It’s now Super Bowl or bust for Kansas City Chiefs

Any talk of a retooling year should now be over for the Kansas City Chiefs with the Super Bowl appearance in reach.

When the Kansas City Chiefs entered the 2022 NFL season, the goal was for the team to do its best and fight its way into the playoffs as they reshaped their roster and built toward the future. But now, heading into the divisional round this weekend, that goal has changed dramatically.

Forget the retooling year, it is now Super Bowl or bust for the Chiefs.

Heading into this season, expectations for the Chiefs were mixed. In a juiced-up AFC West and with multiple question marks on their roster in the form of new rookies and free agents and with no Tyreek Hill, there was a feeling that this might be a transition year for the Chiefs. The goal was of course still to win, but at the same time, it was anticipated that the Chiefs would find things to be much tougher.

The Las Vegas Raiders, Denver Broncos, and LA Chargers all loomed large as serious contenders, not just for the division title, but for the Lombardi Trophy itself. After huge offseasons across the board that saw big-time players like Khalil Mack, J.C Jackson, Russell Wilson, and Davante Adams all join the division, the Raiders, Chargers, and Broncos were all stacked and ready to go.

The Chiefs looked vulnerable

On the flip side, the Chiefs seemed like they might be vulnerable. With Hill gone, many saw this season as a retooling year – a season in which the Chiefs could reshape their roster, with an eye on the long road ahead. Hill’s departure for Miami left a huge void in the offense that had to be filled.

Marquez Valdes-Scantling and JuJu Smith-Schuster were brought in to help do just that, and even with Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce, it seemed like Kansas City’s offense might be less of the monster we had seen in the past. The Chiefs were going to have to rely heavily on young talent this season, with their hopes of a successful season riding on the backs of George Karlaftis, Skyy Moore, Trent McDuffie, Bryan Cook, and Isiah Pacheco.

The thought was that the Chiefs might have to tread water this season, enduring a difficult campaign for the sake of long-term success. At times, it felt as if Chiefs Kingdom was almost accepting that this might not be their year.

It did not turn out that way.

Some surprising results

The Chiefs tied the record for the most wins in franchise history, powering their way to a 14-3 season, the number one seed in the AFC, and their seventh consecutive division title. And now, heading into a divisional round clash against the Jacksonville Jaguars, any thoughts that this season was all about the future have gone out the window. Now, it is about going all-out for the Super Bowl.

The Chiefs currently sit as both the favorites to win the AFC Championship and the favorites to win the Super Bowl itself. No matter how things might have looked heading into the season, the Lombardi Trophy is now, unquestionably, the only acceptable goal. Given where the Chiefs currently sit compared to other teams in the playoffs, anything less than a Super Bowl win would frankly have to be seen as a failure.

Mahomes looks set for his second career MVP title after another phenomenal year. Kelce showed once again why he should be considered one of the greatest tight ends in the history of the game, and Chris Jones went full beast mode in the best season of his career. Rookies Pacheco, Karlaftis, and McDuffie all look like the real deal. MVS, Smith-Schuster, and Kadarius Toney are all dangerous wide receivers, while Jerick McKinnon was grown to be one of the most important pieces of KC’s offense This Chiefs roster is loaded across the board and it is firing on all cylinders at just the right time.

A tamer competitive landscape

On top of that, Kansas City’s two biggest threats, the Buffalo Bills and Cincinnati Bengals, both look surprisingly beatable after underwhelming performances in the Wildcard Round last weekend.  Sure, they both won, and in the end that is all that really matters in the playoffs. But neither team looked invincible, and injuries are starting to take their toll. In fact, both the Bills and Bengals looked entirely beatable as they limped over the line to claim narrow victories over the Dolphins and Ravens, respectively.

Despite that, Cincinnati and Buffalo are both still fantastic teams that are more than capable of beating the Chiefs in the playoffs. But based on their performance, and with one of the teams set to be eliminated this weekend, it is clear that Kansas City is the benchmark of the AFC right now.

The season might have started out seeing a Super Bowl victory more as a hope rather than the main objective, but that is not the case anymore. “When you get as close to the Lombardi Trophy as the Chiefs currently are, and sit in a position as good as the one the Chiefs currently do, it is too good of a chance to settle for anything less.

Screw the retooling year; it is time to win a Super Bowl.