Kansas City Chiefs: Fans shouldn’t drink Super Bowl Kool-Aid just yet

Kansas City Chiefs fans have been thinking Super Bowl all season long and now seem to think they’re destined for a Super Bowl appearance after taking down the Patriots. Not so fast though, Chiefs Kingdom.

*EDITOR’S NOTE – Cameron Black, the staff member who wrote this, is blind, but he listens to football on the radio and has a great feel for the game, even without his vision. This article was written with the help of a screen reader.*

My heart plunged from in my throat where it had been the entire game, all the way down into the pit of my stomach when Tom Brady scrambled for 17 yards down to the Kansas City Chiefs‘ 15 yard line. I just knew that he would do what the Patriots always do, and that is find a way by hook or by crook, to win and crush the souls of the opposing team and its fans.

Seconds later, it was fourth and two on the Chiefs five-yard line; Brady threw a pass to Julian Edelman, who was in the end zone, wide open to catch the pass that would have potentially tied the game (or with a successful two-point conversion, won the game), but at the last possible second, Bashaud Breeland (a member of the much maligned Chiefs defense), batted the ball out of the air and sealed the Chiefs 23-16 victory.

This handed the Patriots their first home loss in two year and sewed up the AFC West divisional race for the Chiefs. As a side note, the win made Patrick Mahomes the youngest quarterback to ever win in Gillette Stadium.

My wife screamed with joy while I jumped up and nearly dropped my five month old sleeping son in the process. The Kansas City Chiefs had just beaten the New England Patriots at home!

Now that I have shown you what a huge Chiefs fan I am though however, I still believe that we need to pump the brakes a little bit. The water cooler gossip around my work the next day was everyone saying things like, “The Chiefs are going to the Super Bowl” and “Chiefs World Champs!” and I am forced to say, I disagree.

Let’s get this out of the way right off the bat; The basement of my home (which I simply call “The Cave”) is devoted to sports, which mostly consists of Chiefs memorabilia, the Crown Jules of which are a Patrick Mahomes Jersey and an autographed Mahomes football, so have no doubt that I am a borderline obsessed Chiefs fan.

If we really look at the Chiefs and their most recent victory with some objectivity (which is of course how even the most ardent fan should look at it), then I’m not sure, other than the most naïve fan who blindly believes in their team (no pun intended) could take what they saw on Sunday and see “Super Bowl contender” there.

Listen, the Chiefs defense – that I may have used the word “maligned” to describe them earlier –  really stepped up and made the GOAT Tom Brady rather uncomfortable with an interception and multiple sacks. Not only did they do this against Brady, but they have actually been doing it for several weeks now.

As for the offense, they put together several scoring drives against a vaunted Pats defense. One of those scores being a touchdown run by tight end Travis Kelce, who took the snap out of the Wildcat formation.

While I saw sparks of excellence from all three sides of the ball from the Chiefs, it would be unfair and inaccurate to say that the officials didn’t have a hand in the Chiefs win Sunday night.
Not an hour after this game was over, stories were circulating with headlines like “Were the
Patriots robbed by the officials?” and as much as it pains me to write this, I almost can’t make my fingers do it, I would have to say… yes they were.

Now, am I feeling sorry for Tom Brady? Um… no.

Do I think the Pats have won plenty of their share of games (including the last two AFC Championship games) due to bad officiating? Um… yes.

As far as I’m concerned, Brady and Bill Belichick can cry me a river about bad calls, and from the looks of them on Sunday they might do just that. All that being said, the fact that Brady, Belichick, and company have won many football games on the flags of the officials (or lack thereof) should not subtract from the fact that the Chiefs did the exact same thing on Sunday.

Am I saying the Chiefs absolutely would not have won had the calls been different? No, I am not saying that at all, for it would have changed the entire dynamic of the game, and who’s to say the Chiefs wouldn’t have gotten a pick six like they did the week before? Or that the offense wouldn’t have found a way down the field with some deep balls from Mahomes?

As long as I still put fingers to keyboard to pontificate upon American sports, I will never say that a game was won or lost by the officials. It is up to a team to be better than the refs, and blaming the officials is the ballad of the loser.

All that being said, there were several clear cut cases of DPI on the Chiefs that were not called. There was an instance when Patriots rookie receiver N’Keal Harry scored a touchdown, but was ruled out at the three-yard line when he certainly was not out. Belichick could have challenged, but he was out of challenges for all those cases, and that Billy boy, is just how the cookie crumbles.

Also, Kelce fumbling the ball at the Pats 35 yard line and it being promptly picked up for a scoop and score, which has been the Patriots defensive bread and butter all year, should have counted and it did not.

Those last two situations I just described, effectively took 14 points off the board for the Pats and we all know what happened next.

I know this is not a popular take, but if people are going to start talking Super Bowl in Kansas City simply because of a marquee win, or even the Chiefs last three wins, then I think it only fair to look at it for what it is.

The win in Mexico was a great one, as was the thumping KC gave the Raiders in Arrowhead Stadium, but in both those games, the usual high flying Chiefs offense was somewhat grounded and it was the “much Maligned” defense that came up big in both games.

Don’t get me wrong. I am actually one of the people who is unconcerned that before the Pats game, Mahomes had his two worst games of his career. Why should we always expect him to be flat out amazing if he doesn’t have to be?

While I still believe that, in the playoffs against teams like the Ravens and maybe the Patriots again, he is going to have to be. The Chiefs are going to the playoffs for sure now after winning their fourth straight division title, Mahomes will need to pull multiple footballs out of a hat and cause them to vanish and reappear in the hands of receivers.

Also, the Chiefs running game has got to find its footing. The leading rusher on Sunday was LeSean McCoy with 11 carries for 39 yards. I will say I am thrilled Spencer Ware is back in Chiefs red, as I think he is still a great third down back. He only got the rock five times and pounded it for 11 yards, but each and every one of those yards was hard fought and most of them were the difference between fourth and first down.

I know it seems like I am bashing the Chiefs, and please believe that I am not.

I wear my Chiefs heart on the red and white sleeve of my Mahomes jersey, but if I am truly being honest with myself, if the Chiefs have to go up against the Ravens and Patriots again, let alone face a team like the 49ers or Saints in the big game, I’m not ready to start planning the parade route through downtown Kansas City just yet.

If the defense continues to improve and be as aggressive as it has been, especially over the last three games, and if the offense puts on the firework display we have all grown accustomed to and frankly spoiled by, then the KC Chiefs can go toe-to-toe with any team in the league, and may bring the Lombardy Trophy back home to Kansas City.