50 years of fail: How Patrick Mahomes, Andy Reid, Brett Veach removed the curse

[scho63]

It’s a cold Christmas morning in 1971 across most of America as kids rip open their presents and settle in for a day of fun with family, relatives and friends. Many of the posters on CP are not even alive yet as today is a special day for the 1970 Super Bowl winners, the KC Chiefs: it’s the AFCCG game against QB Bob Griese and the Don Shula coached Miami Dolphins at Memorial Stadium, the last game ever played there. We are trying to get back to the Super Bowl two years after the 1969 season with one of the greatest teams ever built: 8 Hall of Famers and legendary QB Len Dawson with coach Hank Stram and his 65 Toss Power Trap still looming large.

As the game unfolds in Kansas City, the game is a back and forth slugfest that unfolds with a running back by the name of Ed Podolak amassing a whopping 350 total yards of offensive production with running, catching and return yards.

He finished with roughly a third as many total yards that day as he had all season. To go with his 85 yards on 17 carries, 110 yards on eight receptions and 2 yards on two punt returns, Podolak — who had not been a regular kickoff returner that season — had 153 yards on three kick returns. Seventy-eight of them came after the Dolphins’ late score.

Miami came back to tie the score at 24-24 and, with 1:25 remaining, kicked off to Podolak.

Podolak sped left, dodged kicker Garo Yepremian and raced down the sideline before Curtis Johnson knocked him out of bounds at the Miami 22. After three runs, Stenerud, from Norway, came in to attempt a 31-yard field goal with 35 seconds to play.

I was planning what I was going to do with my off-season,” Buoniconti said. “The chances were one in a million he would miss that kick.”

But miss it he did, pushing the ball wide right, his second miss of the game. “My history and legacy were defined by that one kick,” Stenerud said.

He missed a kick earlier and a third attempt in OT was blocked, a total of 3 FG’s in one game for the Hall of Fame kicker.

Miami then fought back and scored on a Garo Yepremian 37-yard kick to hand the Chief’s a brutal loss that earlier seemed to be a sure thing.

A young 8-year-old boy from New Jersey had tears streaming down his face as he tried in vain to eat Christmas dinner. It was the first of many agonies he would feel as a lifelong Chief’s fan made even worse without the comfort of other fans nearby to console him.

The Chief’s lost in the Longest Game in NFL History that still remains and what seemed like just a painful loss turned into a 50 year drought of pain, disappointment and near misses. No one could ever imagine……

As the years took their toll on the greatest players, age set in and the Chiefs muddled through mediocre after mediocre, horrible after horrible season.

From 1972 until 1988, the Chiefs were in a 17 year football Ice Age having just four years of a winning record, 1972 and 1973 under Stram at 8-6 and 7-5 respectively, 1981 under Marv Levy at 9-7 and 1986 10-6 under coach John Mackovic, where after a first time appearance in a playoff game after what seemed like forever we lost the Wild Card game. A total of one playoff appearance during that whole time. Imagine being a 15-year-old Chiefs fan, seeing Patrick Mahomes win a Super Bowl and then not seeing another playoff appearance in 17 years. That’s the first part of the pain the longtime fans dealt with.

Coach Stram was done in 1974 as was nearly all of our best players.

1975 began with a new coach and QB: Paul Wiggin and Mike Livingston, two names who many people don’t even know who the hell they are.

The Chiefs had gone through 6 head coaches; Hank Stram, Paul Wiggin, Tom Bettis, Marv Levy, John Mackovic and Frank Gansz as well as 5 QBs; Dawson, Livingston, Fuller, Kenney and DeBerg.

During that time our record was 103-148, wasting great players like Art Still and Gary Barbaro.

1989-1998 began the Marty Schottenheimer Decade, 9 of the first 10 years of winning football records and a renewed hope for the KC Chiefs.

In the 10 years as head coach, the Chiefs made the playoffs 7 of those years including having home field advantage twice with a record of 13-3 both years.

While he was great in regular season, Marty sucked in post season and the Chiefs had little to no success in the playoffs winning just 3 games; 1991 Wild Card against the Raiders and 1993 winning both the Wild Card and Division games with an aging Joe Montana before the Bills cleaned our clock in the AFCCG after they knocked Montana out of the game.

After a losing record in 1998, the Chiefs decided to replace Marty with Gunther Cunningham, a defensive specialist.

After two years of disappointing results with supreme talent with no playoff appearances, the Chiefs then called upon Dick Vermeil to bring an offensive mindset to a team that couldn’t score.

In 5 years as head coach, Vermeil brough a lot of offense but not an ounce of defense. The Chiefs under QB Trent Green could score 40 a game but they love to let up 45, losing when it counted.

Once again with a 13-3 record, home field advantage, Trent Green, Priest Holmes and Tony Gonzalez, the Chiefs laid an egg and lost in their first playoff game to the Indianapolis Colts, a team that always seemed to have our number in the playoffs all PM (pre-Mahomes).

After this fiasco when we thought things couldn’t get worse, we went through coaches Herm Edwards, Todd Haley and Romeo Crennel; the Three period.

With wasted talent and a complete fiasco at leadership, the Chiefs lost first round playoff games in 2006, 2010 and no playoffs up through 2012. It was now TWENTY YEARS since the Chiefs won a playoff game: I repeat TWENTY DAMN LONG PAINFUL FRUSTRATING YEARS.

2012 ended in such ominous fashion as one of our players, Javon Belcher killed his girlfriend and then himself at Arrowhead Stadium in front of Scott Pioli our GM. With a 2-14 record and this over hanging the club, it was time for a radical change.

The Chiefs cleaned house for the start of 2013 and brought in Andy Reid, a long-time successful coach and strong football mind to help right the ship. Crennel, Pioli and the rest of the staff was given the heave-ho.

In just his first year, Andy brought in Alex Smith changed the mindset of KC football and brought the Chiefs to a playoff game in his first year going from 2-14 to a remarkable 11-5. Our opponent in the first game: those ****ing Indianapolis Colts.

And just like all the coaches before him, Andy and the Chiefs found a way to stick a dagger in our hearts by blowing a 38-10 lead late in the game and losing 45-44. Andrew Luck somehow fumbled a snap and it popped right back into his hands and he scored. BECAUSE CHIEFS!!!

God damn the pain was getting too much to bare!!!

We missed the playoffs the following year but in 2015 we were right back in it! Another 11-5 record and a game in Houston against the Texans.

The game began with what seemed like a positive omen for the Chiefs: a kickoff return for a touchdown to start the game! Could this finally be our moment?

We won that game easily 30-0 and after what seemed like an eternity, just 22 years, we finally won a playoff game!!! High fives all around…..

The next week we went to the House of the Cheaters in Foxboro, the Patriots, and while we put up a valiant effort, we fell short 27-20. It still felt like Andy Reid knew what he was doing……

Then a familiar tone set in, playoffs in 2016 and 2017 with losses in our first game including a game where our opponents, the Steelers failed to score a TD but won and then letting an inferior team the Titans come back from 21-3 to beat us 22-21 when we couldn’t score after halftime. Was this the start of another BECAUSE CHIEFS period?

During the 2017 draft, we did something special that we hadn’t done in THIRTY-FOUR LONG PAINFUL YEARS: We drafted a QB in the first round by the name of Patrick Lavon Mahomes II, a little gunslinger who played for Texas Tech. We jumped up to get him and our hopes came back to life.

2018 we did it again and made the playoffs with a 12-4 record, just behind the Patriots for homefield advantage. Our opponent in that first game: OH NO NOT AGAIN, THE ****ING INDIANAPOLIS COLTS!

This time was much different because we had a secret weapon: MVP Mahomes.

With pretty much ease we finally kicked the curse and as well kicking the Colts to the curb with a 31-13 drubbing. The first icebergs of pain and suffering were now gone. It was time to deal with the Patriots.

After falling behind big in the first half, Mahomes came to life and brought the Chiefs all the way back to go ahead late in the game. Then when it appeared that destiny was finally calling; some piece of shit who now plays for the 49’ers lined up 6 blocks offsides costing us the game winning INT and ensuring a loss to Tom Brady.

The pain, the frustration, the why is it happening to us all the time sank in. Would I ever see another Super Bowl appearance in my lifetime?

From the Deaths of Joe Delaney and Derrick Thomas and Jovan Belcher, to 50 different ways to lose a playoff game, to horrible coaches and horrible seasons, why did the Chiefs deserve this?

It’s now 2019 and the Chiefs do it again: playoffs and somehow, someway on the LAST DAY of regular season all the stars align, and we get #2 Seed instead of the Patriots. Thank you Ryan Fitzpatrick!

Then the following week the Ravens are knocked out of the playoffs by the Titans and we now #1 seed! Thanks Ryan Tannehill

Our first playoff game at Arrowhead: we decide to spot the Texans a small 24-0 first quarter lead and then KABOOM! Patrick Mahomes shows why he is MVP and leads the Chiefs to a rout 51-31, out scoring the Texans 51-7 after the 1st QTR. Boy does this feel like destiny or what?

Our second game at Arrowhead starts somewhat similar and we let the Titans build leads of 10-0 and 17-7 before KABOOM! Patrick Mahomes and our defense turn up the heat and bounce the Titans from the playoffs, including an incredible 60 yard bomb to Sammy Watkins to seal our fate to the Super Bowl!

This now 56 year old couldn’t contain himself anymore and tears of joy flowed like the Missouri River down my face as I realized we were going to do it!

After a few tense moments, the game ended and it as official: CHIEFS AFCCG CHAMPS AND GOING TO THE SUPER BOWL FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 50 YEARS. It was so ****ing glorious and I was surrounded by CP members and another 100+ Chiefs fans.

Super Bowl Sunday arrives, and I am as calm as ever for a game of this magnitude. For the first 3 ½ QTRs Nick Bosa and the 49’ers defense are blasting us all over and really playing a great game. We are only down 10 points but we have done shit for most of the game and it’s feeling a little uneasy. Mahomes tosses his second INT and while I know he can easily bring us back, I am not sure if we have the time.
And just like that KABOOM GOES MAHOMES and we shit all over the 49’ers in the last 8 minutes of the game and beat their asses all over the field.

GAME, SET AND MATCH. The CHIEFS ARE SUPER BOWL CHAMPIONS!

It is a moment in my life I will never forget, never be able to relive and it is the PINNACLE of my life as a Chiefs fan.

Patrick could win MVP 8 more times and we could win 6 more Super Bowls but nothing will ever compare to THE moment when Patrick Mahomes, Andy Reid, Brett Veach and our team removed the 50 years of pain and suffering I felt being a Chiefs fan.

Sunday was as if I was in jail for the last 50 years for being wrongfully incarcerated and last Sunday the Warden finally let me out…………….BECAUSE MAHOMES!