The Kansas City Chiefs run to Super Bowl LIV was one for the history books. Let’s look back at this group of champions and reminisce on some of the greatest moments down the stretch.
"This is why we’re here, dog! You remember that stretch we had in September and October? We knew what team we was, dog! All we had to do was believe in each other and play for each other! I watched a lot of y’all drop y’all pride this year, dog! I watched a lot of people step up, big time players. That’s what we need today, we need energy, we need oneness. We need to be remembered! Let’s go! – Tyrann Mathieu‘s (Super Bowl pregame speech)"
Immortality. The ability to live forever, even after you have physically passed on from this life. It’s a philosophical prospect in life, finding its place in discussions mostly carried on by those of religious presuppositions.
The other place it is often discussed is in sports, often at the end of a season when a player’s or team’s exploits are compared with those from past years and generations now long gone. To obtain a seat at this table of discussion, you must first do something special. You must be a champion. Every member of the 2019 Kansas City Chiefs has just achieved that very requirement.
With 11 minutes and 57 seconds left to go, it didn’t seem this ending was probable. The Chiefs offense had fought valiantly, but their normally precise general had made some uncharacteristic mistakes. Some weren’t surprised. After all, the 49ers defense was one of the best in the league and arguably the best the Chiefs had faced all season. Down the same number of points they had scored in the prior 48 minutes and 3 seconds, the incredible 2019 season seemed on the doorstep of defeat.
Yet the once maligned Chiefs defense stared in the face of competitive death and determined itself unwilling to be overcome. Frank Clark would later recall how angry it had made him seeing the 49ers players celebrating on the sideline, prematurely. With 11 minutes and 57 seconds left, the Niners defense would make what appeared a game sealing interception. The sideline’s jubilation was apparent; they thought they had won the game.
With an undying belief of destiny that had formed amongst the Chiefs locker room early in the team’s late-season winning streak, now spilling over the threshold of the player’s minds in the team’s darkest moments, Clark let the 49ers offense know what he thought. They’d be going home disappointed.
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"The Chiefs, with 10 minutes and 20 seconds and counting. This is a critical drive for them right now, obviously they have to make a stop. They have to make a stop right now! – Troy Aikman"
The 49ers, a vaunted offense in their own right, would never score again. A Chiefs defense that was an embarrassment a year prior, retooled in every way imaginable, would do everything Chiefs Kingdom could have asked for and more. A league MVP, subdued for three and a half quarters but his iron will still resolute, along with his cohort of talented skill players would unleash one of the greatest scoring onslaughts in Super Bowl history.
As the final seconds ticked away and the red and gold confetti began to rain on the field at Hard Rock Stadium, it was finally clear how special this 2019 Chiefs team is, was and forever will be regarded. Andy Reid, Patrick Mahomes, Clark Hunt, and a host of other Chiefs would raise the Lombardi Trophy thanks to legendary feats throughout the year and playoffs.
Obviously, the Chiefs late season push for their first Super Bowl victory in 50 years makes this the most memorable season in decades. That goes without saying. However, there are a handful of reasons why this particular run is so memorable aside from the championship.
The Comeback, Part I
You can’t get far into the story of the Super Bowl LIV champions without talking about the historic comeback in their first playoff game. The Chiefs, huge benefactors of a scrappy Miami Dolphins team shocking the New England Patriots at home in week 17, were gifted a bye and the two-seed headed into the playoffs. There was almost no question they were going to return to the AFC Championship game, this time presumably against the hottest team all season in the Baltimore Ravens.
This sentiment was likely what contributed to the initial divisional round nightmare. With 10:54 left in the second quarter, once the early season favorites to win the Super Bowl, the Chiefs found themselves in what appeared an inescapable hole. The Texans had rattled off three straight touchdowns and a field goal to make the score an embarrassing 24-0.
It’s possible this was the pivotal moment in the Chiefs Super Bowl run. Patrick Mahomes, with his team’s back literally on the edge of a towering cliff, fired at his teammates to “do something special!” While he may have believed in his heart they could, it’s doubtful he understood just how special the next 10 minutes would be.
With ice in their veins, the Chiefs offense and defense went to work. The defense clamped down on the Texans offense, holding them scoreless the rest of the quarter. The offense, aided by some critical plays from special teams, would score four straight touchdowns to take the lead. With this stretch, the Chiefs became the first team in NFL history to trail by twenty points in a half and enter halftime with the lead. It didn’t stop there.
In the second half, the Chiefs defense would continue to grind away at the Texans offense holding them to seven points the rest of the game. In response, the Chiefs offense would break the post season record for consecutive touchdowns scored with seven.
Ultimately, the Chiefs would finish the game on a 51-7 scoring run that would put the other teams in the playoffs on notice. They’d become the first team in NFL history to trail by 20 points and win the game by 20 points. Yet, as amazing as this game was it was only the beginning.
The Run, and Patrick Mahomes evolution as a dual threat
After Mahomes’ absolutely jaw dropping campaign in 2018, there were exceptionally high expectations for his 2019 campaign. This wasn’t surprising. In 2018, only his second year as a professional athlete and his first as a starting quarterback, Mahomes joined Peyton Manning as the only quarterback in the 99-year history of the league to throw for 50 touchdowns and 5,000 yards. Even though the team didn’t ultimately hoist the Lombardi, missing figuratively and physically by mere inches, it was still a year to remember.
Unfortunately, Mahomes dealt with injuries throughout most of 2019. From the second quarter of the first game through week nine, he sustained multiple injuries including a high ankle sprain and a dislocated knee. These all prevented him, until late in the season, from harnessing his athletic capabilities to their fullest extent. Some in the national media even began to forget just how special Mahomes was, with him often taking a back seat to a dual threat quarterback to the East.
This all changed during the team’s winning streak, but it took special form in the playoffs. Against both the Houston Texans and Tennessee Titans, Mahomes athletic abilities shined in a way few had expected. With 53 rushing yards in each performance, Mahomes joined Joe Montana as the only quarterbacks in the history of the league to throw for 250 yards, run for 50 yards, and throw for three touchdowns in a single playoff campaign.
This feat symbolically culminated against the Titans in what has been deemed “the Run,” in which Mahomes scrambled to the outside, dodged multiple defenders, and galloped 27 yards for a go-ahead touchdown. To top it all off, Mahomes 29 rushing yards in the Super Bowl and 135 total in the playoffs places him second all-time behind Joe Montana’s Super Bowl winning campaign in 1984 in which he had 144. Ironically, had he not lost 15 yards on the kneel downs that sealed the Chiefs Super Bowl victory, he’d be all alone in first place. There’s always next year.
"Hail! Hail! To the king of the Chiefs Kingdom forever, because today the team that Lamar Hunt founded has just won Lamar Hunt’s trophy in the stadium that was Lamar Hunt’s dream. Kansas City is the AFC champion! They are headed to Miami for Super Bowl LIV! – Mitch Holthus (AFC Championship Game)"
Mahomes’ and Reid’s combined brilliance
One of the biggest plays of the Super Bowl, if not the biggest play, was the 3rd and 15 play where Mahomes found Tyreek Hill for a much needed first down. This was the precursor and catalyst to the Chiefs offensive onslaught to end the game.
Following the game, Tim Hasselbeck harped on the 49ers defense for what he called a busted coverage. This seemed to be the common take, that the 49ers defensive backs made a mistake. Dan Orlovsky painted a different scenario, one that highlighted not just the brilliant pass by Mahomes but also the brilliant play call.
Andy Reid called a formation the Chiefs had run a number of times, and he happened to know exactly how the 49ers would react to the usual formation. Given that expectation, instead of having Hill run a vertical route to the post, Reid threw in a wrinkle, suggested by Mahomes, that sent hill deep to the left sideline. The safety who was supposed to account for Hill, having likely seen the Chiefs use this formation a number of times, bit on the shallow route by Watkins leaving Hill wide open for the biggest play of the game.
Reid and Mahomes dialed up a play that worked to perfection when they needed it the most. Without Chiefs coach and quarterback thinking in perfect tandem, this play call doesn’t happen.
"We wanted to get him that trophy because he deserved it. The work he puts in day in and day out, I don’t think he sleeps. I try to beat him in and I never can. He is someone that works harder than anyone I’ve ever known, and he deserved this. I’m glad I could get that trophy for him. – Patrick Mahomes (Following the Super Bowl)"
That said, Mahomes is likely one of the few quarterbacks who could make that play given the circumstances. Mahomes took what amounted to an 11-step drop to give the deep route by Hill time to develop. He then delivered a perfect pass, having to step into an oncoming defender. As Chiefs fans we’ve become spoiled with “Mahomes’ Magic” but truth be told, this was an incredible play.
Per ESPN’s Get Up, this season including the playoffs on plays of 3rd and 15 yards or longer, the average quarterback rating across the league was a dreadful 4.7. With an average yards per attempt of 7.9, conversion was rare.
However, those numbers don’t include Mahomes. In that same situation, in both the regular season and playoffs, Mahomes had an insane rating of 99.9. The moral of the story is, that 3rd and 15 play required a both brilliant play caller and a brilliant quarterback to get the job done.
"Chiefs need some Mahomes magic. Launches, down the middle, Hill! Open, caught! And they get it, Kansas City the big play! – Joe Buck (Call on 3rd & 15)"
The Comeback, Part III
There were a number of reasons, aside from just winning the team’s first Super Bowl in 50 years, why the comeback against the 49ers was so spectacular. The 49ers were an incredible defense this season. So incredible, that they were the seventh team in the last 15 seasons to enter the Super Bowl having accrued 55 sacks or more.
How did the other six teams fare you might ask? Flawlessly. In the last 15 seasons, teams that had entered the Super Bowl with 55 combined sacks or more hadn’t lost a single Super Bowl. The 49ers pass rush was next to unstoppable for three-and-a-half quarters, and its impact on Mahomes and the offense was apparent. Yet, when it mattered most the combination of Mahomes, the offensive line and the play calling were able to neutralize it enough to explode.
"We never lost faith, that’s the biggest thing. Everybody on this team, no one had their head down. We believed in each other. That’s what we preached all year long. – Patrick Mahomes (Following the Super Bowl)"
That offensive explosion was record breaking in a number of ways. The Chiefs tied the Patriots, Saints, and Redskins for the second largest comeback in Super Bowl history. The only other team to trail by more and win was the 2017 New England Patriots, who erased a 25-point lead held by the Atlanta Falcons in Super Bowl LI. With the Chiefs 21-point explosion, they also set an NFL record for the most points ever in a fourth quarter.
Finally, with their third double digit comeback of the playoffs the Chiefs formed a company all their own. Before Sunday, no team had ever trailed by double digits in three straight playoff games and won all three. To put this in perspective, when initially trailing by double digits, the Chiefs had a jaw dropping scoring differential of 100-24.
"“Chiefs are Super Bowl champions here in Miami, as they win it in Super Bowl LIV” – Joe Buck"
Hail to the Chiefs
At the end of the day, what Chiefs Kingdom just witnessed was a special run by a special team. It’s the kind of run that inspires people and communities. With their backs against the wall in the darkest of circumstances, at least for a sports team, their leaders rose up and lead the team and Kansas City to a championship.
With all the talk of the Chiefs and their superstar signal caller potentially becoming a dynasty, these sentiments can easily be taken for granted. While I think a dynasty is a possibility, don’t forget to cherish this achievement as a fan. There are fans who have lived and died without ever getting to the experience this joy. Always remember that.
In the end, hail to the Chiefs! What a ride the last two seasons have been. Like Mahomes has said multiple times, they’re just getting started.
"The game is over! And the Chiefs Kingdom has firmly planted its flag on top of football’s highest summit, the Kansas City Chiefs are champions of Super Bowl LIV.” – Mitch Holthus"