What is the best recipe to beat Patrick Mahomes? On Christmas Day, the Raiders executed a plan that made Mahomes practically human. The Raiders and Chiefs met on Christmas Day and it was the Vegas defense that sacked Mahomes 4 times and landed 10 QB hits on the three time Superbowl Champion. The plan was hatched at the time by the Interim Head Coach of the Raiders, Antonio Pierce. Perhaps this plan cemented his status of landing the full time gig for years to come as Head Coach of the Raiders. The Raiders would win the game. The Raiders defense even scored two touchdowns in that Christmas Day game to add salt to the wounds of the bag of coal in all the Chiefs’ stockings. So how did Pierce do it?

The first thing was to bore the hatred of the color red in all of the Raiders’ brain cells. The Chiefs color. Antonio Pierce used the Detroit Pistons Bad Boys teams of the 1980’s to mold the minds of his defense. The present day of the NFL, Patrick Mahomes has his own set of rules while the rest of the NFL follow another set. On the hardwood floor of the NBA, Michael Jordan had his own set of rules and the rest of the league had their own. Before Jordan won a six pack of championship rings, the Pistons were a thorn in his side back then preventing Airness from taking off temporary. It was no lie back then that the Bulls could not get past the Pistons. Back then, the NBA played a physical game unlike now how the defense can’t touch the offense or even breathe around the shooters. The Bad Boys Pistons that featured the likes of Dennis Rodman, Joe Dumars, John Salley, Rick Mahorn, Isiah Thomas, and the hated Bill Laimbeer. They made Jordan think about every time he took the ball down the hole of the hardwood court in those playoff series.

The Bad Boys mugged Michael Jordan, hitting him hard every time he drove to the basket. Hard fouls consisted of elbows to the ribs. Whacked in the face. Maybe a few rabbit punches to the kidneys. It wouldn’t surprise me if Laimbeer whacked the Bulls superstar right in the nuts. The Raiders were watching the old basketball highlights of the old days on the hardwood to insert the punishment they needed to dish out against the new public enemy number 1, Patrick Mahomes, since Tom Brady retired

Have you ever seen the movies called The Dirty Dozen? The plot of these movies was set around World War II as they made two Dirty Dozen flicks. The Americans and the Allied forces needed certain missions completed. Missions that these 12 expendables would complete to get their freedom or die trying to be free. These 12 men were incarcerated by the military for crimes they committed while serving their country. I have constructed my list of my dirty dozen to complete its mission in stopping Patrick Mahomes and driving Travis Kelce into the ground. Kelce and his girl, Taylor Swift, have grown even more annoying each game. If that is possible. Since football has only 11 players on each side of the ball, I call it my Dirty 11 rag tag bunch. These are all guys in the AFC because Mahomes has done it to his own conference over and over as these guys lived the pain. The heart break of defeat by number 15. Some of these guys had some success versus Mahomes in past games. I put them all together to create my Dirty 11 defense to end Mahomes’ dynasty for good. I start off in the secondary.

THE SECONDARY:

I have two corner backs, one on each side of the field. I hate Jalen Ramsey. I’ve read that Patrick Mahomes hates facing Ramsey, who last year was playing for the Dolphins. Ramsey also has played for the Jaguars. Sometimes you need to make friends with an enemy to meet a common goal of stopping Patrick Mahomes.

Sauce Gardner of the Jets is one of the best defensive backs in the league. First of all, a guy with the first name Sauce has to be hot sauce to the opponents. In two seasons, Sauce is already a premiere shut down corner back in the NFL. Let’s take away Mahomes’ best weapon with his coverage.

Derwin James Jr. and Justin Simmons have lived in the same division as Patrick Mahomes for years. Both safeties. Simmons suits up for the Broncos and has the most interceptions all-time against Mahomes with 5. Then Derwin James Jr. can cover Travis Kelce if needed. He once stopped Kelce short of the goal line when the Chargers and Chiefs squared off in a week 3 match up in 2021. He made a hell of a stick on number 87. He’s built like a linebacker with the speed of a defensive back.

MY LINEBACKERS

I like my line backers being three guys that are bone crushers. I can hear them cracking the Mahomes wish bone & snapping him like a twig. Lets start with Roquan Smith of the Ravens, a guy that played like an animal in the second half of the AFC Championship between the Chiefs and Ravens weeks ago. Smith is a tackling machine. He is a guy you can use in coverage and can blitz with the best of them. He will eventually track you down even if you are across the field. Smith gets his man. He’s good at stopping the run. That AFC Championship he was amped up at a higher level if the Ravens offense could have scored more than 17 points. The Baltimore Ravens could have easily won that game as they pitched a shut out in the entire second half.

I have my second New York Jets player on this defense because of the energy Quincy Williams brings to the table. He had 95 solo tackles this past season. Williams has played 5 seasons in the NFL as he started his career as a Jaguar his first two seasons. When he arrived in New York, he has been a valuable line backer for gang green making their unit one of the best in the NFL.

Matt Milano is a play maker at the line backer position. The Bills missed his play in the playoffs versus the Chiefs in the divisional round. Milano only played 5 games last season due to a season ending injury in the London game. Could Milano have made a difference in a one score game? In seven seasons, he has 10 interceptions. He is good in coverage. He can be effective on the blitz as another guy who can stop players in their tracks with good tackling skills.

MY DEFENSIVE LINE

Cameron Heyward from the Pittsburgh Steelers is the beast in the middle of this defensive line. The son of former Saints running back Iron Head Craig Heyward, my favorite New Orleans Saints player of all-time.

Cameron is my guy to get pressure up the middle on Patrick Mahomes and company. He’s a guy that will clog up the middle and stop the run.

I selected Denico Autry, normally an edge rusher, who last year played for the Titans. Autry is a former Colt and Raider. He had 11.5 sacks last year as a Titan. I want him next to Heyward in the middle of this Dirty 11 defense. He can dabble on the edge as well because of his history. He has 59 career sacks and has multiple sacks on Mahomes. He’s on my team, most definitely.

LIVING ON THE EDGE

These two cats are my two most important pieces of my defense. I would love to see Maxx Crosby and Trey Hendrickson just put the Malachi crunch on the Chiefs quarterback.

Trey Hendrickson had 17.5 sacks last season with 3 forced fumbles. In seven seasons, he has tallied 59.5 sacks. Hendrickson and Denico Autry have sacked Mahomes more than once. Hendrickson has been on the Bengals and they have given the Chiefs losses. They have also beaten Mahomes and company in the post-season.

The player that Patrick Mahomes hates playing against the most is Mad Maxx Crosby. Crosby has gotten to Mahomes the most out of any other player in the NFL in sacks. Crosby had 14.5 sacks last season. He has tallied 52 sacks in 5 seasons all with the Raiders.

Maxx Crosby is Archer Maggott played by Telly Savalas in the original Dirty Dozen movie. Sometimes you need crazy to complete the mission in hopes of ending the Chiefs dynasty. Now if only a team could make all the deals to get these guys on the same defensive unit to play Patrick Mahomes and company. The Dirty 11 would get the job done. In the second mission and next on the list, is that weasel Jake from State farm. The award is all the Nuggies you can eat. Freedom or Nuggies? Your choice.