Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes led his team to a win over the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC Championship Game on Sunday, and afterward, Mahomes explained that he has some extra motivation to win a Super Bowl this season.
For some background, Norma Hunt, the wife of Chiefs chairman and CEO, Clark Hunt, passed away back in June. Clark is the son of Lamar Hunt, after whom the Lamar Hunt Trophy is named (the Lamar Hunt Trophy is awarded to the AFC champion).
Mahomes promised Clark that the team would make it to the Super Bowl in honor of his late wife, and Kansas City certainly fulfilled that promise.
“We were gonna win this trophy with Norma Hunt’s name on our jersey, we promise you that,” Mahomes told Jim Nantz on CBS during the celebration. “So, we went out and got that thing.”
Now, Mahomes and Co. are one win away from yet another Vince Lombardi Trophy.
The two-time MVP went 30-for-39 with 241 yards and a touchdown in the Chiefs’ 17-10 victory over the Ravens, good for a 100.5 passer rating.
In the playoffs overall this winter, Mahomes has thrown for 718 yards and four touchdowns with no interceptions. He is completing 68 percent of his passes and boasts a passer rating of 100.7.
This comes after a regular season that was actually very underwhelming by Mahomes’ standards, as he totaled 4,183 yards, 27 touchdowns and 14 picks while completing 67.2 percent of his throws and posting a passer rating of 92.6 in 16 games. He earned his sixth straight Pro Bowl selection, but it seemed pretty clear that the 28-year-old was not himself most of the year.
But when it has counted, Mahomes has been stepping up, guiding Kansas City to wins over the Miami Dolphins, Buffalo Bills and now the Ravens to help the club advance to its fourth Super Bowl appearance in the last five years.
Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs will take on the San Francisco 49ers in the Super Bowl on Feb. 11 in what will represent a rematch of Super Bowl 54.
Want the latest NFL analysis, breaking news, and insider information? Click here. Interested in reading storylines and analysis about the NBA? Check out our partner NBA Analysis Network.
