After a second close loss to a Super Bowl caliber opponent here are five steps the Kansas City Chiefs need to follow to become true Super Bowl contenders.
For the second time this season the Kansas City Chiefs lost an epic primetime showdown with one of the NFL’s elite teams. The 54-51 loss to the Los Angeles Rams may have been one of the best games of all time, but for Chiefs fans, it was just a turbocharged version of their loss to the New England Patriots earlier this season. The Chiefs shouldn’t be ashamed of either loss, but I do believe they need to learn from them if they want to have a realistic shot to win the Super Bowl this season.
Before I get into what I believe they need to do to become a true Super Bowl contender I want to acknowledge the fact that the Chiefs are good enough to have this conversation in Patrick Mahomes first season as a starting quarterback. We all had high hopes for the Chiefs with their new prodigy of a quarterback but I’m not sure any of us thought that over Thanksgiving we’d be having valid discussions about what this team needs to do in order to win a Super Bowl this year.
Last week I wrote that the winner of the Chiefs/Rams game would establish themselves as a legit Super Bowl contender and the loser would have to come to terms with the fact that they had lost their two biggest games of the season. I still believe that. With that win, the Rams have established themselves (along with the New Orleans Saints) as the two clear powers in the NFC and it sure feels likely that one of those two teams will be playing in the Super Bowl. The Chiefs, on the other hand, need to acknowledge that they are coming up just a little short against the truly elite teams.
Like I mentioned in my piece last week I think you have to factor this team’s previous playoff disappointments into the equation as well. You have a team, and maybe more importantly, a coach that has a history of coming up short in the playoffs and now in the two biggest games of the year they have come up just short as well. The good news for Chiefs fans is that given their remaining schedule the Chiefs have an excellent chance of keeping home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. That advantage alone may be enough to get the Chiefs to the Super Bowl in the AFC. After all, I think you could make a decent argument that if the games against the Patriots or Rams had been in Arrowhead it would have been enough to tip the scales in Kansas City’s favor.
So it’s not out of line to say that the Chiefs could potentially make the Super Bowl without changing a thing. That’s how good they are. While making a Super Bowl in Patrick Mahomes first season would certainly be a great accomplishment it isn’t the ultimate goal. That is to actually win the Super Bowl and right now as the Chiefs stand, I couldn’t rationally pick them to beat either the Saints or Rams in the Super Bowl. However, I do believe there are just a couple of adjustments they could make that could change that.
That brings me to my five steps.
Let’s start off with the one that is driving me (and likely the coaching staff) absolutely crazy.