National NFL media gushes about Chiefs after convincing win in AFC Championship Game
There were more than a few people who took note of the Chiefs’ string of one-score victories during the season and wondered if they were really the AFC’s best team.
On Sunday night, the Chiefs routed the Bills 38-24 in the AFC Championship Game and removed all doubt about their conference superiority.
The national NFL media certainly took notice of the convincing win, as writers and commentators heaped praise on the Chiefs. Here is what was said.
In his Football Morning In America column, NBC Sports’ Peter Kings wrote about the Chiefs and upcoming Super Bowl.
Here is a snippet: “In the 38-24 victory, Kansas City showed signs of gaining the dominance the team did not have in the last couple of months, winning seven straight games by six points or less. We know the quarterbacks in Super Bowl LV will be special. But with Tampa and Kansas City both showing offensive explosiveness and defensive pressure on mobile quarterbacks, there’s no doubt this could be a special Super Bowl.”
Nick Shook of NFL.com offered his takeaways from the AFC Championship Game, and one focused on the Chiefs’ defense.
This is part of what he wrote: “The exciting showdown so many of us thought was coming never materialized because the Bills’ explosive offense couldn’t get its gunpowder out of the barrels it had rolled out onto its sideline. Credit is due to Kansas City’s defense, which sabotaged Buffalo’s attempts to put significant points on the board by limiting the Bills to a 5-of-14 night on third down, and held Buffalo to three field goals on trips into Kansas City territory -- including two possessions that ended inside the 10-yard line. The key to Kansas City’s defensive success centered largely on the Chiefs’ ability to take Stefon Diggs out of the game. At halftime, Diggs had just two catches for 12 yards, and he reached the start of the fourth quarter with a total of four receptions for 28 yards. Josh Allen was forced to look elsewhere, finding early success in short-yardage situations by dumping it off to tight end Dawson Knox, but without his top receiver making much of an impact and no rushing game to speak of (Allen led the Bills with 88 yards on seven attempts), Buffalo’s offense entered a rut it couldn’t lift itself out of until the game was already decided.”
Yahoo Sports’ Frank Schwab wrote a story with the headline, “Patrick Mahomes’ greatness on display again as Chiefs beat Bills to get to Super Bowl LV.”
Here is an excerpt: “The Chiefs are a machine. The Bills were a more dominant team over the second half of the season, a Hail Mary from winning 12 in a row before the AFC title game. It didn’t matter. The Chiefs can turn it on when they need to. The way they outclassed the Bills Sunday was proof that when they play their best, they are clearly the top team in football. The Chiefs can probably count on playing late into the postseason for many more years, as long as Mahomes is their quarterback.”
ESPN’s “Get Up” commentators gushed about Mahomes:
Benjamin Hoffman of the New York Times wrote about what was learned from the championship games.
This is a snippet of what he wrote about what qualifies as a dynasty: “Kansas City has played in the A.F.C. championship game three seasons in a row, winning it twice, and has a chance to be the first team to repeat as Super Bowl champions since the Patriots did it after the 2003 and 2004 seasons. While sports teams are typically only considered a dynasty after three championships, the N.F.L.’s lack of repeat winners in recent decades in the salary cap era makes it worth considering if two titles would constitute a dynasty.”
Fox Sports’ Nick Wright broke down the efficiency of the Chiefs’ offense:
Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post wrote about the Chiefs’ return to the Super Bowl.
Here is an excerpt: “Until further notice — or maybe until Tom Brady has his say — there are the Chiefs and there is everybody else. Kansas City is headed back to the Super Bowl after its 38-24 dispatching of the Buffalo Bills at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Mo., another statement of its superiority. In two weeks, Mahomes and the Chiefs will face Brady’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers in a dream Super Bowl LV matchup. The Chiefs will be favored over the legend playing at his home stadium in his 10th Super Bowl, a fitting acknowledgment of their place atop the league.”
Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer wrote about the effort of the Chiefs’ defense.
Here is a snippet: “Over the first 10 minutes of the second quarter, as the Chiefs’ offense rang up 21 points, the defense held the Bills to 17 yards, a single first down and two punts, which effectively turned a 9–0 deficit into a 21–9 lead. From there, a red-zone stop and a pick from Rashad Fenton, who came in hobbled by ankle and foot injuries, helped capped a 38-6 run that turned a promising start into a humbling loss for Buffalo.”
The Ringer’s Kaelen Jones wrote a story with the headline, “The Kansas City Chiefs continue to prove they’re the NFL’s new standard.”
This is part of what Jones wrote: “All season, the Chiefs had a massive target on their back. Their ‘run it back’ motto suggested the franchise embraced the challenge. Kansas City took every opponent’s best shot, as evidenced by its 8-1 mark in one-possession games during the regular season. However, it didn’t matter how many different ways teams tried to beat the Chiefs — they always had answers for how to come out on top. They marched to a 14-2 record and the AFC’s No. 1 seed, clinching a bye with one week in the schedule to spare. They survived losing Mahomes in the divisional round against the Browns, and this week pummeled the only team in the conference considered capable of beating them. Even as analysts have questioned whether the Chiefs were as sure a thing as some thought, they kept proving time and again that they were the NFL’s only constant team.”
This story was originally published January 26, 2021 at 10:20 AM.
