The Kansas City Chiefs time and time again: The team around quarterback superstar Patrick Mahomes is unstoppable. Even after a bumpy regular season, the team turns up the heat. There are reasons for this.

Travis Kelce had seen enough.

The Kansas City Chiefs tight end didn’t hesitate and fired Justin Tucker’s equipment to the side.

The Baltimore Ravens kicker had made himself comfortable in front of the end zone while warming up, where the Chiefs and Kelce and quarterback Patrick Mahomes were playing in.

In addition, Ravens cornerback Arthur Maulet tangled with Chiefs cornerback Jaylen Watson, and within seconds a pack of Chiefs players joined in. Chiefs advantage.

A bit of back and forth, of course, which is just part and parcel of such an important game. Trifles. Little things. Harmless at first glance. But what should leave a bland aftertaste and uncertainty for the opponent has a certain aggressiveness in the finish.

Mindgames go to the Chiefs

And strictly speaking, the Ravens had already lost the game before kickoff. The mind games – the mind games – clearly went to the Chiefs.

And that should not be underestimated at such a high level. Getting into the heads of the opponents is an immensely important piece of the puzzle for success. The fact that Kelce then scored the first touchdown of the game early on was an additional bitter note for the Ravens.

An important point is to follow up words or taunts with sportsmanship. Kelce can say a hundred times beforehand that the Chiefs are resilient.

But if he then breaks records in the playoffs, such as the one for most touchdowns for a duo (with Mahomes) or Jerry Rice’s for most receptions, then those are real announcements. Scaremongering. Just like the 116 yards and a touchdown for the Ravens.

Add to that essential factors like experience, title hunger, plus the ability to be ready on a dime. Weaker weeks in the regular season are ticked off or used to improve. The hype surrounding pop star Taylor Swift and her relationship with Kelce has not disturbed the team, but above all pushed the tight end. When the 34-year-old was in the stadium, Kelce delivered better numbers than without his beloved

Patrick Mahomes: Stats as promise

And Mahomes’ stats are phenomenal anyway.

His record in the playoffs: 14 wins, three losses. Passing accuracy: 67.4 percent with 4,802 passing yards, 458 rushing yards, 39 passing and five rushing touchdowns with seven interceptions and a rating of 106.3.

Interesting to note, even if comparisons of different eras are sometimes a bit of a limp: “Sportingnews” has put the first seven years of Mahomes and Tom Brady side by side, and Mahomes is ahead of Brady in numerous categories, sometimes even very clearly, such as passing yards (28,424 to 21,564), touchdowns (219 to 147), rating (103.5 to 88.4), completion percentage (66.5 to 61.9 percent) or yards per game (296.1 to 224.6).

Mahomes has led the Chiefs to the AFC Championship Game for the sixth consecutive season and the Super Bowl for the fourth time since 2018, despite a bumpy regular season by Chiefs standards.

Kansas City Chiefs: On the path of the Patriots?

However, victories over the Buffalo Bills and now the Ravens underline the level at which the team led by successful coach Andy Reid is still able to reinvent itself and form a team capable of winning titles. And the fact that the 28-year-old superstar quarterback still has a few seasons ahead of him should not be forgotten either.

Mahomes and Reid are about to win their third Vince Lombardi Trophy in seven years. Brady and Bill Belichick won six in 20 years with the New England Patriots. Chiefs on the Patriots’ path?

“We’ve got a long way to go,” Mahomes said, “They’ve done it for 20 years. All we can do is take it year after year, week after week, every single day. That’s the big goal: to win as many championships and bring those titles to this organization.”

Another message to the competition. As a scaremonger. Or even as a promise.