In his five full seasons as an NFL starting quarterback, Patrick Lavon Mahomes II has proven just about everything a young quarterback can prove in the NFL. He has one AP Most Valuable Player award, and the odds are pretty good that he’s about to pick up his second. He has one Super Bowl ring, and the odds are pretty good that he’s about to pick up his second. He has torched most NFL defenses to a thermonuclear degree, and any level of adversity he’s faced has usually been beaten back at some point by Mahomes’ rare athletic gifts and superb football acumen.
Sunday’s AFC Championship game was a very different story. It takes a while for quarterbacks to develop situations in which opponents just have their number, and Mahomes had developed one in the Cincinnati Bengals, and defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo. Mahomes’ previous three games against the Bengals — all Chiefs losses — had been nightmare fuel for Mahomes, especially in the second halves and overtimes of those games.
