Earlier this week, Arrowhead Pride user BispoMiege wrote a FanPost called “Perspective of the Pessimist”. In it, they argued that the Kansas City Chiefs it may not be a dynasty after all. But he also asked other AP users to “convince me to lose control”.
After the team took a 31-9 beating in the Super Bowl, I imagine other Chiefs fans may be feeling the same way. So I thought about trying to talk to the old Bishop on the edge – and maybe you, too.
1. It is really very difficult to win the Super Bowl
I remember shortly after last year’s Super Bowl victory – one of the best nights of my life – Colin Cowherd said in an interview that he saw Patrick Mahomes winning another Super Bowl in his career – along with a Super Bowl defeat ( well, I think we got that out of the way). At the time. I thought he was crazy; we are the next NFL dynasty, right?
Well, now it looks like he was on the right track. When you look at the history of the league, there have not been many QBs, regardless of talent, who have won several Super Bowls. Peyton Manning won two in twenty years; Drew Brees won at about the same time. Dan Marino – Patrick Mahomes of his day – never won one. Just because we have Mahomes, it doesn’t mean we have more wins in the Super Bowl.
I agree: it is very difficult to win Super Bowls. Even the defender, who has now won seven in his career, needed 21 seasons to do so – and lost four of the Super Bowls in which he appeared. That said, you left some guys off your list of defenders who won several Super Bowls. For starters, there’s Peyton’s brother, Eli Manning. Then there is Bart Starr, Bob Griese, Roger Staubach, Jim Plunkett, John Elway and Ben Roethlisberger. They all won two. Then there’s Troy Aikman, who won three – and Terry Bradshaw, who won four. And that guy from Montana – I forgot his first name – Furthermore won four.
I think it’s wise to consider the story. But what a story same shows that 21 Super Bowls were won by defenders (now including Mahomes) who won just one. The other 34 Super Bowls were won by only 12 defenders.
Maybe I’m crazy. But I think, in this case, the odds favor Mahomes to become the 13th.
In addition to … history Furthermore shows that Colin Cowherd has only rarely was “on the right track”.
2. … Especially after a loss
The list of teams that won the Super Bowl a year after losing it is very short. What makes us think that we are different from any of them? I think Mahomes made us believe that we were somehow immune to the problems that other teams face. Well, guess again.
You’re right: this is a short list. Only three teams won the Super Bowl after losing it the previous season: the 1971 Dallas Cowboys, the 1972 Miami Dolphins and the 2018 New England Patriots. But many other teams won after not even to do the Super Bowl – even the playoffs – the previous season.
Again … maybe I’m crazy. But it doesn’t look like it would be harder do?
And yes … having Mahomes does not make Chiefs immune to other problems. It would have been a lot more fun for Mahomes and the Chiefs to win the Super Bowl LV. But now they have learned an important lesson. I think they will learn from this. It is not?
3. Tom Brady, Dynasty Killer
I hate Tom Brady as much as any other guy, but let’s be honest; he’s very, very good at killing teams. It is easy to forget now, but almost twenty years ago he extinguished the Greatest Show on Turf, the Heads of the Y2K era. In 2014, he extinguished the Boom Legion at its peak. Russel Wilson has not yet played in another Super Bowl.
All respect to Brady: at this point in history, he deserves praise. But I think you’re giving him credit for some things he didn’t really do.
In Super Bowl XXXVI against the St. Louis Rams, Brady had a passer rating of just 86.2; he did not pass a touchdown for the entire second half. Fortunately for him, Kurt Warner’s passer rating was even worse – and in the end, Adam Vinitieri won the game with a field goal as time expired.
Brady had an advantage over Dick Vermeil’s Chiefs of the early 2000s – but not much. The Patriots beat Vermeil 2-1 – one with a 41-38 win in overtime. And I’m pretty sure that the opposing quarterback in the 2003 game of the Chiefs division had a horseshoe on his helmet. But my memory may be cloudy; I worked hard to forget what happened that day.
As for the Boom Legion … well, it was Russell Wilson who made that brilliant push at the end of the game – not Brady. It was Malcolm Butler – not Brady – who remembered the preparation of the game and got Wilson’s pass to the final zone with 26 seconds remaining.
4. The mental scar tissue
One of the many disadvantages of being destroyed by Tom Brady is mental damage. Part of what made us so terrifying was Mahomes’ inevitability; as much as things got worse, Mahomes would always get his. Well … this time, he didn’t. Without any real guilt, his team was absolutely humiliated on national television. I can’t imagine this team coming back next year with the same arrogance or belief in itself. Personally, I feel like I went from Theon to Reek. I can’t IMAGINE the mental burden it had on those who really had to play.
Again … I agree: it is difficult to imagine this mental tribute. But if there is a recent team that has proved capable of overcoming this type of adversity, it is the Chiefs. Under Andy Reid’s leadership, the team overcame adversity – and their own baggage – over and over again.
This is the team that won 10 straight games to reach the playoffs after being eliminated by 1-5 … the team that won four straight games to reach the playoffs after 6-6 … the team that returned 24- 0 to win a playoff game 51-31 … and scored 21 points in the last seven and a half minutes to win a Super Bowl.
But no matter how good you are at overcoming overwhelming adversity, you just won’t do it each Time; that is exactly why they are called “overwhelming chances”. If that’s what we fans think, well … then the defeat at the Super Bowl should be a lesson for us too.
5. There is no easy solution
I know, I know … “but the offensive line!” Undoubtedly, that was the determining factor in this game, but did the loss of a player – Eric Fisher – cause a team that dominated Bills to become Jaguars overnight? No, there are some real problems with this team. When the playoff Sammy Watkins does not appear, we were unable to place a competent # 2 wide receiver. The rush pass is overpaid and not very productive. And there is not much we can do in the free agency, as we are against the limit.
Those who investigate plane crashes for a living say that they never happen because of a single failure. Instead, there is always a chain of failures that cause it.
Well … the Super Bowl was certainly a plane crash.
But just because there was a chain of failures that caused a specific ReidAir flight to plummet to destruction does not necessarily mean it is not safe to fly with them again. The accident clearly demonstrated that they will need to do better pre-flight planning, get some new reserve pilots and make some changes to their ground crews. (It wouldn’t hurt if airline regulators did their job a little better too – but good airlines do the job even when they don’t).
Likewise, airplanes that fly have been shown repeatedly in airworthiness conditions. And while all operators suffered financially during the coronavirus pandemic, ReidAir still has the best financial managers in the industry. Even with the scarce resources available, they will find a way to make these changes.