NFL Holidays all about the Mahomes-guided Chiefs and it’s Festivus for most the rest of us

Can Kyler Murray and the Cardinals shine for Festivus?

When I was growing up in the 1960s and 1970s, America’s teams were the Green Bay Packers and the Dallas Cowboys.

While the Dallas Cowboys went 7-10 in 2024, the NFL in 2025 decided to give them 6 primetime games —- the second most for any team, tied with the Super Bowl LIX Champion Philadelphia Eagles.

What a rook.

But move over Cowboys —- America’s team these days is clearly the Kansas City Chiefs.

Sure, having adoring Taylor Swift fans increase the Chiefs’ national viewership by a profitable margin certainly helps —- but the majority of the credit of the Kansas City allure goes to iconic quarterback Patrick Mahomes, the ultimate straw that stirs the Chiefs’ holiday punch.

Just as Tom Brady of the New England Patriots was either adored, revered, envied or despised by the millions of NFL fans, the baton of the QB G.O.A.T. of the decade has been passed to the ultra-crafty Mahomes, who will not only run around and turn busted plays into touchdowns, he will do it when necessary by gutting through third degree ankle sprains —- and he will deliver some jaw-dropping performances with an uncanny display of euphoric bounce and pure hustle.

Like the saying goes, “you cannot stop Patrick Mahomes, you can only hope to contain him.”

With the NFL granting the Chiefs 7 primetime games for the upcoming season, slating them to play premier games on Thanksgiving and Christmas, there is no longer any doubt that America’s team of the 2020s is the Kansas City Chiefs.

Patrick Mahomes’ ascension to NFL prominence has underscored the critical importance of two necessities:

1. A QB’s uncanny feel, grit and fearlessness to consistently excel at the position.
2. The competitive tenor, coaching acumen and roster-building prowess of the team that drafts or acquires him.

Let’s take a close look at the last 12 QBs to win Super Bowls:

• Super Bowl 48: Russell Wilson (Malcolm Smith), 2TDs —- 2012 pick #75
• Super Bowl 49: Tom Brady (MVP), 4TDs —- 2000 pick #199
• Super Bowl 50: Peyton Manning (Von Miller), 0TDs —- 1998 pick #1
• Super Bowl 51: Tom Brady (MVP), 2TDs
• Super Bowl 52: Nick Foles (MVP), 3 TDs —- 2012 pick #88
• Super Bowl 53: Tom Brady (Julian Edelman), 0TDs
• Super Bowl 54: Patrick Mahomes (MVP), 2 TDs —- 2017 pick #10
• Super Bowl 55: Tom Brady (MVP), 3 TDs
• Super Bowl 56: Matthew Stafford (Cooper Kupp), 3 TDs —- 2009 pick #1
• Super Bowl 57: Patrick Mahomes (MVP), 3 TDs
• Super Bowl 58: Patrick Mahomes (MVP), 2 TDs
• Super Bowl 59: Jalen Hurts (MVP), 2 TDs —- 2020 pick #53

How many of these QBs were top 5 picks in their draft class?

• Peyton Manning
• Matthew Stafford

Yet, when Peyton Manning won Super Bowl 50 (Broncos) and Matthew Stafford won Super Bowl 56 (Rams), neither was playing for the team that drafted them.

Over the past 25-years, Peyton Manning is the only Top 5 draft pick QB to win the Super Bowl with his original team.

This is why, for example:

And this:

Precedents:

Exhibit A:

Exhibit B:

John Elway won two Super Bowls with the Broncos.

Eli Manning won two Super Bowls with the New York Giants.

Would Eli Manning have won a Super Bowl or two with the Chargers?

Like the Cardinals, the Chargers have only played in one Super Bowl and have consistently been regarded as having sub-par ownership. The Chargers in 1995 lost to the San Francisco 49ers 49-26 in Super Bowl XXIX.

Fluke or Fate?

Tom Brady has become the most famous 6th round pick in NFL history. He found himself with the right team, the right owner and the right head coach at the right time. When he got his opportunity to play, he managed to ace one test after the next.

Patrick Mahomes has become the poster boy for 1st Round draft trade super steals —- what are the odds that a playoff team that already had a Pro Bowl QB would be able to trade up from pick #27 to pick #10 with a QB-needy team at the time, no less, in the Buffalo Bills, for:

• 2017 —- pick #27 —- CB Tre’Davious White,
• 2017 —- pick #91 —- Bills then traded it to Rams to move up to pick #37 to take WR Zay Jones.
• 2018 —- pick #22 —- Bills used it to trade up with Ravens to pick #16 for LB Tremaine Edmunds

Good news for Bills in 2018, they were able to trade up with the Bucs to pick #7 where they selected QB Josh Allen.

The not so good news for the Bills and Josh Allen this far, their 0-4 playoff record versus the Chiefs and Mahomes.

What are Kyler Murray’s chances for winning a Super Bowl with the Cardinals?

The odds currently are not in the Cardinals’ or Kyler Murray’s favor. But, what if?

QBs selected in picks #1-#5 to win Super Bowls with the team that drafted them:

1. Bob Griese, Dolphins, #4 pick in 1967 draft.
2. Terry Bradshaw, Steelers, #1 pick in 1970 draft.
3. Jim McMahon, Bears, #5 pick in 1982 draft.
4. Troy Aikman, Cowboys, #1 pick in 1989 draft.
5. Peyton Manning, Colts, #1 pick in 1998 draft.

Anomalies:

1. Jeff Hostetler, Giants, pick #59 in 1984 draft.
2. Mark Rypien, Redskins, pick #146 in 1986 draft.
3. Kurt Warner, Rams, CFA in 1994.
4. Brad Johnson, Buccaneers, pick #227 in 1992 draft.
5. Nick Foles, Eagles, pick #88 in 2012 draft.

The Cardinals’ organization is in the third year of a complete makeover. GM Monti Ossenfort and his staff have made significant improvements to the Cardinals’ roster and were able to increase their win totals from 4 to 8 from season 1 to season 2. Monti Ossenfort, head coach Jonathan Gannon and offensive coordinator Drew Petzing have consistently maintained their faith in Kyler Murray’s talent and improved dedication.

Like Patrick Mahomes, Kyler Murray can run around and make improv throws with the best of them. In fact, Kyler Murray presents a more daunting threat as a runner.

What Kyler needs to do to give himself and the Cardinals a fighting chance (the kind of things that Mahomes does extremely well):

• (1) get stronger as the season goes on;
• (2) do a grittier job of playing through nagging injuries;
• (3) make consistently clutch plays during the team’s potential playoff-clinching and division-clinching games;
• (4) not give up a little too quickly on key third down conversions;
• (5) in the 2-minute drill, not be so reliant on time-consuming, short yardage check downs;
• (6) keep his head up when, out of frustration and discouragement, he has been apt to hang his head.

Only three #1 picks in the history of the NFL have won a Super Bowl with the team that drafted them. On the flip side, the anomalies attest to the fact that a QB can get hot at the right place at the right time.

Though the odds for winning a Super Bowl may seem slim, Kyler Murray has a chance.

The Cardinals in 2025 need to make the most of Festivus. You know, for the rest of us.