KC Chiefs have earned the benefit of the doubt for the foreseeable future

We as fans of the Kansas City Chiefs have enjoyed much success over the last six years. We all got that first taste of what this run could be when the Chiefs made it to the 2018 AFC Championship game to face off against Tom Brady and the New England Patriots. They were mere inches from making it to the Super Bowl that year (literally) but we all know what happened. Many of us thought, "is this franchise just snake-bitten?", There was always that thought in the back of our heads that they were going to "Chiefs" it.

Then, they did it. They won their first Super Bowl in 50 years in 2019 and kick-started what many of us thought could be a dynasty run of several championships. Fast forward to now and that's exactly what they have. A dynasty.

However, it wasn't all smooth sailing to get to where the Chiefs are now. You had the 2018 AFC Championship game loss, you had the disaster in Super Bowl LV, and you had the heart-breaker in the 2021 AFC Championship. Yet, at the end of the day the worst the Chiefs have finished in a season since Patrick Mahomes became the starter is an overtime loss in the AFC Championship—the closest you can get to the big game without actually playing in it.

Lest you find yourself shaking your head at any offseason moves, you should know by now to trust these Chiefs.

Now that the Chiefs have won their third Super Bowl in five years and we can confidently say they are a dynasty, it feels like this team has earned the benefit of the doubt—forever. The reasoning for this is pretty simple. Many people may have already given this organization the benefit of the doubt because it's Patrick Mahomes Andy Reid, and Brett Veach have been entrusted by everyone from the top of the organization now to run this show. The continuity and the consistency within the organization gives fans confidence that no matter the circumstances this team will figure it out.

Again, it hasn't always been smooth sailing. There have been rough regular season patches that have given us doubts about whether or not they could get it done. Take 2019 when they started the season 6-4 and looked like a talented team with some major flaws that would keep them from winning a Super Bowl. Then there's 2021, when the Chiefs had one of the worst defenses in NFL history through the first five weeks and we all thought. "No way this team goes far in the playoffs" yet they made it to the AFC Championship game. Finally, you have this year when everyone left this team for dead on Christmas day and we all believed there was no way this team would beat anyone with a pulse in the postseason. Every single Chiefs season has had those stretches or moments that made you question everything.

Despite those peaks and valleys, the Chiefs have never finished worse than an AFC Championship game appearance. At this point, it would seem foolish of us to question whether or not this team can figure it out by the time the postseason comes around. It's just silly at this point. Why do we continue to play this game where we doubt this team in the regular season only for them to flip the switch in the postseason?

At this point, they've shown enough times that they can do that and that they can turn it on when the games matter that they've earned the benefit of the doubt from all of us. That's not to say they'll win the Super Bowl every year. That's unrealistic, but the consensus going forward is that this team will figure it out no matter how dire things seem. Because if they can win the Super Bowl with how helpless the offense looked this past season, then what's it going to take to kill this team?

Ultimately, there's too much talent, experience, and stability in this organization for them to truly fail. We're all going to hold this team to that championship standard and every year will be Super Bowl or bust, but as long as they're in the dance and or winning the AFC West, then the regular season doesn't matter. This team just played on Wild Card weekend and played two road playoff games versus Buffalo and Baltimore and it didn't phase them in the slightest.

That doesn't mean we won't still continue to analyze this team honestly in the future or discuss the team's flaws. Those flaws we talk about may even be the very reason they don't win the Super Bowl every year. However, given Kansas City's track record, what they have been able to overcome over the years to become a dynasty, and their ability to turn the corner no matter how late in the season, we should all probably hold our breath until the calendar turns to January. Anything and everything before that doesn't matter. The Chiefs have earned the forever benefit of the doubt.