Are the Chiefs embracing being the NFL villains? Patrick Mahomes isn’t shying away from the reality facing his Chiefs side as they eye an unprecedented 3-peat. “If winning football games makes you a villain, we’re gonna keep going out there and doing it,” Mahomes said when asked about the label his team is carrying heading into the title clash against the Eagles. But that hasn’t stopped the noise, especially given the controversy around the Chiefs’ last two wins and the favoritism accusations.

Well, this season’s Super Bowl is the Chief’s fifth championship trip in the last six years, some crucial calls favored them, and of course, overexposure in the media leads to fan fatigue. The result? Now, it feels like NFL fans aren’t as excited for the Eagles to win as they are just hoping Mahomes and the Chiefs take the L. But let’s be real: that’s not the first time happening in the NFL. I mean, who can forget Tom Brady and the Patriots era? Just like the Chiefs, the NFL GOAT is all about making history, and hence he is not too thrilled with how NFL fans are reacting to all the hate towards the Chiefs.

Brady recently made an appearance on the Let’s Go podcast with Bill Belichick and Jim Gray. When asked, “Tommy, you grew up rooting for history. You were a huge Michael Jordan fan. You saw those 3 peats and they propelled you to a certain extent to want to be great. Are you rooting for history here?

Brady gave his verdict on the Chiefs. “Well, I am broadcasting the game, so I don’t really have a rooting interest per se,” he said. “The only thing I root for in these situations are great games. I will say, if the Chiefs win, I will be very happy for them. I mean, what they have achieved is unmatched.

And I think that’s cool because people always hated on us for so many years. And I didn’t understand it because all I did was like, we try to do things the right way. We try to go out there and compete for our job and win. And like there’s an excellence that I appreciate about people who are doing other things that really high levels because you understand the commitment that it takes for them to do what they’re doing and like to be in this country and to not cheer for excellence is beyond me.”

The Pats’ dynasty was established by Brady along with former coach Bill Belichick. Together they went to the Super Bowl nine times and won the Lombardi Trophy on six ocassions. If there is anyone that can relate to what the Chiefs and Mahomes are feeling right now, it is Brady.

Ever since Mahomes took the helm of the Chiefs, he’s been trying to do things the right way and make his team win titles. No wonder the Chiefs have been a juggernaut under his leadership winning five AFC Championship games and securing three Super Bowl victories. On top of that, this season, they set an NFL record with 17 consecutive one-score victories since 2023.

On the flip side, they also had plenty of shares when it comes to facing struggles, especially in their offense. See, at this point, their O-line mostly depends on Mahomes and Travis Kelce. Well, we can say that’s because of the major injuries this season for their wide receivers, Hollywood Brown and Rashee Rice. Following their injuries, rookie Xavier Worthy had to step up and lead his team in the WR position. But still, they ended their season on a high note and now eyeing for that 3-peat. And Tom Brady couldn’t agree more.

“I mean, we’re all about trying to be great at things and to give people the opportunity to be great,” he continued. “Like, I think it’s incredible to see this team withstand all the adversities they faced over the course of not just this season or last season, the year before, they just plowed on. Nothing’s that distracted them. They’ve just continued to push forward and win a lot of games.”

The Chiefs have also come under fire for referring decisions going their way in the divisional as well as the AFC Championship game. Against the Texans, two debatable calls involving Mahomes ended up in their favor. Following the game, the Texans players called out the decisions as the Chiefs marched on.

Then during their game against the Bills, more controversy erupted with some referring calls under scrutiny. Bills legend Andre Reed didn’t hold back when talking about the challenge of facing and beating the Chiefs.

“The bottom line is you just gotta go out there and not play against the refs, but you kind of are at a certain point; a lot of Chiefs are going to tell me I don’t know what I’m talking about. That might be the case,” said Reed. “But when you go into Kansas City, you gotta beat a lot of people. You gotta beat the team. You gotta beat the fans. You gotta beat the refs. You gotta beat Taylor Swift. You gotta beat everybody,” he said.

Given how heated the atmosphere is around the Chiefs vs Eagles game, Mahomes and Co. will hope that the talk after the game is about their prowess and history-making season and not about getting favored by the league.

Brady, meanwhile, is also hoping for an exciting game regardless of the outcome.

Tom Brady’s rooting for a great game

The Super Bowl LIX is just around the corner, and you can feel the tension in the air—the stakes couldn’t be any higher. Till now, nine teams have won two consecutive Lombardis, and the Chiefs have a shot to achieve a feat that even Tom Brady couldn’t. But they can’t underestimate Jalen Hurts and the Eagles, or should we say they just can’t underestimate Hurts and Saquon Barkley? But one thing’s clear: the game is gonna be a terrific one and Brady is all in for announcing the most anticipated showdown of the season.

Speaking of which, Brady also talked about the tough competition these two teams are gonna face. “You got to play a great game of football to beat that team,” he further added. “And let’s not say they can’t be beat, they can be beat and the Eagles can be beat. But you know, it is going to be a terrific game because there is a lot on the line for both teams and both teams are coming in with a lot of confidence. There are some strengths that match up against the other teams’ weakness, which is a bit interesting in a game like this.”

Totally get it. While Mahomes and the Chiefs are chasing history, the Eagles are dead set on making sure that doesn’t happen. The whole three-peat journey kicked off when the Chiefs took down the Eagles a couple of years back. Speaking of the strengths, no doubt, Barkley has been one of the best entries in the Eagles roster this season. Sure, he just fell short of setting an NFL record for passing yards, but the season isn’t over yet and he must be eyeing to compensate his record with the Lombardi trophy.

On the flip side, Patrick Mahomes is doing Patrick Mahomes things and there’s no stopping him. However, it looks like Travis Kelce is playing to break records at this point. He already recorded the ninth over 100 yards in NFL postseason history. And now? The way things are shaping up, he’s poised to break his own record of accumulating the most receiving yards by a TE (133 yards) he established in Super Bowl LV.

So, the Chiefs stand on the brink of history, whether people are rooting for them or not. Despite being labeled as villains, they seem to have shut the outside noise and carry on. They will care very little about what fans of other teams think about them if the 3-peat turns into reality.