(Stephen R. Sylvanie, USA TODAY Sports)
I wasn’t alive for the Michael Jordan days but I imagine this is what it must have felt like. You go through the motions of an entire regular season, then you get into the postseason and face whoever the new ‘it’ kid is. But throughout it all, you know that they are the best team in the league and the favorites to win the entire thing.
Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, Andy Reid, and the Kansas City Chiefs are simply different. That’s all there is to it. All they have to do is get into the postseason and then they turn it into another gear. They do just enough to win but at the same time never seem out of a game.
This postseason run they went through a Dolphins at home when the narrative was around the Tyreek Hill revenge game. They then went into Buffalo for the first time in the postseason and the narrative was ‘Can Mahomes win on the road? Can he beat Allen in Buffalo?’ After putting this narrative to bed as well, they then went into Baltimore to face the MVP at his house. Nothing scary to report from there either. After these three wins, they made it to the Super Bowl to face the Niners. A game where they would be the underdogs for the third straight week!
(Here’s a little game summary, if you watched the game and don’t want to hear my jibber jabber on the game, just scroll to the bottom for some closing points.)
Although seemingly low-scoring for the majority of it, the game was thoroughly entertaining. The Chiefs won the toss (Heads in case it mattered for you) and deferred. On the opening drive, the Niners drove down near the red zone with ease by using Christian McCaffrey in every way possible. They also found Kyle Juszczyk for a nice completion. The drive that looked so well ended with a CMC fumble and when the camera panned to Kyle Shanahan there was an emotionless face. The next drives in the game went punt, punt, punt. The Niners next possession they found their normal targets such as Chris Conley for 18 followed by Ray-Ray McCloud for 19. This set up Jake Moody for a Super Bowl-record 55-yard field goal. 12 seconds into the second quarter we had our first score of the game.
The ensuing Chiefs drive had a 50 yard bomb to Mecole Hardman to set up 1st and Goal from the 9. The very next play Isaiah Pacheco fumbled the rock and it seemed as if nothing was going right for Kansas City. After this, we had punt, punt, Jauan Jennings Passing TD. Nope, not a typo, A double pass from Purdy to Jennings to CMC was the first Touchdown of the game with 4:23 left in the half, and the Niners led 10-0. The Chiefs ended the half with a FG of their own and we went into the half 10-3.
For halftime we got Usher and some visits from Alicia Keys, Ludacris, Lil'Jon, and will.i.am. Scrolling through Twitter before the third quarter some people loved it and some hated it, what else is new?
The Chiefs, known for their halftime adjustments came out for the first play of the second half and lost 14 yards on a botched toss between Mahomes and Pacheco. Two plays later an overthrown ball to Kelce gave Mahomes his first Interception in his last 7 postseason games. Despite good field position, the Niners could not do anything on that drive. After the interception the next few series’ went punt, punt, punt. On the ensuing drive, we saw Butker break the record for the longest field goal in the Super Bowl with a 57-yarder. The record was previously held by Jake Moody and was just set 60 minutes prior. Butker’s record cut the lead to 10-6.
Up to this point, the turnover battle was 2-1 in favor of San Francisco but it was the next one that was the most costly. A weird-looking punt recovery by Ray-Ray McCloud led to another turnover and the Chiefs getting the ball deep in Niners territory. The very first play after this was a 16-yard TD pass to Marquez Valdes-Scantling. Chiefs lead 13-10.
With San Francisco now being down for the first time in the game, they needed to flip a switch, or else it would be 2020 all over again. A drive that started on their own 25 and had multiple 3rd down conversions, as well as a 4th and 3 deep in Chiefs territory, ended with a Jauan Jennings Touchdown. The Niners would go up 4 with a made PAT…
Well. The extra point was blocked and the Niners were only up three. Even if the kick wasn’t blocked it seemed to come off Moody’s foot a little weird. 16-13 Niners.
It was the fourth quarter and the game had officially picked up, Mahomes was dealing to Kelce, Watson, and Pacheco and they found themselves with goal-to-go. On 3rd & Goal from the three on a play where it seemed Mahomes would scramble and have one of his magical moments, the defense from San Francisco held up and didn’t allow anything. The Chiefs had to settle for a field goal and tie the game up at 16 with 5:46 left in the game.
The Niners chewed up some clock and got into range for a 53-yard kick from Moody. Despite the earlier miss, he hit the 53-yarder with no problem. 19-16 Niners.
There was a 1:53 left on the clock and the Chiefs were down three. So basically we were going to overtime at a minimum. That’s exactly what happened, Butker hit another chip shot to send the game into OT.
We got to see the new overtime rules in full effect on the biggest stage of them all, and it did not disappoint. The Niners won the toss and got the ball. After a near 8-minute drive with goal-to-go, the Niners had to settle on another Moody field goal and hope and pray that the Chiefs wouldn’t get in the endzone. In a late-game scenario in the playoffs, if you leave it to hope that Mahomes isn’t going to get a TD, you’ve already lost.
In a surgical drive, the Chiefs went the length of the field and it ended with a Mecole Hardman touchdown reception. The game was over. The Chiefs dynasty now had Super Bowl number 3.
[End of game summary]
It’s weird to think that we would expect anything different. In my core as a Bills fan, I don’t have it in me to root for this team, so I probably never will. But what they did this entire season I think is by far their most impressive year. All year nobody gave them a shot. Either they didn’t have enough weapons, or there was too much drama with the Swifties, or it ‘just wasn’t their year’. All laughable reasons looking back.
The Chiefs are the Chiefs and they run this league until further notice. As much as I would love to say Josh Allen and the boys will beat them next year that argument just doesn’t have juice until it happens. Outside of Tom Brady, there is only one individual in the entire league who has proven that he can beat the dynasty, and he wears 9 for Cincy. We miss you Joe.
The 2023-2024 NFL Season is over, the Chiefs have won their third Super Bowl, and any regular season talk just does not matter until we see a team beat Kansas City in the postseason.
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