The Kansas City Chiefs’ season is over, a sad day for all of Chiefs Kingdom. The team lost in a close game against the reigning Super Bowl Champions, the New England Patriots. Whether you agree with how the game ended, that should be saved for a later debate, the fact remains that this team showed something that was missing the last few years: toughness.
They showed toughness for the 2015 season. At the beginning of the year there were high expectations for this team. They had key players on defense coming back. The addition of number one receiver Jeremy Maclin would hopefully revitalize a depleted receiving group. Quarterback Alex Smith would be in the third year, and his only time of having the same group of coaches for three years in a row. The fans base was excited, the ownership was excited, and this team was excited.
Then it happened.
The Chiefs started the year off right with a quick trip down south to take on the Houston Texans; they won the game 27-20. But the great feeling of winning would soon leave as they would find themselves on the bad end of a five-game losing streak. Sitting at 1-5 the team looked like they were destined to pick in the top five of the NFL Draft. Darkness came over the Kingdom and there were silent calls for head coach Andy Reid to be sent packing.
Then it happened.
Something changed with this team during their game with the Pittsburgh Steelers. The team started to gel together. Even without the help of Pro-Bowl star Jamaal Charles the Chiefs managed to find a way to beat a good Steelers team, minus Ben Roethlisberger, but still having stud receiver Antonio Brown; they ended up winning the game 23-13.
All of a sudden a team that looked dead in the water was winning games against, at least on paper, better teams. Perhaps the most memorable early win streak victim was the current AFC title game participant the Denver Broncos. They completely man-handled Denver, even picking off future Hall of Fame quarterback Peyton Manning four times, which eventually led to his being benched during the game. All of a sudden this team who just a few short weeks ago was labeled dead, was beating better teams.
When the smoke finally cleared the Chiefs had put together a 10-game win streak to finish the 2015 season and make it into the playoffs, for the second time in three years. It was during the familiar opponent in the Houston Texans the Chiefs showed exactly why they had won 10 games in a row, destroying them in a 30-0 rout. The team finally won a playoff game, the monkey on the back was gone and they were moving on. But, that joy was short lived as the Patriots got the victory, and KC was sent home after a remarkable season.
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