Roman philosopher Seneca wrote that every new beginning comes from another beginning’s end.
The world’s most famous empire, on which the sun never set, eventually crumbled into darkness — just like Tom Brady’s New England Patriots and the once-dominant Dallas Cowboys of the 1990s.
It took until November for the Kansas City Chiefs to drop a game in 2024.
But heading into a Week 2 Super Bowl rematch against the Philadelphia Eagles, we are a rare moment of crisis for the NFL‘s latest dynasty.
Having made five trips to the big game in seven seasons with Patrick Mahomes as a starter, Andy Reid has presided over a juggernaut.
But Mahomes has not been lighting up the box score for the past three seasons and a 27-21 Week 1 defeat to the Los Angeles Chargers saw the superstar complete just 24 of 39 passes for 258 yards and a touchdown.
He added a score on the ground to save his fantasy managers, but there are some troubling red flags, with Travis Kelce ageing and a wide receiver corps that can’t stay healthy.
One considered Brady‘s heir apparent, Mahomes may have more question marks hanging over him than at any point of his illustrious career.
“Prove the dynasty isn’t over. The Chiefs can’t start 0-2 — they just can’t. Not if they actually want to win another Super Bowl in 2025,” said talkSPORT’s Senior US Writer Brian T. Smith.
“Forget Travis Kelce, this is on Patrick Mahomes. It’s easy to argue he’s not a top-five QB anymore.
“He was horrible in the Super Bowl against the Eagles. He hasn’t been an All-Pro in three years. You can’t be the face of the league and keep losing to Jalen Hurts in big games.
“Where is the Texas Tech gunslinger? Where is the QB who lit up the NFL and couldn’t be stopped? “I love Mahomes — but it feels like we’re more in love with the brilliant version from a few years ago than the current Chiefs QB. Kansas City is going backward if he doesn’t go forward.”
Chiefs face Eagles in Super Bowl rematch
Sunday’s showdown sees Mahomes go up against a team that sacked him six times in February on way to a resounding triumph.
There have been changes on Philly’s defense and Reid’s offensive line over the offseason — Big Red will have to hope he made the smarter moves.
The Chiefs were on the brink of a three-peat, but may now be fighting to stay in contention with the AFC rival Buffalo Bills and Baltimore Ravens, who played out an 81-point thriller in Week 1, looking to pounce on any slip ups.
Mahomes has three rings — two more than any active quarterback.
But there are plenty of people who would take Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen, and Joe Burrow over him on current form. Jayden Daniels, Hurts and Justin Herbert are also knocking on the door.
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Of course, Brady famously used the chip on his shoulder to fuel his seven championship runs.
Mahomes, who has been replaying the Super Bowl loss, tapping into the same energy could be dangerous for 31 NFL franchises.
“I mean, it sucks that you lose the game, but in order to progress and to be better next time, you have to watch and learn from it,” he said. “And so, I don’t know the exact amount of times, but you watch it, and then you watch it in the offseason with the team and with the coaches, and then you watch it obviously this week as well.
“That’s part of playing the game. You learn from your failures, just like you learn from the positive things you do, and then you come back and play better football this week, and it’s going to take our best football to go out there and get a win.”
With Rashee Rice serving a six-game suspension and Xavier Worthy injured against the Chargers, Hollywood Brown could be busy against Gang Green.
“He’ll be big these next couple of weeks,” Mahomes said of Brown. “It’s something I think he’s ready for.”
The Eagles beat the Dallas Cowboys in Brazil to open their defense and Hurts is leaving February’s triumph in the history books.
“It’s just another opportunity for us,” said Hurts this week. “That’s how I’m approaching it. We’ve got a long [way to go], we can learn from this past week. We know we’re playing a really good team. It’s a new team, and we’re a new team.”
Hurts can play it down all he wants, Sunday could mark the end of one empire and herald a new beginning for another.