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Earlier this week, Arrowhead Pride user BispoMiege wrote a FanPost called it “A Pessimist’s Perspective”. In it, they argued that the Kansas City Chiefs it might not be a dynasty after all. But he also asked other AP users to “deter me from the ledge.”
After the team took a 31-9 beating in the super bowl, I imagine other Chiefs fans might feel pretty much the same. So I thought I’d try to talk about old Bispo from the ledge – and maybe you too.
1. It’s really, really hard to win the Super Bowl
I remember shortly after last year’s Super Bowl win – one of the best nights of my life – Colin Cowherd said in an interview that he saw Patrick Mahomes win another Super Bowl in his career. – with a Super Bowl loss (welp, guess we eliminated that). At the time. I thought he was crazy; we’re the next dynasty in the NFL, right?
Well, now it looks like he was on to something. When you look at the history of the league, there haven’t been too many QBs, regardless of their talent, who have won multiple Super Bowls. Peyton Manning has won two in twenty years; Drew Brees won one during the same period. Dan Marino – the Patrick Mahomes of his day – has never won one. Just because we have Mahomes doesn’t mean we’re guaranteed to win more in the Super Bowl.
I agree: it’s very difficult to win Super Bowls. Even the quarterback who has now won seven in his career needed 21 seasons to do so – and lost four of the Super Bowls he’s appeared in. But that said, you left a few guys off your quarterback list who won multiple Super Bowls. To begin with, there is Peyton’s brother, Eli Manning. Then there are 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 this guy from Montana – I forgot his first name – also won four.
I think it is wise to consider the story. But what a story really shows that 21 Super Bowls were won by quarterbacks (now including Mahomes) who only won one. The remaining 34 Super Bowls were won by just 12 quarterbacks.
Maybe I’m crazy. But I think in this case the chances are Mahomes will become the 13th.
Besides … the story also shows that Colin Cowherd has only rarely been “on something”.
2. … especially after a loss
The list of teams that will win the Super Bowl the year after losing it is quite short. What makes us think we are different from one of them? I think Mahomes made us believe that we were sort of immune to the issues that other teams face. Well guess again.
You’re right: it’s a short list. Only three teams have 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 more teams have won it after not even manufacturing the Super Bowl – even the playoffs – from the previous season.
Again … maybe I’m crazy. But doesn’t it seem like it would even be Stronger to do?
And yes … having Mahomes doesn’t protect chefs from other problems. It would have been a lot more fun for Mahomes and the Chiefs to win Super Bowl LV. But now they have learned an important lesson. I think they will learn from it. Not you?
3. Tom Brady, Dynasty Slayer
I hate Tom Brady as much as the next one, but let’s be honest; he’s really good at killing teams. It’s easy to forget now, but almost twenty years ago he put out the biggest spectacle on the turf, the Y2K Era Chiefs. In 2014, he put out the Legion of Boom at its peak. Russel Wilson has yet to star in another Super Bowl.
With all due respect Brady: At this point in history, he deserves praise. But I think you pay tribute to him for some things he hasn’t really done.
In Super Bowl XXXVI against the St. Louis Rams, Brady had an passer rating of just 86.2; he didn’t throw a touchdown pass for the entire second half. Luckily for him, Kurt Warner’s passer rating was even worse – and in the end, Adam Vinitieri won the match with a basket over time.
Brady had the advantage against Dick Vermeil’s Chiefs in the early 2000s – but not by much. The Patriots were 2-1 over Vermeil – one of those a 41-38 overtime win. And I’m pretty sure the opposing quarterback in the Chiefs’ 2003 divisional round game had a horseshoe on his helmet. But my memory might be blurry; I worked hard enough to forget what happened that day.
As for the Boom Legion … well, it was Russell Wilson who performed that brilliant workout at the end of the game – not Brady. It was Malcolm Butler – not Brady – who remembered the preparation for the game and removed Wilson’s pass from Wilson’s end zone with 26 seconds remaining.
4. Mental scar tissue
One of the many downsides of being destroyed by Tom Brady is mental damage. Part of what made us so terrifying was the inevitability of Mahomes; no matter how bad things were, Mahomes was always going to have his. Well … this time he didn’t. Through no real fault on his part, his team were absolutely humiliated on national television. I can’t imagine this team coming back next year with the same swagger or the same belief in themselves. Personally, I feel like I went from Theon to Reek. I can’t IMAGINE the mental toll this took on those who actually had to play the game.
Once again … I agree: it’s hard to imagine this mental toll. But if there’s one recent team that has shown they are capable of overcoming this kind of adversity, it’s the Chiefs. Under Andy Reid’s leadership, the team has overcome obstacles – and their own baggage – time and time again.
This is the team that won 10 straight games to advance to the playoffs after being struck off at 1-5 … the team that won four in a row to advance to the playoffs after being 6-6 … the team that came back from 24-0 to win a 51-31 playoff game … and scored 21 points in the final seven and a half minutes to win a Super Bowl.
But no matter how good you are at overcoming overwhelming obstacles, you just aren’t going to. each time; this is precisely why they are called “overwhelming odds”. If that’s what we thought, well … the Super Bowl loss should be a lesson for us as well.
5. There is no easy solution
I know, I know … “but the offensive line!” No doubt that was the defining factor in this game, but the loss of one player – Eric Fisher – did it turn a team that dominated the Bills into Jaguars from day to day. next day? No, there are real problems in this team. When the playoffs Sammy Watkins doesn’t show up, we can’t seem to field a competent No.2 wide receiver. The pass rush is overpaid and unproductive. And there’s not much we can do in free will since we’re up against the ceiling.
Those who investigate plane crashes for a living say they never happen because of a single failure. Instead, there is always a chain failures which are the cause.
Well … the Super Bowl was definitely a plane crash.
But just because there was a chain of failures that resulted in the destruction of a particular ReidAir flight doesn’t mean it’s not necessarily safe to fly with them again. The accident clearly demonstrated that they will have to do better pre-flight planning, recruit a few new reserve pilots and make changes to their ground crews. (It wouldn’t hurt if airline regulators did their job a little better, but good airlines do the job even when they don’t).
All the same, the planes they fly have been shown to be airworthy on several occasions. And while all carriers suffered financially during the coronavirus pandemic, ReidAir still has the best financial managers in the business. Even with the meager resources they have, they will find a way to make these changes.
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