Patrick Mahomes embraces the role of villain
Patrick Mahomes does have that distinct laugh, so maybe it’s good that he relishes being a villain when it’s time to play on the road. He can look and sound so delightfully devious at somebody else’s stadium.
Mahomes is everywhere these days, picking up awards at the ESPYs and celebrating the premiere of the new Netflix docuseries Quarterback. To promote the new project, Mahomes appeared this week with former NFL player Nate Burleson on CBS News to chat about the docuseries.
“I like to be the villain,” Patrick Mahomes said. “Obviously it’s cool at Arrowhead to be the hero and win the games and host the AFC Championship trophy. But it’s just as fun, no offense to any of my division opponents, to go to their places and win those games. Both are great, but I like to be the villain sometimes.”
Funny thing about Super Bowl winners, those teams usually are victorious on the home and road. But in his career, Patrick Mahomes has been especially vicious in road games against the Chiefs’ divisional rivals. NBC Sports broke down the away-game numbers. He’s 6-0 in Denver against the divisional-rival Broncos. He also owns a perfect road record (5-0) against the Chargers. And he’s only lost once to the Raiders in six road appearances. That’s dominance.
It’s a fact: Patrick Mahomes wins most everywhere he plays
Of course, Mahomes is 84-16 in his career. He wins everywhere, no matter if the crowd is for him or against him. But because the Chiefs are so dominant, the team gets the luxury of more playoff games at Arrowhead Stadium, including the last four AFC title games. During that stretch, the Chiefs lost only once. That was to the Bengals.
The Kansas City QB has revealed lots this week, whether it’s in Quarterback or in interviews promoting the series.
In Quarterback, he told friends at his house that he’d rather play the Bills than the Bengals in the AFC title game earlier this year.
“I think we match up better vs. the Bills,” Mahomes said. “But I want to play the Bengals. I mean, just honestly. I just want to play them because we haven’t beaten them, and I’m tired of them talking.”
Mahomes got his wish. The Bengals and Joe Burrow were trying to be the road villains, with some of the players even renaming Arrowhead to Burrowhead. But the Chiefs won in the final seconds so they could party in the post-game on their home turf.
Mahomes also had this gem of a comment in an interview with the Associated Press.
“I think everybody thinks about legacy and how they’re remembered,” Patrick Mahomes said. “But I think you have to think about that. And at the same time evaluate every day how you can become better, how you can maximize every single day, and then whenever your career’s done, you have no regrets.”
That legacy obviously includes his dominance on the road.