Every now and then, I have a debate with my friends about when they would turn off the TV if our favorite team is behind, whether its KU, the Royals, the Chiefs, etc.
2015 Royals - when the other team squeezes the last out.
2019 Royals - down 2 or more after the 6th inning.
2016-17 KU Basketball - down 12 or more with less than 3 minutes to go.
2019-20 KU Basketball - down 7 or more with less than 3 minutes to go.
The differences, of course, depend on the style of the teams. Yeah, the 2019-20 KU team was the favorite to win the title, but they weren’t built to score points in bunches very quickly.
All that to say when we discussed the Mahomes Chiefs, we settled on down 20 with less than 6 minutes to go, and the other team has the ball, with the Chiefs having only one timeout left. We argued about it quite a bit. It was a fun debate. But given what Mahomes has done and how quickly this team can score, anything less than three scores just isn’t that scary.
Two TDs down? Chiefs can tie that game in less than five minutes.
Down 24 after a quarter? No sweat, they can hang a 50 spot.
Need a TD with less than 2 minutes left? Mahomes and Co. only needed 75 seconds against the Raiders.
Being behind is more of an inconvenience than an actual threat.
And for the record, even if Mahomes and Co. were down by 20 with 5:30 on the clock, I’m still not sure I’m turning off the TV, just in case.