WHY WORRY ABOUT THE CHIEFS AND MAHOMES WHEN A TOP RECEIVER IS ARRIVING?

DeAndre Hopkins is the latest savior for a quarterback who has career passing lows but happens to be 6-0, which lets us focus on his wild multitude of ads, such as a “Bundle Rooski” bit with Andy Reid

     The commercials overwhelm his eight interceptions and career passing lows. When the topic is Patrick Mahomes, all we care about are his interactions with Snoop Dogg, Jake the State Farm guy and “Tiny Troy” Polamalu. Or when Andy Reid says it’s “more fun to say Bundle Rooski,” leading to a superwacky interlude when the coach blurts, “Bundle Rooski, Bundle Rooski, Bundle Rooooooski, Bundle Rooski Doo!”

     “Yeah, yeah. I’m not gonna say that,” Mahomes says.

     His endorsement ventures, as the Face Of The NFL, continue to come first in October when representing 17 companies. He’s also 6-0 this year, even as fantasy players scan his waning statistics — only six touchdown tosses and 231.5 passing yards per game — and think about dropping him. People who gamble on invented teams? Let’s assume they have bigger life problems than anything Mahomes is facing.

     Besides, Reid and general manager Brett Veach have a way of addressing issues in Kansas City, which explains why the Chiefs are eyeing the league’s first championship three-peat since Green Bay in 1968. The bosses realize star receiver Rashee Rice is out for the season, Hollywood Brown is lost with a shoulder injury, and JuJu Smith-Schuster will miss time with a hamstring injury. Travis Kelce? Not only does he have a new face and haircut — who ordered this weird frontal work? — but his production has slipped as a dynamic-duo target. Running back Isiah Pacheco is gone with a fractured fibula.

     So, here comes DeAndre Hopkins in a potent trade with Tennessee. Reid can do his Bundle Rooskis forever if the team’s latest deal works out. Hopkins is the No. 1 wideout and will help Mahomes pursue his fourth Super Bowl title. Still an elite receiver, he has suffered quarterback quandaries — an injury to Kyler Murray in Arizona, the comedown of Will Levis with the Titans — and should awaken in his final contractual season. The Baltimore Ravens could have used him as another weapon for Lamar Jackson, who again resembles a regular-season MVP. But what is his postseason record?

     Two victories, four losses.

     And can’t we see the Chiefs, with early home-field advantage in the AFC, ramrodding Jackson into another dismal offseason? Derrick Henry matters, but Mahomes might have enough in Hopkins, Xavier Worthy, Justin Watson, Mecole Hardman and, at some point, a resurrected Kelce. Two rings were won without Tyreek Hill, who broke down when he saw concussion-tortured Tua Tagovailoa practice this week. By spending $5.5 million, the Chiefs let the Titans pick up the remaining $2.5 million. These are the deals to be remembered if another parade happens.

     “I think the biggest thing is just getting with the coaches. The coaches do a great job of getting guys up to speed, and you've seen that already,” Mahomes said Wednesday. “I just try to be on the same page as the guys that are in there. I think the biggest thing for me is getting on that page as quickly as possible. Bringing new guys in — that’s part of the NFL.”

     Said Reid, kiddingly: “I’m hush on that. I know nothing.”

     Davante Adams would have been fun, but he chose a trade to the New York Jets. It didn’t take him long, after a loss in Pittsburgh, to realize his team’s cultural wreckage. “Obviously, there was a lack of energy and urgency out there. It was apparent,” he said. “I’ve played on teams that have that winning culture. Basically, I took a moment to let them know. I had reservations about speaking up too early and being too vocal too early, but in my mind, I said ‘F that’ because we don’t have time. I’ve got to do whatever I’ve got to do to help this team move forward. I wouldn’t have been able to sleep if I didn’t speak up on it.”

     Let him fade with Aaron Rodgers. Mahomes and Reid have created keen chemistry that makes the most of newcomers. The Chiefs pondered a trade for Cooper Kupp but didn’t want a high salary. Why bother when Hopkins’ new teammates love him, knowing he caught 75 passes for 1,057 yards and seven touchdowns last year?

     “Let’s gooooooooo,” Chris Jones tweeted.

     “Let’s get it GANG!!” Smith-Schuster wrote.

     Hopkins posted a shot of his family dancing to “22,” by Taylor Swift.

     In an otherwise middling conference, the Chiefs are disturbed only by the Ravens. The Super Bowl won’t feature the San Francisco 49ers this time and might involve the Detroit Lions. Write these numbers down: Mahomes has an 82.5 passer rating, 10 points below his digits last season, and he has thrown interceptions on 4.3 percent of his passes, which smacks of Brett Favre territory. He is responsible for 22 picks in his last 22 regular-season games.

     To that, I say Bundle Rooski.

     ###

     Jay Mariotti, called “without question the most impacting Chicago sportswriter of the past quarter-century,’’ writes general sports columns for Substack while appearing on some of the 1,678,498 podcasts and shows in production today. He is an accomplished columnist, TV panelist and talk/podcast host. Living in Los Angeles, he gravitated by osmosis to film projects.