chief’s fatigue.
Of the survey’s 1,604 respondents, 29% are rooted for Philadelphia Eagles to win Super Bowl Lix on Sunday versus 22% for Kansas City. When we had the same matchup two years ago, Chiefs Eagles exceeded 30% to 27%. The decline in managerial support was found in the four main regions in the country – even the Midwest.
I don’t hide I’m in Camp Philly. I have already taken pictures of Chiefs, Travis Kelce and the judges in a column here two weeks ago.
But let me beat a more reconciling tone with Kansas City fans.
Because whether we like it or not, Chiefs is on the fall of the first Super Bowl Three-Torv ever. History is written by the victories, as they say, and under a legitimate scandal that has not yet arrived, another win would make chiefs an uneven dynasty in football’s annals.
It would not only be three straight Super Bowls, but it would also be a 4-1 record over five performances in a six-year run. Brady-Belichick Patriots cannot compete with these numbers.
And struggles with the competition everything you want, but while Brady had Peyton Manning as his foil, Patrick Mahomes and Co. Share a conference with Joe Burrow, Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen. It is a super quartet of quarterbacks for a single era, and the other three may never sniff a Lombardi trophy due to Kansas City’s nitrogen holding.
How we choose to stomach this reality is up to each of us. The NFL day’s Nate Burleson apparently scolded the anti-managers who depend on with one “just be happy that you live to be there to see it.” No. You don’t actually have to hand it over to them. Burleson must not tell anyone how to be fucking.
There are countless reasons to be “over” the managers, to motivate your dissatisfaction, everything from Taylor and Travis to Mahome’s problematic family members to Andy Reid’s horrible DWI to Kicker’s policy. What suits you.
You will notice that none of them are dealing with the product in the field. The closest one of us can come to puncture Chief’s actual football’s greatness is to quote their lucky record in play with a point and throw up our hands when the judges give them a favorable conversation.
I have had my fun with the officials, but my conclusion is: There is hardly evidence here by a real league-rigging conspiracy to keep Chief’s dreams alive. (The judge’s union that cried about how insulted they were of phantos was a bit much.)
We claim that we want to witness greatness, but in reality most of us wish it was our favorite team on that stage instead. It is ok for the majority of us to root against the managers this weekend. It will not take something away from a simple NFL performance as a three-turf.
In fact, the league office can privately like it in this way.
“If winning football games makes you a villain, we will continue to go out there and do it,” Mahomes said this week.
Talked like a real villain, really.
