Chiefs know that defense wins championships

And what about those elite quarterbacks? Perhaps our memories should go back a bit farther before claiming that being without one is a death knell for your Super Bowl chances. The quarterbacks of the past two Super Bowl have been Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, and Russell Wilson. Two of those guys are locks for the Hall of Fame, and the other has been in two straight championship games and just inked a contract of almost $90 million. So there is quite a bit of star power there.

But if you go back just one more year, you will remember that the Super Bowl was played by the Ravens and 49ers. The quarterbacks for that games were Joe Flacco and Colin Kaepernick. Both of those players have been given big deals, but neither is a Hall of Fame lock, and neither is indisputably elite. The quarterback doesn’t tell the whole story.

Those teams were also backed by stout defenses. The Ravens were ranked 12th and the 49ers second in the league that year. And the two most recent Super Bowls saw the Seahawks ranked first in defense both years, and Patriots ranked eighth when they made it to the big game. The only outlier was the Broncos of two years ago, who were ranked 22nd.

So if you want to make it to the pinnacle of the NFL, it helps to have a great defense. . . in addition to a capable offense. Each of the Super Bowl winners of the past three seasons has also had a top ten offense – just like the Chiefs do now.

And even if the K.C. quarterback is not elite, he has been no slouch this season either. It has been noted how well Alex Smith has played during the resurgence over the last ten games. He has accumulated a career high in passing yards, rushing yards, and QBR. He has tied a career high in completion percentage, and has the highest quarterback rating of any full season he has played. Oh, and then there is the fact that he has been intercepted on only 1.5% of his passing attempts.

This is a defense first team with a smart and capable offense to hold its end of the bargain.

All of that leaves me feeling pretty good about my Chiefs. And with Justin Houston saying he will be coming back for the playoffs, there is no reason to believe K.C.  will take a step back when the pressure is on.

GO CHIEFS!!!