At this point, we are running out of superlatives for this Kansas City Chiefs dynasty.
With their consistent on-field excellence, they have made themselves the NFL’s primary figurehead. There is no other close competition for that title until further notice. And now, they are just one win away in this Sunday’s Super Bowl 59 to become the first NFL team to complete a three-peat in the modern Super Bowl era.
It’s kind of mind-boggling to consider when you think about it on a deeper level.
How did the Chiefs put themselves on the brink of legendary history? Which people have been instrumental in crafting and preserving this all-time team? Do we, mere mortals, have any hope of their run ending any time soon?
Let’s unpack how the Chiefs got to Super Bowl 59 and try to answer these questions in the process.
1. Draft Patrick Mahomes and never look back
The Chiefs are about to play in their fifth Super Bowl in six years. You’ll forgive me if I have (almost) nothing new to say about their latest run to the only football game played in February.
So, let’s start from the very beginning.
Drafting Mahomes and throwing him into a win-now situation with a complete roster in 2017/2018 was a master stroke. The man isn’t even 30 and already has a 17-3 playoff record as a quarterback. He is the biggest reason other generational talents like Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson have yet to even appear in the Super Bowl, let alone win one.
With all due respect to Jerry Rice and Tom Brady, we’re talking about arguably the best football player of all time. As long as Mahomes wears the Chiefs uniform, they will be a championship contender for the duration of his career. Something tells me this run isn’t ending any time soon, either.
Crazier things have happened, but this will not be the last time we see a Mahomes-led Chiefs team making it to the final Sunday of the year.
He is the definition of inevitable.
2. Pouncing on Steve Spagnuolo after a painful AFC title game loss in 2019
The smartest coaching decision an organization can make in the modern NFL is going offense-first for the head coach. Because that means the ingrained system never changes, no matter which subordinate inevitably leaves. For the time being in Kansas City, that is Andy Reid, a bona fide future First-Ballot Hall of Famer. It’s hard to do better.
And when you have this foundational offensive head coach, you’re free to pursue the forward-thinking defensive mind that becomes much more interchangeable. Bonus points if this defensive mind is someone who is a bit older and will actually probably never try to be a head coach again. Your system can now stay firmly in place on both sides of the ball.
Enter Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo. After a failed head-coaching stint with the then-St. Louis Rams from 2009 to 2011, Spagnuolo bounced around the league as a defensive assistant. When the Chiefs’ job came open following a tough defeat to the New England Patriots in the 2019 AFC Championship Game, it was a match made in heaven.
Kansas City now effectively has the 65-year-old Spagnuolo — an elite coordinator — guiding an underrated Chiefs defense with little to no fear that he’ll step away for other job opportunities. It’s the ultimate set-up.
What an ingenious hiring decision that has helped bolster this red and gold dynasty.
3. Make a blood pact with dark, ulterior forces (probably)
Am I willing to accept that great teams like the Chiefs make their own luck? Sure. Why not? I’ve seen it before. Do I understand that the human element of officiating inherently means there will be missed calls, and any perceived inkling of bias is more related to my own priors? Yes. I mean, I’m human, and none of these sports things really matter. I’m allowed to believe whatever I want when I just want to be a hater. You’ll take that right from me out of my cold, dead hands.
With all of that said, I refuse to believe the Chiefs haven’t made some kind of deal with some kind of devil out there. And I will hedge that by noting that we can neither confirm nor deny that this happened. The burden of proof is ultimately on the other (much more rational) side to say that it didn’t. Again, as a hater, I can do what I want.
Because, in my estimation, the way the Chiefs won this year defied all natural law. They doinked in game-winning field goals. They blocked chip-shot field goals with the game on the line. They lost key playmaker after key playmaker. Mahomes enjoyed one of the worst regular seasons of his career.
Yet, none of it mattered!
This screams like it’s the work of Lucifer, Cthulhu, or Beelzebub, who have you. The Chiefs clearly have someone’s blessing, and it seems pretty evident they are not benevolent. This being is probably laughing at all of us, too.
(Ignoring all on-field evidence and logical thinking): there is simply no other explanation. Sorry!
