KC Chiefs: Turning points that helped get team to Super Bowl LIV

When the 2019 season kicked off back in September, KC Chiefs fans felt this team had every opportunity to go to the Super Bowl. Now, here they are. Here were the turning points that helped get the Chiefs to Miami.

After starting the season at 4-0, it sure looked like the Kansas City Chiefs would be on their way to another number one seed in the playoffs and that Patrick Mahomes would be the league MVP once again. That’s why awards aren’t handed out after a month of the season though because things fell apart quickly after that.

The Chiefs were handed their first loss of the season in week five, dropping a 19-13 stinker to the Colts on Sunday Night Football. It was the lowest amount of points that Mahomes and the Chiefs had scored during the course of his young career and many thought that defenses had started to figure out the young quarterback.

After losing another game in week six, the Chiefs were 4-2 and looked very beatable despite having the league’s best signal caller on their squad. When he went down with an injury in week seven, this team looked left for dead despite blowing out the Broncos with Matt Moore under center.

STOPPING DALVIN COOK

Mahomes was originally slated to miss anywhere between three to five games, but later it got decreased to just two games. That meant that in order for the Chiefs not to slip too far behind the other teams in their conference, they had to go 1-1 while their MVP was out.

After losing to the Packers in week eight, week nine’s match-up against the Minnesota Vikings became an absolute must-win game. It wasn’t looking like an easy game for the Chiefs to win considering the Vikings were on fire at that point in time and were doing a lot of their damage via the ground game, which is where the Chiefs defense had struggled.

Well, the Chiefs defense that we’ve come to know and love first showed up in that week nine game, holding Dalvin Cook to 71 yards on the ground. It was the first time their run defense successfully slowed down a running back and it was a good running back that they prevented from having a big game.

When Harrison Butker knocked through the game winning field goal as time expired, the Chiefs proved they could win without Mahomes and their defense proved they could be a strength for this team. It was the first true turning point of the season that led KC to Super Bowl LIV.

HOLDING OFF CHARGERS

In week 11 – one week after losing in embarrassing fashion to the Titans – the Chiefs had to get back on track before they got too far behind in the AFC. Their week 11 game against the Chargers in Mexico City wasn’t the blowout that many had thought it might be, but it was the first game of many where the defense proved it could be respectable.

Not only did KC pick off Philip Rivers four times, but when the game was coming down to the wire, the Chiefs were able to hold off the Chargers. The year prior when it came down to the final seconds, LA not only found the end zone, but went for two and converted, winning the game as a result.

Kansas City’s defense held their own this time and showed that when push came to shove, they could hold off a driving offense. It was the second turning point that helped aid the Chiefs to Super Bowl LIV.

BEATING NEW ENGLAND

Much like the ending of the Chargers game, the Chiefs were able to keep the Patriots out of the end zone in week 14. The result of this game was big for a lot of reasons, but the biggest ended up being having the tiebreaker over the Patriots because when they fell to the Dolphins in the regular season finale, it gave Kansas City the two seed and a bye week.

Another big thing with this game was that it was the first time Patrick Mahomes had beaten the Patriots in his career and showed that they were a beatable unit. When Bashaud Breeland defended that pass to Julian Edelman, it showed that the Chiefs defense could hold their own and them taking down the defending champions was poof that this team was on the right track.

The Chiefs couldn’t get past the Pats in either of the times they played them in 2018, so finally being able to slay the dragon was a relief and another turning point to help get this team to the Super Bowl.

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There were several moments this past season where we could tell this Chiefs team was different from ones in the past who crushed us at the end of the day. Stopping Dalvin Cook, holding off the Chargers, and finally taking down the Patriots were three turning points that proved to Chiefs Kingdom this team was turning a corner and ready to take the next step.

Take the next step they did too, as they won both of their playoff games (coming from behind in each) to advance to their first Super Bowl in five decades.

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