Have other great teams been able to “cruise” to wide margin victories?
Even great teams like the 1979 Pittsburgh Steelers played six games that were decided by fours point or less, a season which included four losses. On rare occasion a great team does cruise to victory but not for long. The 15-and-1, 1985 Chicago Bears, only played four games all year that had victory margins of less than 10 points and they only allowed 10 total points in the playoffs, including a 36 point margin of victory in the Super Bowl. However, most Champions don’t win this way and the next year (1986) the Bears had six wins by a margin of six points or less and were ousted in the first round of the playoffs by double-digits.
This Kansas City team has… the competitor’s quell… but not… the cruiser’s mentality. However, if a team is not going to win going away each week, to be a champion they need to have the competitor’s quell: the ability to do just enough to subdue their opponents in the end. Experience at key positions makes that kind of winning a possibility.
That may be because during games, they are more like a prize-fighter who will “Out-box” a foe to win in a decision… instead of a slugger who will “Knock-out” their opponent decisively.
The 2015 Kansas City Chiefs are reminiscent of a runner who I knew in track. He could run a 49-flat 440. However, it wasn’t so much that he was fast… it’s that he was faster than everyone else when he needed to be. He did whatever he had to do on meet days, to win the race. He would always run just fast enough to win.
Fans should not underestimate the value of knowing how to win a squeaker. The… having-been-there and having-done-that… confidence, grows out those experiences. These Chiefs are quite capable of going into the playoffs and remaining cool, calm and collected, even if they fall behind early, then pulling it out late if they can keep it close.
Let’s not forget that teams are made up of mortal creatures. Not mythic characters… but people with the fragile human capacity for pain and delight as well as hope and discouragement… just like any of us. This year’s team tells that story better than any team in recent decades of memory.
2015 saw… Derrick Johnson coming back from an Achilles tendon injury, an injury that Herman Edwards says 20 years ago would have ended a player’s career. Derrick Johnson is likable for other reasons, one of which is his treatment of… the ghosts of coaches and players past. In DJ’s many interviews he consistently will avoid saying anything untoward about those he’s played with before. In fact, he is often complementary in his calm responses while completely judicious and fair minded with what could be considered controversial questions.
2015 saw… Andy Reid have a knee replacement surgery and nobody talks about it. I also had one this past year and I can tell you it has not been easy to deal with… but here’s Andy, mentioning it once and only once, and then focusing on the greater good of the team.
2015 saw… that in the midst of a nine game winning streak, the team lost it’s best offensive player and it’s best defensive player (Jamaal Charles and Justin Houston)… and no one is hanging their head or making excuses. In fact, when the team was down with a 1-and-5 record, no one was blaming each other either.
2015 saw… Mike DeVito fully recover from the same injury as Derrick Johnson and forming a bond with him by working out together every day… something which exemplifies this “team.”
2015 saw… the team grow and mature with players who have made a huge difference between this season’s and last season’s Chiefs. Players… err, people… like: Marcus Peters, Jaye Howard, Travis Kelce, Dee Ford, Mitch Morse, Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, Albert Wilson, Charcandrick West, Spencer Ware, Eric Fisher and Jah Reid. Marcus Peter’s reputation is growing so rapidly that NFL.com analyst Brian Baldinger calls him, “The Kansas City Thief.”
2015 saw… Alex Smith and Andy Reid become the winning-est QB and coach in the history of the Kansas City Chiefs organization… in their first three years with the team. I’m also guessing they won’t be personally blowing their horns about that either. It reflects the high caliber and formidable character of the “people” that John Dorsey has brought into this locker room.
2015 saw… Eric Berry’s rise from the grave. No, literally. Then, he did so with incredible grace, intestinal fortitude and unwavering courage. Do you know of anyone else who’s been diagnosed with a Cancer such as Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and come back to play a professional sport… at an All-star level within a 10 month span? The day Berry came back I thought… his presence is worth a Lombardi trophy. It was a life-affirming victory.
The NFL should re-name the Comeback Player of the Year Award, “The E.B. Award,” and give all future recipients a “Berry Trophy” made in his likeness, as far as I’m concerned. His story will forever be that personally moving, as well as an awakening for his teammates.
This year’s team story is also told through their struggles to win early, and their overcoming by creating a long and enduring streak of victories.
Next: A Pattern of Victory in 2015?