It has to be difficult for Chicago Bears fans to watch Patrick Mahomes make all the NFL history he's made during his first six seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs.
The Bears, of course, had their chance at Mahomes with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft but instead opted to select Mitchell Trubisky, a choice that obviously didn't work out as they hoped.
Chicago's loss was undoubtedly Kansas City's gain, as the Chiefs have gotten more than they ever could have dreamed of when they traded up to take Mahomes at No. 10.
In just six years, Mahomes is already a two-time NFL MVP, a two-time Super Bowl champion, a two-time Super Bowl MVP, a five-time Pro Bowler, a three-time All-Pro, and has set several NFL records.
It's this same type of success that the Bears hoped Justin Fields could achieve when they drafted the Ohio State superstar with the 11th overall pick in 2021. And while I suppose there's technically still a chance that could happen, it looks more likely that Fields' career will look more like Trubisky's than that of Mahomes.
Sure, Fields has set some NFL records of his own. But he's still nowhere near the passer he needs to be, and overall, the bad outweighs the good in his game. And while most Bears fans seemed okay with giving him a year or two to develop, many are starting to turn on him, and some have even called for Chicago to just go ahead and move on from yet another first-round quarterback.
And coming off double-digit losses to the Green Bay Packers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers to start the 2023 season, the Monsters of the Midway now have to travel to Kansas City for a Week 3 matchup with the defending champion Chiefs.
So not only will Bears fans be forced to watch Fields attempt to snap the longest losing streak in franchise history against a team allowing the third-fewest points in the NFL, but they also have to watch Mahomes -- aka the one that got away -- do what he does against a defense that's allowed the second-most points in the league.
Simply put, this game won't be close. But at least it features an interesting little piece of NFL history.
The Chiefs-Bears Week 3 matchup will include some NFL history involving Patrick Mahomes and Justin Fields
So, exactly how bad have things been for the Bears since Justin Fields took over as QB1? Pretty bad.
In the 27 games the former Buckeye has started, Chicago has gone 5-22, giving Justin Fields the worst career winning percentage (.185) of any quarterback with at least 25 regular-season starts since the NFL-AFL merger in 1970.
On the flip side, Patrick Mahomes has gone 65-17 (.793) in the regular season as the Chiefs' starter, giving him the highest winning percentage of any NFL quarterback to start his career after the merger.
What that means is that Sunday afternoon's Chiefs-Bears matchup will be the first to feature the signal-caller with the highest and lowest winning percentages.
But that's not all.
The game will also be the first in NFL history to feature a quarterback who threw for 5,000 yards during the previous season and one who rushed for 1,000 yards the previous season. Mahomes threw for a career-high 5,250 yards in 2022, while Fields accounted for 1,143 yards on the ground.
At least that second one shows Fields in a positive light.
But make no mistake about it. There won't be a lot of positives for Fields and the Bears on Sunday, especially with Mahomes having a little extra motivation to annihilate the team that passed on him six and a half years ago.