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Direckshun · 01-31-2022, 12:33 PM

I do think Mathieu deserves his moment.

For the second half of 2019, Mathieu played at an All Pro level playing safety out of the slot. His leadership that Super Bowl season was so locker-room-consuming that he was named the Chiefs MVP that year by his teammates, not the Super Bowl MVP quarterback who lit the league on fire. We know, thanks to players themselves testifying to this, that the noise a locker room leader can make in keeping his teammates accountable can outpace what a coach can do. And his organization of the secondary was so absurdly strong, Spags skated by for three years on shoestring budgets at corner.

And to be honest, I liked having a guy on the team that new players are incredibly jacked to meet and play with, like Willie Gay is here at 0:47.

I remember for years begging the Chiefs to have a defense that played with attitude. And I remember thinking, like 10 weeks into 2019, watching Mathieu bark at cameramen saying "KEEP THE CAMERA ON ME," and getting stoic nerds like Dan Sorensen on board with the helmet-pointing gesture after making that killer stop on the Texans fake punt... the guy is a locker room maestro, and his play on the field went from elite to a lot better in 2021 than many of us are willing to admit. We rarely saw Mathieu get roasted in coverage -- but the talent at CB has been so sketchy this year that Mathieu has had to hang back rather than playing more aggressively at the line of scrimmage.

At the same time, he is probably the most toxic player to the fanbase we've ever had, regardless of all his great volunteer work that he legitimately deserves credit for. He's also the rare smart player that plays extremely hot, so while his passion can ignite the entire back seven to raise their game, when he emotionally falls apart, like he did in this game and against Brady in the Super Bowl, the defense comes apart with him.

We've been very lucky to have him. His time here is probably justified in ending. Both of those things can be true.

01-31-2022, 12:33 PM	#51
Direckshun __ Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Springpatch	I do think Mathieu deserves his moment. For the second half of 2019, Mathieu played at an All Pro level playing safety out of the slot. His leadership that Super Bowl season was so locker-room-consuming that he was named the Chiefs MVP that year by his teammates, not the Super Bowl MVP quarterback who lit the league on fire. We know, thanks to players themselves testifying to this, that the noise a locker room leader can make in keeping his teammates accountable can outpace what a coach can do. And his organization of the secondary was so absurdly strong, Spags skated by for three years on shoestring budgets at corner. And to be honest, I liked having a guy on the team that new players are incredibly jacked to meet and play with, like Willie Gay is here at 0:47. I remember for years begging the Chiefs to have a defense that played with attitude. And I remember thinking, like 10 weeks into 2019, watching Mathieu bark at cameramen saying "KEEP THE CAMERA ON ME," and getting stoic nerds like Dan Sorensen on board with the helmet-pointing gesture after making that killer stop on the Texans fake punt... the guy is a locker room maestro, and his play on the field went from elite to a lot better in 2021 than many of us are willing to admit. We rarely saw Mathieu get roasted in coverage -- but the talent at CB has been so sketchy this year that Mathieu has had to hang back rather than playing more aggressively at the line of scrimmage. At the same time, he is probably the most toxic player to the fanbase we've ever had, regardless of all his great volunteer work that he legitimately deserves credit for. He's also the rare smart player that plays extremely hot, so while his passion can ignite the entire back seven to raise their game, when he emotionally falls apart, like he did in this game and against Brady in the Super Bowl, the defense comes apart with him. We've been very lucky to have him. His time here is probably justified in ending. Both of those things can be true.
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