Patrick Mahomes on 'Villain' Narrative: 'We Believe We Play the Game the Right Way'

Patrick Mahomes doesn't understand the villain label that has been attached to the Kansas City Chiefs as they prepare for their fifth Super Bowl appearance in seven seasons.

Asked about the "villain" narrative around the Chiefs during Super Bowl Opening Night, Mahomes rejected it by saying "we believe we play the game the right way" and "embrace who we are" as a team.

The only thing the Chiefs have done that makes them a "villain" is win a lot. It happens in every single sport when there is one singular dominant team, fans and analysts want to find any reason to cut them down because at some point you just run out of ways to talk about them.

There are some dominant teams that are worthy of backlash. For example, the New England Patriots were involved in multiple cheating scandals and allegations of cheating during their dynastic run that made it easy to root against them.

One common accusation levied against the Chiefs is they get preferential treatment from the officials. The cries about it have gotten so loud that multiple outlets have done research proving that's not the case at all.

Even the controversial penalties against the Houston Texans for hits on Patrick Mahomes in the AFC Divisional Round game have nothing to do with Mahomes and everything with how the league wants calls enforced when any quarterback is involved.

It's a credit to Mahomes' intelligence that he has figured out ways to take advantage of it, but the blame goes to the system rather than anything he's doing wrong.

If the Chiefs had only won one or even two Super Bowls during this seven-year run, instead of going for their third straight and fourth since 2019, no one would think twice about them as any sort of villain.

Given the historical nature of their run of success, though, there's no way to stop the backlash against the Chiefs. They don't have to care because they get to reap the rewards of their success regardless.