5 things we learned as the Chiefs collapsed in the AFC Championship

[LongSufferingToady]

1. Patrick Mahomes can come up short in a big moment

Prior to Sunday, the Mahomes-led Chiefs have only lost twice in the postseason: once in a 37-31 shootout against the New England Patriots — and last season’s 31-9 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the Super Bowl. You can point to the nine points scored in last year’s championship game and put it on Mahomes — but having no help from his reserve offensive line and his pass catchers prevented his high level of effort from mattering.

In this epic collapse, however, blame can be placed on Mahomes.

At the end of the first half, a risky decision to throw short of the end zone without any timeouts cost his team the chance at scoring at least a field goal; after the play, Mahomes also signaled for a timeout the team didn’t have.

All four of the sacks he took came in the second half — three of them on third down — including two plays in a row at the end of regulation that nearly ruined Kansas City’s chance to tie.

It really was remarkable to see Mahomes play that uncomfortably in a big moment — especially one week after the calm demeanor he displayed as he came back to win against the Buffalo Bills.

2. The Chiefs can’t win by relying on the defense

It’s hard to ask much more from the Chiefs’ defense, which didn’t make anything easy for the Bengals’ offense. It held Cincinnati to field goals on two red-zone trips, created a turnover in the fourth quarter and held quarterback Joe Burrow to 250 passing yards and an 86.5 passer rating.

But the defense couldn’t hold down the Bengals all day. It allowed them to creep back from a 21-3 deficit to eventually take a 24-21 lead. Ideally, the defense would have swarmed the Bengals and dominated them all game — but that’s just unrealistic. This unit wasn’t meant to perform that way; they need to create a turnover or two and get some stops. That’s what they did.

It shows you that in terms of how this team succeeds, the defense can only be a complement to the offense. After the second half of the regular season might have convinced some people that the defense could carry the Chiefs to a Super Bowl, this performance confirms that it will always depend more on the offense’s output.

3. The 2021 Chiefs did not want to lean on the running game

Between running backs Jerick McKinnon and Clyde Edwards-Helaire, there were 101 rushing yards on 18 attempts on Sunday — an average of 5.6 yards per carry.

Yet even as it was performing so efficiently, it never felt like the Chiefs trusted the offense to rely on a rushing attack. Starting the second half with the ball (and up two possessions), you’d think the ground game would be a great way to safely maintain that lead — especially if it was manufacturing 5-7 yards on what seemed like every carry.


With how the Chiefs’ offensive line is now constructed, the running game could be a bigger part of the offense. No... you don’t want to take the ball out of Mahomes’ hands. But when there’s a two-score lead to protect, trusting an efficient running game can make things easier on the rest of the offense.

It’ll be interesting to see if the Chiefs make their ground attack a bigger part of the offense in 2022.

4. The Chiefs’ pass rush isn’t as dominant as we perceived

Last week, the Tennessee Titans played the Bengals in front of their home crowd; they managed to sack quarterback Joe Burrow nine times.

This week, the Chiefs were in a similar situation — but they mustered only one sack all afternoon. There was some pressure — three quarterback hits outside of the sack — but Burrow escaped pass rushers’ grasp multiple times, leading to some of the game’s most important plays.

Chris Jones, Frank Clark and Melvin Ingram really heated up during the regular season — but in the playoffs, only Ingram made plays of any importance. Jones has flashed and is always tightening the pocket — but his postseason resume is not what you’d expect from an All-Pro.

The Chiefs have invested a lot of capital in the defensive line — and in past playoff runs, it worked — but this year, its impact didn’t match its talent.

5. It’s extremely hard to be an NFL dynasty — and the Chiefs missed a great shot at becoming one

Sunday’s loss means the Chiefs have won a single Super Bowl in four of Mahomes’ seasons as a starter. No one’s saying that’s a failure, but the team has loved to talk about the potential of a dynasty — and deservedly so.

Kansas City hosted four straight AFC Championships. That puts a team in a favorable position to play in four Super Bowls — which opens the opportunity to win multiple rings. The team was on the doorstep of creating a legitimate dynasty — but it’s about the end results. The Chiefs are just an ordinarily elite team, rather than a team on a historic stretch of NFL domination.

Yes... in the coming years, the team could change that narrative by winning multiple titles — but it’s not easy to get to this point every season; the Chiefs’ streak of postseason home-field advantage is bound to run out. The team blew one of their best opportunities to add a title in the Mahomes era — and there’s no guarantee it will ever again be set up as well as it was in 2021.

https://www.arrowheadpride.com/2022/...city-collapsed

[Rasputin]

Chiefs can still be a ****ing dynasty we get Patrick next 10 years and another extension and we can win more Super Bowls with Patrick ****ing Mahomes.

[Rasputin]

Cowboys won 3 Super Bowls and were considered a dynasty.


How can we not win more Super Bowls with Patrick Mahomes yes he has to have his head in the game I think this is a humbling experience for him .

[Gary Cooper]

Originally Posted by Rasputin

Cowboys won 3 Super Bowls and were considered a dynasty.


How can we not win more Super Bowls with Patrick Mahomes yes he has to have his head in the game I think this is a humbling experience for him .

A real dynasty has to win multiple Super Bowls in a short period of time. The Cowboys won 3 in 4 years. The Patriots had 3 in 4 and then 3 in 5.

That said, you can't plan on having a dynasty. It just happens when you're consistently better than everyone else. If you start thinking of 3 or 4 Super Bowls, it becomes overwhelming. It's difficult to win 1. I guarantee you the Patriots never planned on doing that. They just focused on the small details, like not beating yourself in a game, and stayed focused on the next game. They also brought in new players constantly who were hungry and not part of prior successes.

[Rain Man]

Oh, we'll have a dynasty. There's way too much time left to go on a Super Bowl winning streak.

And on Point #2, can any team rely on defense to win in the current environment? Defenses are barely allowed to tackle now.

[straycash]

dynasties are a thing of the past, it's all about now and the next big thing, small market teams how many dynasties, heart of murica, well, eat it.

and yes mahome boy is a human, even when he is being told to throw a game.

[TomBarndtsTwin]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

Oh, we'll have a dynasty. There's way too much time left to go on a Super Bowl winning streak.

And on Point #2, can any team rely on defense to win in the current environment? Defenses are barely allowed to tackle now.

Seemed to work pretty well for the Bucs in the post season last year. It wasn't Tom Brady that carried them to that Super Bowl title. In fact he tried to blow it against the Pack in the NFC Title game throwing 3 INT's. Luckily for him, the defense bailed him out.

And the Pats two years before that completely shut down the Rams in the Super Bowl, despite Brady's subpar play.


It's harder with today's rules, but it clearly can be done.

[ThaVirus]

Yeah, you have to get exceedingly lucky.

Brady's last two Super Bowl wins, his defenses gave up a combined 12 points. That's absurd.

I would LOVE for us to get to a Super Bowl and only allow a single digit score to the opponent. Imagine how chill that would be..

[Abba-Dabba]

#1. He is human. But damn, get that man in for Lasik or something. He isn't seeing open targets when he is looking at them.

#2 & 4 Defense pisses me off the most. The DL is all talk and a boatload of cash. Chris Jones disappears, and when he reappears he misses. Anthony Hitchens should retire. He talks a better game than plays it. He never should have been starting over Bolton after coming back from injury. That is a Spags decision that is based on loyalty rather than results. Arrogant decision(Chris Jones as DE ) mixed in with questionable play calling always equals in disaster.

Then how can one say Spags defensive scheme is designed to operate best when the offense has the lead. But yet, they continually lose double digit leads and then act like the scheme isn't a huge problem. These naïve fools think they can bring back Spags next year and expect a different result. Only to get the same rinse and repeat bullshit defense, or worse. If Spags is back. Expect the same heart attack team that can never really seem to put someone away.

#3 That is all on Andy Reid and EB. I have my doubts that will ever change. Reid can't have much more than a few years left before the real retirement thoughts pop in his head.

#5 We can still be a dynasty. But some egos will have to be put away and some hard truths admitted. Like no butt hurt feelings from players being criticized and no more playing of players based on the loyalty to a coach.

[493rd]

Dynasty in the loaded AFC? Yeah, not gonna happen. Too many good teams with elite QBs. And what’s the obsession with Chiefs dynasty talk? We’ll never see another QB win SBs like Brady & Belichick did and who cares if we don’t. If the Chiefs under Mahomes can get one more during his days I’ll be ecstatic. 2 SBs puts him in elite company where he belongs. But nothing should be taken for granted; SB victories are extremely difficult and it takes many different factors coming together to make it happen. Odds say we’ll have more chances in the future and I’m okay with that.

[louie aguiar]

Point #1 was my biggest takeaway. Mahomes almost always comes through in big moments but he completely wilted on Sunday. I’ve seen that type of play from an Alex Smith type QB but I never thought we would see that from Mahomes especially in a big game. I know that’s unfair and he’s human but I thought he was better than that. Priority #1 has to be fixing whatever happened in that disastrous second half. Nothing else matters if that doesn’t get addressed.

[LongSufferingToady]

Originally Posted by JudasRising20

A real dynasty has to win multiple Super Bowls in a short period of time. The Cowboys won 3 in 4 years. The Patriots had 3 in 4 and then 3 in 5.

That said, you can't plan on having a dynasty. It just happens when you're consistently better than everyone else. If you start thinking of 3 or 4 Super Bowls, it becomes overwhelming. It's difficult to win 1. I guarantee you the Patriots never planned on doing that. They just focused on the small details, like not beating yourself in a game, and stayed focused on the next game. They also brought in new players constantly who were hungry and not part of prior successes.

Very good points.

Also, you can't have a dynasty when the coach doesn't adjust his game plans to fit the situation. Andy doesn't adjust. And the Chiefs are not a rock-em-sock-em team. The defense is not physically intimidating (no, I don't mean FAT players, I mean fit, strong players). That's a big problem.

[comochiefsfan]

Originally Posted by louie aguiar

Point #1 was my biggest takeaway. Mahomes almost always comes through in big moments but he completely wilted on Sunday. I’ve seen that type of play from an Alex Smith type QB but I never thought we would see that from Mahomes especially in a big game. I know that’s unfair and he’s human but I thought he was better than that. Priority #1 has to be fixing whatever happened in that disastrous second half. Nothing else matters if that doesn’t get addressed.

That's just so much pressure to put on one human being.

Being an NFL Quarterback takes a special kind of mental fortitude.

[LongSufferingToady]

Originally Posted by RubberSponge

#1. He is human. But damn, get that man in for Lasik or something. He isn't seeing open targets when he is looking at them.

#2 & 4 Defense pisses me off the most. The DL is all talk and a boatload of cash. Chris Jones disappears, and when he reappears he misses. Anthony Hitchens should retire. He talks a better game than plays it. He never should have been starting over Bolton after coming back from injury. That is a Spags decision that is based on loyalty rather than results. Arrogant decision(Chris Jones as DE ) mixed in with questionable play calling always equals in disaster.

Then how can one say Spags defensive scheme is designed to operate best when the offense has the lead. But yet, they continually lose double digit leads and then act like the scheme isn't a huge problem. These naïve fools think they can bring back Spags next year and expect a different result. Only to get the same rinse and repeat bullshit defense, or worse. If Spags is back. Expect the same heart attack team that can never really seem to put someone away.

#3 That is all on Andy Reid and EB. I have my doubts that will ever change. Reid can't have much more than a few years left before the real retirement thoughts pop in his head.

#5 We can still be a dynasty. But some egos will have to be put away and some hard truths admitted. Like no butt hurt feelings from players being criticized and no more playing of players based on the loyalty to a coach.

Andy and his coaches need to be kindly shown the door. Their inability to adjust the game plan and manage the clock has always been a problem and will always be a problem. We're not going to show Andy the door, of course, so we shall continue to have entertaining and competitive seasons with ludicrously stupid and embarrassing games. I wouldn't count on SBs in the next couple of years though.

[Abba-Dabba]

Originally Posted by LongSufferingToady

Andy and his coaches need to be kindly shown the door. Their inability to adjust the game plan and manage the clock has always been a problem and will always be a problem. We're not going to show Andy the door, of course, so we shall continue to have entertaining and competitive seasons with ludicrously stupid and embarrassing games. I wouldn't count on SBs in the next couple of years though.

I wouldn't want Andy going any where. Spags can go **** a goat though. EB I good with. Kind of have my doubts about if Mahomes respects EB in the sense he is coachable by EB still. Which would be concerning that EB would have to be moved on from.

I expect them to have competitive teams as long as Andy is here. There may be a season, or 2 that injuries result in less than desirable results. But we should be entertained with out a doubt.