Chiefs 2015: Plenty of Super Bowl teams face adversity

You probably read the headline and started screaming that Matt Verderame is an idiot, because the Kansas City Chiefs are not a Super Bowl-caliber team. Maybe they are not, but I would be hesitant to conclude that because of the last two games.

There are a litany of examples of teams that played like garbage to start the season and then found their stride and never looked back. The 1968 New York Jets are a great example. New York started the season 3-2 with two horrific losses to the Buffalo Bills and Denver Broncos. Then the Jets got rolling, finished 11-3, went to the Super Bowl and pulled off one of the greatest upsets of all-time.

How about the 1969 Kansas City Chiefs? Kansas City lost Len Dawson in the second game of the campaign to a knee injury, knocking him out for more than a month. Then, the Chiefs lost in Week 3 to the Cincinnati Bengals, who were in their second year of existence, and watched backup quarterback Jacky Lee break his ankle. Somehow, the Chiefs were able to finish 11-3, beat the Jets and Oakland Raiders in the AFL playoffs, and then pounded the Minnesota Vikings.

A more recent example of these types of seasons include last year with both the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks. New England was 2-2 after the first four games and was so bad, that people were openly talking about putting Jimmy Garoppolo in for Tom Brady. Of course, the Patriots went onto a championship. The team they beat, Seattle, was 3-3 to start the year and looked horrific before finishing 12-4.

The point is this: the NFL has a short and yet very long season. The Chiefs look horrendous right now, but the saying it is darkest before the dawn exists for a reason. Kansas City might completely crash and burn and finish 6-10, but I would not bet on it. This is still a very talented team that if not for a turnover-filled meltdown, would be 2-1 and leading the AFC West.

Be pissed, be upset, but don’t be defeated.