Chiefs SI: The Inevitability of the Kansas City Chiefs - Page 4

**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

**Easy 6** · 12-31-2020, 06:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud

A bit?

This is like Arrowhead Pride commenters, not an actual, real-life journalist.

It's written by a Chiefs Homer for Chiefs Homers. It's completely unrealistic and very poorly written. It's why he's being paid a penny a word.

Again, it's Fan Fiction.

You're waaay too upset about this, man

It wasn't exactly what I was expecting from SI either, but it was good for the humor if nothing else... dude just got a major boost to his resume, good for him

Deberg_1990 · 12-31-2020, 06:49 PM

Feels like something Clayton Wendler would write.

**DaneMcCloud** · 12-31-2020, 06:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Deberg_1990

Feels like something Clayton Wendler would write.

Clay's a better writer than this bozo

carcosa · 12-31-2020, 06:50 PM

I am very angry that somebody wrote something about how good my favorite football team is!!!!!!!

**DaneMcCloud** · 12-31-2020, 06:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Easy 6

You're waaay too upset about this, man

It wasn't exactly what I was expecting from SI either, but it was good for the humor if nothing else... dude just got a major boost to his resume, good for him

I'm not upset about it at all. But as a former sportwriter in my early days, what passes as "sports journalism" these days is horrifying.

These magazines don't give a shit about the quality of their content. All they care about it clicks.

Jim Murray is rolling over in his grave.

Hammock Parties · 12-31-2020, 06:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud

Clay's a better writer than this bozo

I was writing better trash than this at WPI 15 years ago.

**DaneMcCloud** · 12-31-2020, 06:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hammock Parties

I was writing better trash than this at WPI 15 years ago.

Exactly

Megatron96 · 12-31-2020, 06:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud

A bit?

This is like Arrowhead Pride commenters, not an actual, real-life journalist.

It's written by a Chiefs Homer for Chiefs Homers. It's completely unrealistic and very poorly written. It's why he's being paid a penny a word.

Again, it's Fan Fiction.

You really want to argue about this piece? Just need to mix it up right now or what?

It's an opinion piece. Take it for what it is, or don't. Not going to spar with you over some random guy's feelings.

Oh, and Happy New Year, Dane. Have a drink or something.

**DaneMcCloud** · 12-31-2020, 06:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Megatron96

You really want to argue about this piece? Just need to mix it up right now or what?

It's an opinion piece. Take it for what it is, or don't. Not going to spar with you over some random guy's feelings.

Oh, and Happy New Year, Dane. Have a drink or something.

I'm not arguing about anything.

There used to be a time on Chiefsplanet where we'd laugh about shitty pieces like this on Arrowhead Pride or Chiefs Coalition and so forth. There used to be some pretty damn good writers on this site as well.

I guess that time has passed because more people seem to be happy reading this kind of schlock than well written sports journalism.

tk13 · 12-31-2020, 06:58 PM

Putting the "SI" in front of this is probably disingenuous. This is basically like a message board post that someone published in a blog. We should be the favorites to win, but to post this after we could barely beat the Falcons looks dumb. Especially when we're living in a pandemic that could hit any of these playoff teams and force them to miss key players in any playoff game.

Pasta Little Brioni · 12-31-2020, 07:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by siberian khatru

Same here.

This is a fan post.

Jacob Harris is a writer of semi-frequency for Arrowhead Report on SI.com. He previously wrote at a fluctuating pace for Arrowhead Addict. Follow Jacob’s Twitter @jacobnharris.

Dante?

htismaqe · 12-31-2020, 07:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud

I'm not arguing about anything.

There used to be a time on Chiefsplanet where we'd laugh about shitty pieces like this on Arrowhead Pride or Chiefs Coalition and so forth. There used to be some pretty damn good writers on this site as well.

I guess that time has passed because more people seem to be happy reading this kind of schlock than well written sports journalism.

Even the best publications are pretty much crap anymore. Sports “journalism” is a lost art.

Frazod · 12-31-2020, 07:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by htismaqe

Even the best publications are pretty much crap anymore. Sports “journalism” is a lost art.

All journalism is a lost art.

Megatron96 · 12-31-2020, 07:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud

I'm not arguing about anything.

There used to be a time on Chiefsplanet where we'd laugh about shitty pieces like this on Arrowhead Pride or Chiefs Coalition and so forth. There used to be some pretty damn good writers on this site as well.

I guess that time has passed because more people seem to be happy reading this kind of schlock than well written sports journalism.

Okay, fine then.

I'm not holding it up as some kind of great piece either. I just don't care what some random guy thinks. Is he a little too bombastic? Yeah, which makes it funny. But I don't care enough about this piece to get excited about it either. Maybe it's the scotch.

**BigRedChief** · 12-31-2020, 07:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud

They're allowing anyone that can put two paragraphs together to "write" for clicks.

The Athletic, on the other hand, started out with the best sportwriters of the day but even they're struggling to pay the top writers, many of whom have already left.

I’ve been paying my $2 a month since it was born. It’s essential. I don’t want to read bloggers for my in depth insight into my teams.

12-31-2020, 03:57 PM
BigRedChief Has a particular set of skills Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: On the water Casino cash: $2779627 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
Posts: 79,266

12-31-2020, 06:49 PM	#47
Deberg_1990 In Search of a Life Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: San Antonio Tx. Casino cash: $3654454	Feels like something Clayton Wendler would write. __________________ Originally Posted by Cassel's Reckoning: Matt once made a very nice play in Seattle where he spun away from a pass rusher and hit Bowe off his back foot for a first down. One of the best plays Matt has ever made.
Posts: 66,914

12-31-2020, 06:58 PM	#55
tk13 ... Join Date: Nov 2001 Casino cash: $1642500	Putting the "SI" in front of this is probably disingenuous. This is basically like a message board post that someone published in a blog. We should be the favorites to win, but to post this after we could barely beat the Falcons looks dumb. Especially when we're living in a pandemic that could hit any of these playoff teams and force them to miss key players in any playoff game.
Posts: 55,016	1 0