Chiefs Kingdom erupts as Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid get caught in catchphrase controversy

The controversy relates to the Chiefs’ upturn in form in the closing stages of the regular season

The Kansas City Chiefs’ Andy Reid finds himself wrapped in controversy after a former player for the franchise hit out at Chase Daniel after he declared they are “peaking at the right time” following their victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Daniel said Reid swears by the “don’t peak too soon” attitude to sport, and the former quarterback believes this philosophy is now in play as the Chiefs improve to 15-1 after 17 games of football.

A comfortable 29-10 triumph over the now 10-6 Steelers saw Patrick Mahomes toss for 320 yards and three touchdowns from 38 attempts, whilst he avoided being sacked and didn’t throw an interception either.

More good news came their way too with another encouraging performance from the returning Hollywood Brown, whilst Travis Kelce got his third touchdown of the 2024/25 NFL season on December 25.

However, Mitchell Schwartz sternly disagrees with the application of “don’t peak too soon” in the Chiefs’ context as he insists that’s not actually what the phrase means.

That’s a total misrepresentation of the saying,” Schwartz, who played for the organization from 2016-2020, wrote to X.com (formerly Twitter). “‘Don’t peak too soon’, during a Saturday night speech, is about not wasting energy before the game.”
Daniel then tried to play it down by clarifying he was actually talking about the upcoming 2025/26 NFL season although Schwartz didn’t buy it and said he wasn’t invalidating Daniel’s own experience with Reid, who he played under at the Philadelphia Eagles.