Patrick Mahomes could still live out NFL dream Tom Brady was denied despite brutal setback

Patrick Mahomes may still achieve something that Tom Brady didn't in his NFL career, despite Kansas City Chiefs' defeat over the weekend.

In Week 11 on Sunday, the Chiefs suffered their first loss of the 2024 NFL season as Josh Allen led the Buffalo Bills to a thrilling victory with his exceptional late rushing touchdown.

Despite entering Highmark Stadium with a flawless 9-0 record, Mahomes and his team saw their streak end against the Bills, who triumphed 30-21. This defeat means the Chiefs will not join the 1972 Miami Dolphins in going the season unbeaten, who clinched the Super Bowl with a flawless record.

In 2007, Brady and the New England Patriots came painfully close, finishing the regular season 16-0 and storming through the playoffs only to lose Super Bowl XLII to the New York Giants.

Mahomes won't achieve an unbeaten season this year, which will ease any concerns Brady might have that the two-time MVP is going to accomplish the feat for at least another 12 months.

Despite being a seven-time Super Bowl champion and recognised as the 'GOAT', Brady has previously expressed his strong desire to have gone a whole season undefeated. The Patriots nearly achieved perfection as they pursued the sole 19-0 season in NFL history.

However, the Giants forced their way to a shocking 17-14 upset, leaving the 18-1 Patriots, despite all their records and stats, empty-handed from the 2007 season.

When asked if he would be willing to part with two of his seven Super Bowl rings for an undefeated season, the 47-year-old NFL legend responded: "I would. Let's be real. Easy."

Perhaps it's not a difficult decision for Brady, given his extensive collection of Super Bowl victories. However, he confessed that the defeat to the Giants remains his biggest regret during a conversation with Jim Gray in 2020.

"You always think about the ones that got away," Brady admitted. "That was the one that got away. Michael Strahan has become a good friend. Obviously Eli [Manning] I've known for a long time. A lot of players on that team, I'm still holding a little bit of a grudge over that one because that one would have been - immortal would be the word.

"We accomplished some amazing things that year. That 2007 team was incredible. We played so well for so long. I wish that team would have been remembered amongst the all-time greats. And unfortunately, when you don't win the last game of the year, that's the reality. No one really remembers who finishes second. We, unfortunately, finished second that year."

Brady expressed how teams are acutely conscious of the historic achievement before them, which undoubtedly ramps up the stakes for each game. He remarked" "The team definitely thinks about it... The closer we got to it in 2007, I wouldn't say it got more challenging, it was always very challenging. It's just there's just a lot of other teams that don't want to see you ever accomplish that. And I think that's what you always see, you see this highly competitive situation."

As murmurs of an undefeated season began gaining momentum, the Chiefs have shifted from comparing themselves with the '72 Dolphins to uncomfortably glancing back at the increasingly threatening Bills of 2024.

The Bills now tail the Chiefs by one defeat in the standings and have already secured the head-to-head tiebreaker.