The Chiefs’ 2019 season remembered: Mahomes gets well, defense finally starts clicking
It’s said history tends to repeat itself, but the blueprint is rarely the same.
Such is the case for the Chiefs, whose 1969 season ended with a Super Bowl victory, an outcome the 2019 Chiefs hope to replicate.
How the regular season unfolded for each team, separated by 50 years, includes some similarities — including a key injury — but many differences, too.
Here is a closer look at the ongoing 2019 season that the franchise and its fans hope will lead to another Super Bowl championship.
The 2019 Chiefs
This season’s Chiefs team was coming off arguably the most devastating loss in franchise history, an overtime loss to the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship Game at Arrowhead Stadium.
The Chiefs appeared to have won the game in regulation, but outside linebacker Dee Ford lined up offsides on a game-clinching interception, giving New England a second chance.
One big difference between the 1969 and ‘19 Chiefs: their defenses. The 2019 defense was completely revamped after KC finished among the NFL’s worst in points allowed and total defense a year earlier.
Hopes were high that an improved defense coupled with defending MVP quarterback Patrick Mahomes would help the Chiefs take the next step and return to the Super Bowl for the first time since that 1969 team reached the big game.
But that rebuilt defense didn’t look much better over the first four weeks of the season. Opponents piled up 400 or more yards in three of those games.
The Chiefs still started the year 4-0, but then they dropped their next two games, both at Arrowhead Stadium. In a 19-13 loss to the Indianapolis Colts, the Chiefs’ defense struggled to get off the field. Indy held the ball for 37 minutes, 15 seconds — an eternity in an NFL game on another team’s home turf.
Worse, the Chiefs were held to three points in the second half that day as a nagging ankle injury slowed Mahomes.
The following week, the Houston Texans overcame a 14-point deficit after the first quarter and won 31-24 at Arrowhead. Houston held the ball even longer than the Colts had — 39:48 — and Mahomes’ ankle injury flared up again. The Chiefs scored just seven points over the final three quarters.
Disaster struck days later when Mahomes dislocated his kneecap in the second quarter of a 30-6 win at Denver on a Thursday night. Matt Moore stepped in and performed well, and the Chiefs’ defense came to life with nine sacks of Broncos quarterback Joe Flacco.
This was the start of the season’s real defensive resurgence, as the Chiefs allowed an average of 16.4 points per game in the final 10 contests of the regular season.
The Chiefs split the next two games while Mahomes was sidelined because of his knee injury. He returned and threw for 446 yards at Tennessee, but the Titans rallied for a 35-32 win punctuated by a couple of rare special-teams gaffes.
That dropped the Chiefs’ record to 6-4, and led some NFL pundits to speculate that KC would be overtaken by the Raiders in the AFC West.
Instead, the Chiefs beat the Chargers 24-17 in Mexico City, then crushed Oakland 40-9 after their bye week. That helped the Chiefs take control of the division. They made their move in the AFC race the following week with a 23-16 win over the defending Super Bowl champions at New England.
The Chiefs’ defense, still so maligned in September, flexed its muscle in December, allowing just a field goal to both Denver and Chicago as Kansas City ran its record, and double-digit win total, to 11-4.
Heading into the season finale, the Chiefs had a shot at securing the No. 2 seed in the AFC playoff field but needed to beat the Chargers at home and have the Patriots lose at home to Miami.
That unlikely scenario is exactly how it all played out, giving the Chiefs a week off before the start of the playoffs, which they hope will end in the same place as their 1969 counterparts:
The Super Bowl.
Game-by-game
Week 1: Chiefs 40, at Jaguars 26
Patrick Mahomes throwa for 378 yards and three touchdowns with a 143.2 quarterback rating.
Week 2: Chiefs 28, at Raiders 10
Patrick Mahomes throws for 278 yards and four touchdowns in the second quarter.
Week 3: At Chiefs 33, Ravens 28
Rookie Mecole Hardman tallies 97 receiving yards, including an 83-yard touchdown catch.
Week 4: Chiefs 34, at Detroit 30
Bashaud Breeland contributes a 100-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown.
Week 5: Colts 19, at Chiefs 13
K-State product Byron Pringle hauls in a touchdown pass and finishes with 103 receiving yards.
Week 6: Texans 31, at Chiefs 24
Tyreek Hill totals five catches for 80 yards and two touchdowns.
Week 7: Chiefs 30, at Broncos 6
The Chiefs’ defense sacks veteran QB Joe Flacco a whopping nine times.
Week 8: Packers 31, at Chiefs 24
Matt Moore throws for 267 yards and a pair of touchdowns in relief of QB1.
Week 9: At Chiefs 26, Vikings 23
Harrison Butker hits four field goals, including the winner with 3 seconds to play.
Week 10: At Titans 35, Chiefs 32
Mahomes returns with 446 passing yards and three TD passes in weird loss.
Week 11: Chiefs 24, Chargers 17 (in Mexico City)
Travis Kelce catches seven passes for 92 yards and a touchdown.
Week 13: At Chiefs 40, Raiders 9
The Chiefs score on offense, defense and special teams, returning a blocked extra point.
Week 14: Chiefs 23, at Patriots 16
Mahomes throws for 283 yards and a touchdown in besting Brady at Foxborough.
Week 15: At Chiefs 23, Broncos 3
Travis Kelce racks up 142 yards on 11 catches on a snowy day at Arrowhead.
Week 16: Chiefs 26, at Bears 3
Mahomes completes 23 of 33 passes for 251 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
Week 17: At Chiefs 31, Chargers 21
Damien Williams rushes for 124 yards, including an 84-yard touchdown.
This story was originally published January 12, 2020 at 4:00 AM.
