Chiefs SI: The Inevitability of the Kansas City Chiefs - Page 8

**BigRedChief** · 12-31-2020, 03:57 PM

The Inevitability of the Kansas City Chiefs

The season is already over, we're all just going through the motions now.

"The Kansas City Chiefs don’t win well enough."

That’s what I’ve been hearing and reading from analysts throughout our hermetically sealed football bubble. I’ve even seen it from some Chiefs fans on Twitter.

The Chiefs are 14-1, but they aren’t obliterating their opponents and mailing the leftover viscera to their families, so are they really winning?
The Chiefs have the best record in football, but their wins are being counted against them more than the losses of all other playoff teams. Nearly every discussion about the Chiefs over the last three or four weeks has legitimately been “Why aren’t the Chiefs blowing everyone out, and should we be concerned?”

This is, in part, the Chiefs’ own doing. While the Chiefs have mostly goofed off, sleepwalked, and can’t-be-bothered their way to a 14-1 record, the Buffalo Bills and Green Bay Packers have spent the last couple of weeks looking a lot more exciting.

Yet, the Chiefs have the second-best point differential in the NFL. They trail only the Baltimore Ravens, who they always beat. So, to be clear, the lackadaisical team that looks like it couldn’t care less and refuses to blow out teams is second in the league at scoring more points than their opponent.

I get it. The version of the NFL we know today was built on storylines and narratives. Like 50% of the stuff I’ve written about the Chiefs has been complaining about dumb made-up media/fan narratives or trying to find narratives of my own to spend a thousand words on. Without the rivalries or beefs or soap operas or redemption arcs, the NFL wouldn’t be one of the biggest sports and entertainment goliaths in the world.

The Chiefs' inevitability runs counter to the idea the NFL is the land of parity. It’s difficult to preach “any given Sunday” when Kansas City feels so inevitable. We all already know the ending, but we’re pretending like we didn’t peek at the last page before starting the prologue. We’ve known where this season has been headed since last season ended.

The Chiefs have no competition. Everyone knows it. The comparison to the '90s Chicago Bulls and 2010s Golden State Warriors are already tired. They could kneel the ball every play until the fourth quarter and still put up 31. They have no peers. It's the Chiefs, about a galaxy of empty space, and then everyone else.

That’s not just this year; it’s the next 15 years. People like to point to the Chiefs' collection of talent and say there’s no way the team can maintain its powerhouse status after Travis Kelce and Tyreek Hill are gone. I would remind those people that Kelce and Hill were third- and fifth-round picks. The Chiefs are about to be a Patriots-tier dynasty that also drafts well. It’s over, folks.

Turning to the 2020 playoffs, the Bills or Tennessee Titans on their absolute most flawless days will beat the Chiefs on their absolute worst day. That is legitimately the only reality in which the Chiefs do not get to a second-straight Super Bowl.

The rest of the AFC has no shot. The Steelers and Colts have lumbering, geriatric noodle-arm quarterbacks who load up like trebuchets before hucking the ball seven yards downfield in an excruciating, borderline-tortuous fashion. The Ravens have had three seasons to figure out how to attack Mahomes and just keep getting embarrassed. The Browns would need twice the graupel they got last time to even have a shot at keeping it close. The Dolphins are just kinda there.

As far as potential Super Bowl opponents, the Packers and Seahawks fall into the Bills and Titans “if we don’t make a single mistake and the Chiefs eat themselves, then we have a shot” camp. Everyone else is hopeless. All of their fatal flaws are infinitely exploitable by even a middling Chiefs performance.

It’s not fun for anyone but the Chiefs and their fans to exist in a world where no one else has a fair shot. But it is what it is, and after this postseason, reality will finally set in. The only thing stopping the Chiefs are injuries or themselves.

The 2020 season was over when it started, the games were just a formality.

https://www.si.com/nfl/chiefs/gm-rep...L0ouqE1hikwOTM

stevieray · 01-01-2021, 05:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chiefzilla1501

It's been a problem way beyond atl. Mahomes is inaccurate in the short game because he is understandably worried about getting passes knocked down. .

Nah, he's got the touch of a surgeon, IMO.

Our problems start and end with the patchwork Oline.

htismaqe · 01-01-2021, 05:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stevieray

Nah, he's got the touch of a surgeon, IMO.

Our problems start and end with the patchwork Oline.

Except they don’t. There’s a play calling issue. There’s timing issues. The line has been patchwork all season. These issues just started about 6 weeks ago.

**DaneMcCloud** · 01-01-2021, 05:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by htismaqe

Except they don’t. There’s a play calling issue. There’s timing issues. The line has been patchwork all season. These issues just started about 6 weeks ago.

The line was patchworked last year, too, same as 2018.

chiefzilla1501 · 01-01-2021, 06:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stevieray

Nah, he's got the touch of a surgeon, IMO.

Our problems start and end with the patchwork Oline.

Not recently. I have confidence he'll fix it. But right now he looks like he's overcompensating on his passing windows. He's sailing more of his short passes than we're used to ever since he started getting passes tipped. Part of that is pmIII needs to regain confidence in his OL but he could also help himself by improving his footwork and touch on the short stuff.

stevieray · 01-01-2021, 06:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by htismaqe

Except they don’t. There’s a play calling issue. There’s timing issues. The line has been patchwork all season. These issues just started about 6 weeks ago.

eh, he's dropping too far back.

These issues still managed to produce HFA.

They are well aware of what needs to be worked on.

I think the CEH injury is huge.

stevieray · 01-01-2021, 06:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chiefzilla1501

touch on the short stuff.

I just don't see that as a problem.

**Easy 6** · 01-01-2021, 06:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stevieray

I just don't see that as a problem.

Me neither, I'm absolutely convinced he was nursing some very sore ribs last week courtesy of the Saints... he'll be good as new after all this rest IMO

htismaqe · 01-01-2021, 07:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stevieray

eh, he's dropping too far back.

These issues still managed to produce HFA.

They are well aware of what needs to be worked on.

I think the CEH injury is huge.

Yeah, I’m not saying it’s a game breaking problem. I just don’t agree that it’s all on the o-line. There’s a lot more going on that just bad line pay. In fact, your last sentence is one.

12-31-2020, 03:57 PM
BigRedChief Has a particular set of skills Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: On the water Casino cash: $2969627 VARSITY	SI: The Inevitability of the Kansas City Chiefs The Inevitability of the Kansas City Chiefs The season is already over, we're all just going through the motions now. "The Kansas City Chiefs don’t win well enough." That’s what I’ve been hearing and reading from analysts throughout our hermetically sealed football bubble. I’ve even seen it from some Chiefs fans on Twitter. The Chiefs are 14-1, but they aren’t obliterating their opponents and mailing the leftover viscera to their families, so are they really winning? The Chiefs have the best record in football, but their wins are being counted against them more than the losses of all other playoff teams. Nearly every discussion about the Chiefs over the last three or four weeks has legitimately been “Why aren’t the Chiefs blowing everyone out, and should we be concerned?” This is, in part, the Chiefs’ own doing. While the Chiefs have mostly goofed off, sleepwalked, and can’t-be-bothered their way to a 14-1 record, the Buffalo Bills and Green Bay Packers have spent the last couple of weeks looking a lot more exciting. Yet, the Chiefs have the second-best point differential in the NFL. They trail only the Baltimore Ravens, who they always beat. So, to be clear, the lackadaisical team that looks like it couldn’t care less and refuses to blow out teams is second in the league at scoring more points than their opponent. I get it. The version of the NFL we know today was built on storylines and narratives. Like 50% of the stuff I’ve written about the Chiefs has been complaining about dumb made-up media/fan narratives or trying to find narratives of my own to spend a thousand words on. Without the rivalries or beefs or soap operas or redemption arcs, the NFL wouldn’t be one of the biggest sports and entertainment goliaths in the world. The Chiefs' inevitability runs counter to the idea the NFL is the land of parity. It’s difficult to preach “any given Sunday” when Kansas City feels so inevitable. We all already know the ending, but we’re pretending like we didn’t peek at the last page before starting the prologue. We’ve known where this season has been headed since last season ended. The Chiefs have no competition. Everyone knows it. The comparison to the '90s Chicago Bulls and 2010s Golden State Warriors are already tired. They could kneel the ball every play until the fourth quarter and still put up 31. They have no peers. It's the Chiefs, about a galaxy of empty space, and then everyone else. That’s not just this year; it’s the next 15 years. People like to point to the Chiefs' collection of talent and say there’s no way the team can maintain its powerhouse status after Travis Kelce and Tyreek Hill are gone. I would remind those people that Kelce and Hill were third- and fifth-round picks. The Chiefs are about to be a Patriots-tier dynasty that also drafts well. It’s over, folks. Turning to the 2020 playoffs, the Bills or Tennessee Titans on their absolute most flawless days will beat the Chiefs on their absolute worst day. That is legitimately the only reality in which the Chiefs do not get to a second-straight Super Bowl. The rest of the AFC has no shot. The Steelers and Colts have lumbering, geriatric noodle-arm quarterbacks who load up like trebuchets before hucking the ball seven yards downfield in an excruciating, borderline-tortuous fashion. The Ravens have had three seasons to figure out how to attack Mahomes and just keep getting embarrassed. The Browns would need twice the graupel they got last time to even have a shot at keeping it close. The Dolphins are just kinda there. As far as potential Super Bowl opponents, the Packers and Seahawks fall into the Bills and Titans “if we don’t make a single mistake and the Chiefs eat themselves, then we have a shot” camp. Everyone else is hopeless. All of their fatal flaws are infinitely exploitable by even a middling Chiefs performance. It’s not fun for anyone but the Chiefs and their fans to exist in a world where no one else has a fair shot. But it is what it is, and after this postseason, reality will finally set in. The only thing stopping the Chiefs are injuries or themselves. The 2020 season was over when it started, the games were just a formality. https://www.si.com/nfl/chiefs/gm-rep...L0ouqE1hikwOTM
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