The Most Significant Factor in the Chiefs Surprising Super Bowl Loss

Once again, congrats to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, they did play a fine Super Bowl game, and are definitely deserving NFL Champions. All the recognition to them is well deserved. As much as the Chiefs loss is as painful as it is to the entire Kingdom, it doesn't hurt to genuinely offer the best to the Bucs.

But I can't dismiss a critical thing I've been considering is the most critical Chiefs reason we lost that game. Indeed if this factor didn't manifest itself so profoundly, the game would've at least been a closer one. The way Tampa Bay played we might not have won, that's cool, but at least it would've been a game. Who knows though, the way Patrick Mahomes played, wow, we actually might have won.

Still, our O-line simply couldn't hold up against that blistering Bucs pass rush. Our own receivers didn't help either. Both of these liabilities were widely recognized, but I do believe both could've been reasonably addressed if it wasn't for that critical factor.

First let me share that our future is bright. We'll be back. Mahomes is young, talented, and now even more motivated to win the big one again. Brett Veach is going to make things right for our star player, and he is so skilled at getting the weapons he needs to give Patrick exactly what he needs. That's all good.

But then, there's that critical factor. Please know before I share that I have heard and seen nothing since the Super Bowl. I've read or watched no commentary, no punditry, no remarks from anyone about anything. The poor O-line and receiver play was obvious, and I do know it'd been justifiably panned mostly because of the Tiktoks my daughter has shared with me. They were very fun to watch, as heartbreaking as they were.  One of them featured a kid screaming "Who put Helen Keller in a Chiefs uniform?!" referring to those horrific drops by our receivers. Very ugly.

Again, however, there's that factor.

And it was Andy Reid.

Please know that Andy Reid is a great part of the Kingdom, always was, always is, always will be. There is never anything about Reid that should be disparaged, for what he's done for the Chiefs is truly legendary. And it isn't just his achievement winning that Super Bowl, finally, for the long-suffering fans of the Chiefs Kingdom. It is everything that is wonderful about the man who has made the Chiefs one of the elite teams in the NFL.

What happened the Thursday before the Super Bowl with his son and the terrible accident it is likely he was responsible for because of his driving impairment had to have had an impact on Andy's focus. He admitted after the game he felt terrible about what happened to the victims, and we should all keep praying like crazy for the little girl who as of this writing is still battling for her life. That takes precedent by miles over any Chiefs anything.

But it is also sad that Reid said the incident didn't have an effect on the game because the game plan was put in place the week before the game.

Oh.

For one thing, during the game Reid didn't make the adjustments he needed to make, so that straight away was a key part of the critical factor. To say the game plan was already put in place is to concede that there wasn't enough done to really give the Chiefs a chance to compete, at every level. Reid has actually gotten much better at the in-game adjustments, he has. He did terribly in this game.

The game plan was the issue, however. I know here I'm portraying the role of Henley Hindsite, Monday Morning Quarterback Extraordinaire. And I confess some of what I'm going to share are items simply related to what I saw and thought after witnessing what happened on that field in Tampa. Hmm, as I thought back, that really didn't work, and yes, I probably wouldn't have known that any more than Reid would. I know my expert analysis here is like a slug saying, well, I guess a tiger is a little better at chasing down and devouring an antelope than I am.

On the other hand, as good a coach as Reid is, he just should have known better. Here's the one key thing before the game I did indeed think would have worked really well, and alas, Reid did not do it at all. In fact, it was a key player he did not employ in the game at all. Maybe it was because this particular player wasn't healthy enough, okay. Maybe Reid felt he'd lost too much of a step, okay. Maybe this player just didn't have the game plan down as he should, that's fine, that's Andy's legitimate call. No worries.

That player was Le'Veon Bell, and if Bell was healthy, had his step, and got the game plan down, then I firmly believe it was a grave mistake not to play him. Sometimes Reid decides to go with a player simply because he's played well in other games. In this instance Reid just missed it. In the Super Bowl he went with Darrel Williams, who was terrific against Cleveland two games before, and Reid went with Williams as the guy who spelled Clyde Edwards-Helaire. CEH had a pretty good game himself for what it was worth.

But it is always the case that every single game situation is different, and every opponent presents a totally different challenge. Williams simply was not the guy to go against the Bucs. The Bucs presented a totally different look, one I felt better suited for Bell's skills. Sadly, I don't think Bell saw the field at all for the entire game. 

I very much know there is no way anyone can know what would've really happened that we didn't play Bell. That idea will never be proven true one way or another. Maybe what I thought would've been no better, I understand that. Reid is the guy, not me.

But I also know just from watching the Super Bowl that when we had the ball first all we did was pass. The first several plays we didn't run the ball at all. Furthermore I don't even think we did anything close to play action. It was just Mahomes in the shotgun to step back into gunslinger mode. As I watched the game progress, just thinking about it afterwards, I think against this defense it would've served us better to run the ball -- again with CEH and Bell. The Bucs strength was their pass rush, why did we start out-of-the-gate trying to go up against the razor sharp teeth of their strength?

Earlier in the year during the regular season game against the Bills, their defense was playing way back, kind of like the Bucs were, and we ran the ball all over them. Maybe our offensive line issues were too much to overcome, but I still wonder. Could we have run the ball more early to pull those defenders up and open up our passing game?

As far as our passing game, we didn't do enough short, quick strikes underneath. And since they were doubling Hill and Kelce, Watkins and Robinson should have been in the mix much more. If I remember Watkins had only one catch, Robinson zero. Even if we were only getting a couple yards on each completion, it would make the Bucs make a move. That imaginative motion and activity that always opened things up so much for this Chiefs team, making them so much fun to watch? It just wasn't there in the Super Bowl, it just wasn't.

Instead, we just sent our receivers into their medium-&-deep routes, and doing so we played into the hands of the fine Bucs D. We did exactly what they expected us to. How aggravating for Chiefs fans to watch Mahomes flail around in that backfield like a banshee chased by hellfires. Over and over and over again.

I just thought Bell was the X-factor. He has always been outstanding at slipping past overly aggressive linemen. He was a fine receiver and could get into those creases. He was also a good blocker to help Mahomes when we could get our receivers untracked. In my view not playing him was the critical factor in our loss.

The Bell thing, I did predict. I was hoping that not seeing him like we should have early in the game, we'd still be okay. We weren't. The other stuff, for the most part I admit, I could only really assess after the game so I'm not saying I'm any better than Reid. I'm just talking about what I saw. Everyone does that, everyone's a critic. And once more, has anyone else seen this? Sure there are many factors involved here, even more sophisticated ones. Those I've shared are just some of the key ones I've seen. Maybe others have already shared them, that's awesome. I'm not behind on this, I'm just posting about it now because I'm so busy, and maybe someday I will look over the post-game talk and see what others thought.

For sure here's to hoping Reid, just as Mahomes and the other players, will learn from this, that this will eat at them and provide the motivation to make happen what they know they can make happen. It is nice to see Reid improve his coaching in his years with the Chiefs and do things he hadn't done before to get us winning games on a consistent basis. That's awesome.

I have to add one more thing, and forgive me if this is taken the wrong way. I only add this because I think as highly of Reid as I do. And I know that what happens with other people, including family members, may not reflect on other family members, even parents. Andy Reid is not responsible for what his children did or do, and I know nothing about the things going on in his private life and those of his family -- that is none of any of our business.

I do know, however, that good coaches have a reputation for staying at the facility, working overtime -- waaay overtime. I've heard Reid is one of those coaches who spends hours and hours in the film room. We all know he loves his team, his players, his game strategizing -- he is "Big Red." His devotion to Chiefs excellence is extraordinary, it really is, and we've all benefitted from it watching how stellar the Chiefs have played for nearly a decade now.

But this stuff happening with his family makes me very sad, I'm sure it does everyone. I'm just hoping he takes time and leaves that film room a little bit earlier, and goes to spend that time with those closest to him. This thought applies to me and anyone else as much as to Andy Reid. Just thinking and praying for him. If we don't make another Super Bowl because he's just not in the film room looking at one more play, that's fine, if it means he finds peace and joy with his family -- and they do too.

I think Andy can do just fine if he lets himself go and just be that organic leader he has shown he can be on the football field. It has been clear over the years he's been with the Chiefs that he's enjoyed amazing growth there. I think that'll blossom even more when he's taking more of that time enjoying being that awesome family man we know he is too.

The Chiefs Kingdom will thrive just as much also.

___

The photo was from the WDAF-TV Fox 4 news site. Thank you.

___

Patrick Mahomes Was The Most Valuable Player of Super Bowl LV

Not even kidding.

Patrick Mahomes was the MVP of Super Bowl LV. And it shouldn't have been close.

It's the truth, and those who value truth would easily confirm this.

But wait, his team got clobbered by the Buccaneers!

So what. There have been MVPs of Super Bowl losing teams. Chuck Howley, a linebacker for the Cowboys, comes to mind in Super Bowl V. The Colts not only won but their overall defense just-plain played better. But a player on the losing team still got it.

Let's compare the popular choice, Tom Brady, who did get it, and the one who deserved it more by far, the GOAT, Patrick Mahomes. And yes, Mahomes is the GOAT, not Brady. After this Super Bowl I'm sure 9 of 10 blappers will try to make the case that after this one, Tom is GOAT and, sorry, Patrick will never catch him because he just couldn't beat him in the Super Bowl.

Please. The GOAT issue later, but first, this Super Bowl.

The real issue was our offensive line inadequacies, and everyone knows it. Patrick Mahomes was not playing against Tom Brady, he was playing against the Bucs defense. I'm not complaining about losing the Super Bowl mind you. The Buccaneers did great, they deserved it. Good for them.

But let's look at this in relation to Patrick. They said Mahomes was the most pressured quarterback of any in any Super Bowl. I think it was 52% of the time by way of how they measure it. Someone also figured out how many yards he ran around in the backfield trying avoid that pass rush surging through our sieve-like O-line.

500.

As in 500 yards of scrambling or rushing and gaining yardage after being flushed out of the pocket.

500 yards?! Are you kidding me?

And he still got off amazing passes that our receivers simply refused to pull in.

I have not gone back to look at the tape, I simply can't do it. But I do remember these plays in particular:

Early on Mahomes made an incredible deep throw to Tyreek Hill, who in a crowd right at the end zone simply let the ball go right through his hands. It was there, he just didn't pull it in. It would have been an incredible play for the touchdown, but in a game like this you've got to make that play. Hill has made those plays before -- he just didn't that time. Still, an unbelievable throw by Mahomes.

A little later, I just don't remember when, Travis Kelce needed to squeeze another tough throw, but didn't. We stalled and of course, did not get the touchdown we needed to be in it.

One time Mecole Hardman looked like he didn't even know where he was supposed to be when Mahomes threw a strike. It flew way behind him incomplete. On another play Hardman inexplicably stalled his route, and Mahomes' perfect loft pass sailed just beyond his reach.

With just over 13 minutes left when we might have been able to make a go of it, start a bit of a comeback -- enough time for three good scores -- Mahomes made the play of the game. He was scampering for his life back there yet again, got tripped up at I think around the 20, 25 yard-line, and got vertical just before going down. He still managed to throw a strike to Darrel Williams, who was in a bit of a crowd but right at the goal line, in position to at least get the first down, and he refused to pull it in. The ball harmlessly bonked off his chin.

There were four times we got deep enough into Bucs territory, there may have been more but I just don't remember, but each of those times ended in a field goal or a tipped interception. If I remember the way things are scored in football... If I'm not mistaken... we get touchdowns those times and that's 28 points right there. Then we have a game.

In that the Buccaneers exploited one of the critical weaknesses that plagued the Chiefs all year long -- our inability to really get those touchdown scores in the red zone. The defense can now play on a shorter field, so in the Super Bowl the Buccaneers had less field and able to do more to flood the defensive backfield.

And this is why in those situations a weak offensive line is what hurts the most.

It seems to me the red zone is where you need your offensive line to be at its best. And when you think about it, our O-line was suffering all year long from that one of the Four Horseman of the Football Apocalypse.

You know, just before the Super Bowl I thought, "We've got this. This'll be great. We should win easily. And one reason why is our team has stayed really pretty healthy all year long. We haven't really had any major injury issues. Woo-hoo!" I actually thought that, and for much of the rest of the team that was indeed true.

But I was so wrong. I never really thought about how decimated was our O-line and how the Covid hysteria and the injuries clobbered us there. I liken this Horseman of the Football Apocalypse to the real one in The Revelation: Death. (Those Four Horsemen of the Football Apocalypse, by the way: Injuries, Penalties, Turnovers, Bad Calls -- you could easily say we were seriously afflicted by all of them in Super Bowl LV.)

But yeah, having those major deficiencies on the offensive line was death to our Super Bowl hopes.

That didn't mean Mahomes didn't play like the life of everyone on the planet depended on it. Really, when you think about it, our O-line was pretty much like this for the season -- how in the world did we even make it to the Super Bowl?

You know the answer.

Give the MVP to the Bucs offensive line, that's cool. Give every other Chiefs player the RNIAWMVP award for that matter, that's cool too. RNIAWMVP? Really-Not-In-Any-Way-Most-Valuable-Player. Something like that. Forgive me, some Chiefs should get a bit of credit, they actually did have somewhat decent games -- Clyde Edwards-Helaire, he's one I can think of, and I can't neglect to put in some good word for an O-line that helped get him some good runs and at least played their hearts out for the Chiefs Kingdom. But still.

Puh-leeze.

Do not give the MVP to Tom Brady when there was another player in particular far more deserving.

Brady is a very good quarterback, no one denies that. But let's look at the ways he's won Super Bowls, because certainly many are looking at the record -- He's won seven wowwie-wow-wow! Let's look. Here're a few of the most striking.

One time in the playoffs an opposing player got a fumble with a minute left that would've sealed the victory keeping the Patriots out of the Super Bowl, but he foolishly got up, tried to run, and fumbled it back to the Patriots. They scored and went on to one of Brady's Super Bowl wins.

Another time in a Super Bowl a team could have just handed the ball to their bruising back at the goal line and scored the game-winning touchdown. Instead the opposing coach made what is considered one of the stupidest decisions in Super Bowl history leading to an interception allowing the Patriots to win the game.

In the 2018 AFC Championship Game they called our defensive end offsides on a call that was never made before when other linemen were that much offsides, nullifying a Brady interception that would've kept the Patriots out of that Super Bowl, one they eventually won.

There are other kinds of arguments to make here, and I know any good player gets the benefit of some opponents' bonehead mistakes or twists of bad luck, but let's be very honestly truthful about all this, Brady never had to work with the offensive line Mahomes had to in this Super Bowl. Ever. If Brady had our O-line in this game? He'd have been sacked eight times, at least. If we had the O-line we should have had without the attack by that one evil Horseman, this Super Bowl would have been 45-14 Chiefs. Absolutely. Again, I'm not taking anything away from the Bucs. Kudos to them. They're Super Bowl champs, they earned it, no worries.

But Brady as MVP. Come on. That's one of the things that makes the NFL so aggravating now. It isn't like it isn't expected -- these guys need to make their money, nothing wrong with that. But it doesn't make it truthful.

I recently saw that this Super Bowl got the lowest ratings in a long time. I truly think this had way less to do with people just not being interested in Mahomes-Brady, but I believe people are fed up with all the Covid hysteria (cardboard cutouts of fans in the stands, gimme a break), and they especially can't stand all the racialist browbeating (it was still out there in various places). I also feel it does have something to do with the teams themselves -- two teams that are really not major media-market-darlings in the biggest game of the year. Sure we can say Mahomes-Brady can transcend that, but what if the matchup were Steelers-Packers? Giants-Patriots?

What if Mahomes were instead on a good New York Jets team and they were there playing in that game?

Fughedabouditt.

Yes, already, Mahomes is the GOAT. He showed it in this Super Bowl. Brady is an all-time great quarterback yet also a phenomenally lucky athlete who's benefitted from the craziest wildest strokes of luck anyone can have. To his credit that does have something to do with his legendary fitness regiment and intense preparation, that's all good.

Ultimately the MVP award itself is not much of anything, and anyone can be GOAT in some area or another. Makes for great conversation and putting up an impassioned blog post. Here's to looking for Patrick Mahomes and his now reinvigorated motivation to continue to prove who he is and what he can do.

Also a quick shout out to Marty Schottenheimer who passed away today from Alzheimer's. What a great coach and stellar part of the Chiefs Kingdom. No one should ever neglect to afford him the cred for what he did for this organization in 1989. It may actually be the one single greatest thing that ever happened for the Chiefs. I know some will justifiably say that 2017 draft was the greatest thing, and I understand that especially in light of what we've been talking about here, but think about the immense impact Schottenheimer had back in the early 1990s. It is definitely a major Kingdom moment.

Thank you Marty Schottenheimer.

__

The photo is by Kevin C. Cox of Getty Images. Thank you.

__

Super Bowl LV - Chiefs at Buccaneers

What a difference a depleted offensive line makes.

You have to remember, we lost five good starting offensive linemen at some point over the last year.

As you may know, I'm a Golden State Warriors basketball fan. When the Warriors were playing the Toronto Raptors for the 2019 NBA Title, they were going for back-to-back titles just as the Chiefs were. In that series they were holding their own and could have won, but they lost Kevin Durant to a torn Achilles, and then Klay Thompson to a torn ACL. As the series wound down it was obvious there was no way we could win.

We just didn't have the guns.

Those five offensive linemen we lost?

First, our fine looking just-drafted tackle Lucas Niang opted out because of the Covid hysteria. He was one of very few picks in that entire draft to do so, certainly the only one among the very top picks who didn't play a down for his team. He was the ninth tackle taken overall. The fourth tackle taken? Tristan Wirfs, who was right there tonight resolutely protecting Tom Brady.

Second, our very good guard Laurent Duverney-Tardif opted out also because of the Covid hysteria, but he felt he had to go to Canada and offer his fine medical services there for the entire year.

Third, Brett Veach did a great job picking up an excellent guard, Kelechi Osemele, and he was injured and out for the season in, what, the third or fourth game of the season?

Fourth, our All-Pro tackle Mitchell Schwartz had such severe back issues about half-way into the season, he was gone for the year.

Finally in the AFC Championship win two weeks ago our other All-Pro tackle Eric Fisher tore his Achilles.

That's an entire Super Bowl-caliber offensive line right there, and just plain not anywhere near the Super Bowl tonight.

It is nice to think Brett and Andy could fill those holes and get us a serviceable O-line, and by golly they tried hard, but against this outstanding Tampa Bay front four, it really was a hopeless effort. All Tampa Bay had to do was rush those four and flood the defensive backfield.

Even Patrick Mahomes was incapable of doing anything with that.

Really though, looking over what Mahomes did, in light of what he was facing, he was truly amazing.

We truly would have been in this game if we didn't drop so many of his incredible passes while scampering for his life back there, so it was clear the Bucs' dominance on the line affected the whole team's play.

Couple of other notes then I'm done. This is too difficult. Just going to leave it until I feel like coming back to it, whenever that may be.

Brady's luck. Not saying he isn't a great quarterback, but by golly he sure does get the breaks. It never stops. With about 3:30 left in the 3rd quarter and us down 28-9 and the Bucs facing a 3rd down in our territory, the snap went way over Brady's head. This was our one chance, a break going the Chiefs way for once, the time we could rev up that splendiforous comeback. Brady still recovered the ball. They kicked a field goal to make it 31-9. That just turned out to be the insurmountable score.

Then there were the ridiculous penalty calls against the Chiefs in the first half. 

It was like deja vu from the 2018 AFC Championship game.

So yeah, while it wasn't all the refs, I can blame the refs as much as I want in my blog. Others agree, there were in particular a number of calls that really cost us this game, yes, as early as in the first half.

The most egregious one was the Mathieu interception that was called back because they saw a phantom hold on Charvarius Ward. His physicality on Mike Evans was not any more than any coverage has always merited. They threw the flag anyway, nullifying the pick. The Bucs went on to score a touchdown. That to me just felt like the game.

I really thought we could get back in it, that Mahomes and Reid could just pull another rabbit out of the hat and get back in it to at least make it close. But frankly, let's face it, Reid just got outcoached -- neglecting to have the game plan for what we knew the Bucs were like. We simply didn't run the ball enough early or have Mahomes just make some deftly arranged quick strikes on short routes.

I have to add briefly that many have to believe that what happened with Reid's son Thursday night, the DUI related accident that left a little girl seriously injured, weighed on him. How is he going to effectively coach the biggest game of pro football with that. I'm sure there will be some meaningful things said about it in the next few days.

I'm done. I did actually think before this started, just like most everyone else, that Mahomes and company could really take it to them. But when you have those issues turning out to be that massive, especially that with the offensive line, it is just something you cannot overcome.

Even superheroes have their kryptonite.

But hey. Look at it this way.

Think of the motivation Mahomes will have. 

He's still got that incredibly bright future in front of him. 

And he's already a proven Super Bowl winning quarterback.

That's cool.

And hey.

We were in the Super Bowl.

That was awesome. It was an awesome season.

Nothing to be ashamed of. Proud of every single one of these players and everyone who's a part of making the Kingdom what it is.

Great job everyone, and a big thanks.

___