The Kansas City Chiefs have rewritten the NFL’s rules for dominance since Patrick Mahomes took the helm. Five Super Bowl trips in seven years. Three rings. Losses so rare they feel like typos in their storybook run. But last February’s 40-22 drubbing by the Eagles? That wasn’t just a loss, it was a humiliation. Philly led 40-6 at one point, exposing cracks in the kingdom. For a QB who’s only tasted four postseason defeats – two OT heartbreaks and two Super Bowl blowouts, that third-quarter deficit might’ve been the largest Mahomes has ever stared down.

Now the football world is divided. Some, like Joe Theismann, see this as fuel for Mahomes’ next act. Others detect vulnerability. The discussion reached Saints QB Derek Carr recently when he was directly asked about Kansas City’s dynasty. His response – measured but telling – cut through the usual coach-speak with refreshing clarity about what sustains NFL success. The moment came during Derek Carr’s conversation with Starcade Media.

When asked about whether the Chiefs’ dynasty is over, Carr said, “What? Oh gosh. It’s anyone’s year every year. So gosh, no, not at all.” That offhand comment carried weight coming from a 12-year veteran who’d faced Mahomes eight times. Carr knew better than most how quickly fortunes change in the NFL.

The 34-year-old QB had just walked away from the game himself. On May 10, 2025, Carr retired after his right shoulder, battered by a labral tear and years of wear, finally demanded surrender. Doctors offered surgery, but the fire to compete had dimmed. Now, holding a golf club instead of a playbook, he reflected when asked about retirement life: “Oh, no, it’s fun to be out here with the fans… Nothing like it, you know, having this time together.” The man who once engineered fourth-quarter comebacks seemed at peace chasing birdies instead of TDs.

Yet his Chiefs assessment lingered. Carr had seen supposed dynasties rise and fall during his career. His “anyone’s year” line wasn’t a shot at Kansas City – just hard-earned wisdom. The same shoulder that ended his career reminded him daily: nothing lasts forever in football. Not even Mahomes’ magic.

Patrick Mahomes’ dynasty under scrutiny

There’s a peculiar tension in Kansas City these days. The kind that creeps in when a dynasty starts feeling the weight of its own success. Patrick Mahomes, the golden-armed magician who made the impossible look routine, just finished his “worst” season by his standards. Yet ‘worst’ still meant 15-2, another AFC title, and a Super Bowl trip. That’s the paradox of the Chiefs’ dominance: even their stumbles look like most teams’ peak.

But cracks don’t always announce themselves with a crash. Sometimes they whisper. Like when Mahomes told Kay Adams this offseason that last year’s grind felt joyless – winning because they should, not because they wanted to. For a QB who’s made half a billion dollars turning chaos into art, that admission hung in the air like an unanswered Hail Mary.

Craig Carton pounced. “It’s gonna be so enjoyable when this team has the inevitable crash,” he scoffed, already picturing the schadenfreude feast: “I’ve got a special bag of marshmallows… ready for the fall.” His cynicism isn’t baseless. History shows no empire escapes gravity – not Tom Brady’s Patriots, not Joe Montana’s 49ers. The Eagles’ 40-22 demolition in Super Bowl LIX wasn’t just a loss; it was a blueprint.

Yet what Carton misses is how dynasties evolve. The 2014 Patriots got shredded by Kansas City in Week 4, ‘On to Cincinnati!’ became their reboot mantra. Two months later, they hoisted the Lombardi. Mahomes doesn’t need warnings from pundits or Derek Carr’s polite skepticism. He’s got the Eagles’ tape, his own restless brilliance, and a division where the Broncos and Raiders are still digging out of decade-long funks.

The crash might come. Or maybe Mahomes, like all the greats, just needs a new mountain. Either way, the marshmallows can wait.