But that doesn’t mean there aren’t people who think the Chiefs weren’t the best team in the NFL this past season.
Former Chargers star Shawne Merriman said the Chiefs shouldn’t have been in the Super Bowl because they weren’t the AFC’s best team. That thought was echoed by Tyreek Hill when he joined Ryan Clark’s podcast, “The Pivot.”
“Now, I will say, we are, the Dolphins is a better team than the Chiefs,” Hill said.
Clark asked if Hill was talking about this year’s Dolphins and Chiefs teams. Hill said yes.
“Tyreek,” Clark responded, “you played them. You’re doing shows with us and they’re in the Super Bowl.”
“The better team don’t always go to the Super Bowl,” Hill said, “and that’s all I gotta say.”
Hill then asserted the Ravens were a better team than the Chiefs. Again, it was pointed out to Hill that the Chiefs beat Baltimore.
“You know it is any given Sunday, man,” Hill said. “Whichever team is prepared the best and got that mindset to go out there and dominate. that’s what team is going to win. You feel me? That’s what team is gonna win.
“The Ravens, I don’t even know their team but if you look at them defensively, both defenses match up, right? Then you look at offense, like the Ravens offense is way better. Now, you got Pat (Mahomes) and (Travis) Kelce. But besides that. But I think we’re better than the Chiefs, though.”
Praise for Mahomes
Hill, who played for the Chiefs from 2016-2021 before being traded to the Dolphins praised Mahomes.
“Pat is a different dude, bro,” Hill said. “He’s obviously the best quarterback in the league.”
Hill then shared a story about Mahomes’ leadership. Although Hill couldn’t recall the year, it likely was from the 2019 Super Bowl season when the Chiefs had a 6-4 record and were struggling.
Hill said he was chewed out by Mahomes, who also lit a fire under Kelce, Mecole Hardman, Sammy Watkins and Demarcus Robinson.
“This dude called the whole offense up,” Hill recalled. “This is like on a Tuesday, I believe, he called us all up. He cussed all of us … out. Like, me and Pat, we go back and forth.
“But that was a moment right there where he stood on business and it was like, ‘Bro, I really respect this,’ because he really just called out all his weapons individually, pointed us out, looked us in the eyes and said, ‘Bro? Reek? You think you’re so .. fast, but you can’t catch the … ball. You want to be the best receiver in the game?’ And he was letting me have it.
“Then he went to Kelce, then he went to D-Rob, then he went to Sammy. He went to all of us, calling us all out. In that moment right there I was like, ‘Yo, it’s go-time, now. That put so much, I don’t know, fuel in my heart, bro. Like, that next game? That’s when we began to get things rolling, because you never wanna get called out by the leader of your team like that. You don’t.
“And it’s like, ‘Bro, I’m not gonna let nobody die in the circle right here no more.’ And we started killing after that.”
Hill said it wasn’t easy to hear Mahomes’ rebuke, but it was just what the Chiefs needed.
“Being able to have them tough conversations is needed, I feel like, bro,” Hill said. “Because that got us better when Pat did it. It made me want to kick his ass, but it made me want to get better.”