Kansas City Chiefs: Road to Super Bowl LV in Tampa Bay
The Kansas City Chiefs finished the regular season an NFL-best 14-2, before beating the Cleveland Browns and Buffalo Bills in the playoffs; watch Super Bowl LV between the Chiefs and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, live on Sky Sports NFL, Sunday, 10pm
Friday 5 February 2021 06:22, UK
There is simply no stopping the Kansas City Chiefs. A second-straight Super Bowl success is within their grasp.
Standing in their way of achieving that, however, is the tough task of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and, specifically, Tom Brady - winner of a record six rings and part of the last team to go 'back to back', with the New England Patriots in 2003-04.
But how can anyone bet against Kansas City and Patrick Mahomes on current form? The team have won 24 of the last 25 games (including the playoffs) he's started, with the one blemish coming against the Las Vegas Raiders in Week Five of this season. The status quo has returned since, with the Chiefs sweeping all before them on their way to Tampa Bay.
We take a look back on the Chiefs' road to Super Bowl LV...
What went right?
A lot.
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This is a team that is not used to facing adversity in recent years. In fact, such is the Chiefs' dominance that people tried their best to pick holes in their 10-game winning streak that followed that loss to the Raiders, with the final seven of them all coming by only one score.
But what is that cliché again? Something about a sign of a title-winning team being the ability to win when not at their best? Kansas City weren't blowing teams away but, if anything, that should have been of greater concern to the rest of the league, that they still, always, found a way to win.
Also, despite being unconvincing in spells, the Chiefs' win streak included wins on the road in Buffalo, Tampa Bay and New Orleans - the latter a divisional round playoff team, and the other two representing their final two obstacles between them and lifting a second Vince Lombardi Trophy in as many years.
The 13-3, No 2 seeded Bills were meant to provide the sternest test of their credentials, but were bullied out of things in the AFC Championship game, even despite opening up a 9-0 first-quarter lead. The Chiefs scored 38 of the next 44 points in the ball game on their way to a convincing 38-24 triumph.
Now it's just the Buccaneers left, who themselves will be battling with their own demons left over from the 27-24 defeat to KC in Week 12, in which Mahomes passed for 462 yards and three touchdowns in the game and wide receiver Tyreek Hill ran amok to the tune of 269 receiving yards - topping 200 and scoring two of his three scores in the first quarter alone.
What went wrong?
Not a great deal. Added to that standout loss to the Raiders early on in the season, was a further final-week setback at home to the Los Angeles Chargers - but in a game in which, with the No 1 seed in the AFC already assured, Kansas City rested multiple starters.
It was the Raiders loss that seemed to show the template of how to get the better of this Chiefs team - beat them at their own game.
For a while, the theory had been to play strong defense, run the ball, take time off the clock and keep the ball out of Mahomes' hands for as long as possible. Still sensible tactics, just tough to execute. Las Vegas stepped forward with a different approach, to engage them in a shootout, with the simplistic agenda of putting up more points than them.
And it worked. The Raiders put up 40 points to Kansas City's 32, quarterback Derek Carr (347 yards) had a day, with two of his three scores coming off Mahomes-like explosive pass plays - 59 yards to Nelson Agholor, 72 to Henry Ruggs - while Josh Jacobs added two further TDs on the ground.
There have been challenges since, most notably against the upstart Cleveland Browns - when without a concussed Mahomes - in the divisional round of the playoffs, but the Chiefs, as they tend to, found a way.
Star names
There is no doubt, Mahomes is the star of this team. The reigning Super Bowl MVP; the offense still runs through him.
And he has put together another staggering season - 4,740 yards, 38 TDs, 6 INTs - seeing him in contention for a second league MVP award, only to likely have been pipped to the post by Green Bay Packers QB Aaron Rodgers and his own hugely impressive campaign.
But what makes the Chiefs so difficult to face, is they can beat you in a number of different ways. Mahomes is the figurehead, but there's also Hill, Travis Kelce, Mecole Hardman and so many more weapons that opponents need to game plan for. Pay too close attention to one and, for example, cut off the deep threat and speed of Hill, and Kelce will dice up a defense with small gains over the middle to move the chains.
Scheming up such a diverse attack is head coach Andy Reid, aided by his offensive lieutenant Eric Bieniemy who, incredibly, still can't land a head coaching gig of his own despite his influence on not only the league's No 1 passing attack but total offense.
And don't sleep on Steve Spagnuolo's defense. The stats may make them appear to be a middle-of-the-road unit - 16th in total defense, 10th in scoring, 21st against the run and 14th against the pass - but they are clutch in every sense of the word and invariably come up with a stop at the most critical of moments. Be that a sack by Chris Jones or Frank Clark, or a pick by their game-wrecking pair of safeties, Tyrann Mathieu and Daniel Sorensen.
Playoff push
The playoffs haven't come without complication for Kansas City. They genuinely came dangerously close to being dropped by Cleveland in the divisional round, just about hanging on for a 22-17 win over the wild card outfit.
There was concern early, with Mahomes seemingly troubled and limited by a toe injury, but the Chiefs still managed to forge out a 19-3 half-time lead. That, however, was cut to 19-10 by the time that Mahomes left the game midway through the third quarter with concussion after coming up dazed and confused following an awkward tackle.
Backup QB Chad Henne came into the contest and, when he threw an interception with eight minutes to go, the Browns had it literally in their hands down by five looking to drive down the field for the game-winning score.
They couldn't quite get the job done, giving the Chiefs a chance to close it out, which they did in thrilling fashion, with Henne atoning for his earlier error by putting his body on the line with a gutsy scramble for the first-down marker on third-and-14 - he came up just shy, but then threw the ball to Hill on another bold call on fourth down to clinch victory.
A week later, things were far more straightforward in the AFC Championship game, and that is despite Buffalo racing out into an early 9-0 lead off the back of a muffed punt return by Hardman.
Hardman made amends with a touchdown grab from the returning Mahomes - who showed no signs of grogginess - on the next drive, while he followed that up with a 50-yard run on their next series as KC again found the endzone to take the lead. They didn't look back.
Super Bowl pedigree
Other than winning it last year?
The Chiefs have been to two other Super Bowls - I and IV - with more than 50 years between those visits and their trip to Miami to take down the San Francisco 49ers last season.
The Chiefs rallied from a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit, with an inspired Mahomes (26-42, 286 yards, 2 TDs, 2 INTs) leading the team to victory with 21 unanswered points scored in the final seven minutes of the contest to see them come away 31-20 winners.
In their first appearance, to cap the 1966 season, the Chiefs lost the first ever Super Bowl to Vince Lombardi's Packers. Three years later, they beat the Minnesota Vikings in the big game.
Their fervent fan base was denied success for much of the next five decades, with only two playoff trips to show for the 20 seasons immediately after their Super Bowl success. Things improved somewhat in the 1990s and beyond, but Kansas City were without a home playoff win in 15 years when they finally ended the curse with victory over the Indianapolis Colts two years ago.
They could have claimed a title a year sooner were it not for that pesky Brady and an overtime game-winning drive for the Patriots in the AFC Championship game. But, with back-to-back Super Bowl trips since, we are likely witnessing the start of the NFL's next great dynasty.
Defeating Brady and his new team on Sunday would only confirm that.
Join us on Sky Sports NFL and Main Event from 10pm on Sunday, February 7 for 90 minutes of Super Bowl LV build-up with Kirk Cousins, Dallas Clark and Cliff Avril joining Neil Reynolds and company; Sky One will broadcast the game from 11pm.
