The Kansas City Chiefs have made it to the AFC championship five years in a row and now they have won two Super Bowl’s in four years. It is quite an accomplishment. Many people, including myself, wondered how the Chiefs would function when Tyreek Hill was traded the last off season. Well, the chips are in. No Tyreek, no problem. Patrick Mahomes showed his brilliance as a quarterback throughout the season. He routinely connected with nine or more receivers in almost every game. He was a team first individual and adjusted his game to the roster around him.
The Chiefs Super Bowl victory is remarkable. At the beginning of the season, the Chiefs were not thought of as a legitimate contender. They had to rebuild their secondary after losing their starting outside corners to free agency. They not only lost Hill, but they also lost Byron Pringle and Demarcus Robinson in free agency. The AFC West changed last off season as well. Davante Adams went to Vegas to play with his old college quarterback. Russell Wilson moved to Denver and Justin Herbert was a year older. None of it mattered. The Chiefs overcame and overwhelmed all expectations to come away with a massive Super Bowl victory in Phoenix.
The Kansas City rookies contributed greatly throughout the season as well as in the Super Bowl. Isiah Pacheco is not just a lightning-fast runner, but he will also beat, bash and batter into defenders. His longest run of the night was 24 yards occurring on only his second carry. His run helped set up the first Chief’s touchdown. Pacheco finished the day with a touchdown and 76 yards on the ground on just 15 carries. Sky Moore touched the ball twice and scored a touchdown. Trent McDuffie, Bryan Cook, Leo Chenal, Joshua Williams and Jaylen Watson all had multiple tackles each. Chenal accounted for six total tackles and a sack. McDuffie forced a fumble. On the defensive line George Karlaftis played meaningful snaps and secured a tackle as well. Brett Veach had the best draft of the year. He didn’t have the offensive and defensive rookie of the year like the Jets, but he did have eight rookies register a tackle in the Super Bowl. He also had two rookies contribute significantly on offense to the Super Bowl victory.
Veach’s mastery didn’t stop with the draft. This off season he brought in Ju Ju Smith-Schuster, Marquez Valdes-Scantling and midway thru the season he traded for Kadarius Toney. Veach brought in experienced veteran receivers and a lightening talent to round out the players around Patrick Mahomes. At different portions of the season Ju Ju or MVS would step up and make big plays. Ju Ju Smith-Schuster gathered the most receptions on Super Bowl Sunday. MVS was a meaningful decoy. Toney caught one ball for a touchdown and then returned a punt for 65 yards setting a Super Bowl record. That punt set up a score for the Chiefs. Mahomes had just finished a four-minute drive to put the Chiefs ahead by a point. The defense pitched a rare three and out. Then, Toney catches the punt, finds his wall of blockers and raced up the sideline to the Eagles five-yard line. A few players later and the Chiefs were up 35 to 27.
The three and out followed by the Toney punt return is one of the critical points in the game. However, there are a few others. The first critical point in the game occurred when the Chiefs forced the Eagles to punt during their second offensive possession. Though the Chiefs did not capitalize on the forced punt, they did prevent the Eagles from scoring. The second critical moment in the game occurred when Jalen Hurts fumbled the ball five yards deep in the back field, and Nick Bolton picked it up and ran it 36 yards for a touchdown. At that point in the game, the Chiefs were a bit on their heels. They were down 14-7 and had just punted the ball. The Eagles were on a drive and the Chiefs defense stepped up to the plate and made a vital play.
The third critical point in the game occurred when the Chiefs started the third quarter with the ball. Down 24 to 14, the Chiefs needed to score. Andy Reid dialed up the plays and Mahomes and company executed them. Seven running plays and just three pass plays occurred on this drive. One of the running plays was a pass play that broke down and Mahomes took off for 14 yards putting the Chiefs on the Eagles 4-yard line. Two plays later, Pacheco drove the ball in for six. The fourth critical point occurred when the Chiefs held the Eagles next drive to scoring only three points making the score 21 to 27. The three and out followed by the 65-yard punt is the fifth critical point in the game. The last critical point in the game came on first down during the Chiefs last drive of the game. With 2:55 left to go, Patrick Mahomes drops back to pass and is pressured. He pulls the ball down and runs 26 yards for a first down. Mahomes had re-aggravated his high ankle sprain right before half time. He was playing in pain. Yet, when the chips were down, and he needed to make a play, he ran 26 yards to put the Chiefs in position to win the game. Mahomes was clutch.
Coach Andy Reid made some great adjustments at half time. First, he committed to running the football in the second half. He was nifty with his run plays as well. He ran from the shot gun, under center and he even lined Jerick McKinnon up in the fullback position, feeding him the ball for yardage. The next big adjustment occurred in the pass game. Of note, the Chiefs scored on every possession in the second half. Two drives in a row Coach Reid ran the same play but to opposite sides of the field. The first time he lined Toney up to the left on the outside of a slot receiver. At the snap of the football, Toney ran his route towards the quarterback on the line of scrimmage, then juked back towards the sideline coming open in the flat for an easy pitch and catch in the endzone. During the next drive, Coach Reid called the same play to Sky Moore on the opposite side of the field, and it resulted in a touchdown as well.
Halftime was critical for the Chiefs. Though Mahomes and Travis Kelce made several big plays, the offense and defense spent the first half making uncharacteristic mistakes on the line of scrimmage. In the second half both lines of scrimmage dominated the game. Of note, the Eagles failed to sack Patrick Mahomes, whereas the Chiefs sacked Hurts twice. The defensive line resolved to contain Hurts in the second half while the offensive line continuously blew the Eagles defensive line off the ball in the run game. The Chiefs outrushed the Eagles gaining 158 yards. Patrick Mahomes was much more efficient than Hurts connecting on 21 of 27 passes versus 27 of 38 passes. Jalen Hurts played a great game. He rushed for 70 yards and three touchdowns while throwing for 304 yards and a touchdown. Devonta Smith, AJ Brown and Dallas Goedert all played at a high-level as they had all season. However, the game came down to six critical points that resulted in a Chiefs victory.
This game is special to Coach Andy Reid. He was the Eagles coach for 14 years and had taken them to five NFC Championships and one Super Bowl, however he never achieved the ultimate victory. The Eagles organization let him go and now the rest is history.
The future is bright for the Chiefs. All their rookies contributed in a meaningful way. They are not overloaded on the salary cap. Patrick Mahomes is only 27. In his six years with the Chiefs, he has won two Super Bowl Rings and two MVP awards. He is also the first player since Kurt Warner in 1999 to win the regular season MVP as well as the Super Bowl MVP award in the same season. Patrick Mahomes’s work ethic fuels his accomplishments. During the last off season, he took the whole receiving room down to Texas and taught them the offense. He helped get the ready for training camp. He is a team first individual and that is attractive to other players around the league. Mahomes and Reid will be the reason the Chief’s continue to succeed. We all look forward the Chiefs adding more trophies to their case. On to the next season!
