Bring on the real games: Kansas City Chiefs have nothing left to prove this preseason
The play put four tight ends on the field, and asked Patrick Mahomes to roll right and pick one.
He threw back across his body, to the middle of the field, which is not advisable for human quarterbacks but here just meant a touchdown reception for Blake Bell, who made a delicate catch near his shoes and then let fellow tight end Jody Fortson spike it.
The play put Tyreek Hill out wide, and for reasons that historians will debate the Vikings trusted former Chiefs cornerback Bashaud Breeland without any help over the top. Breeland — historians will investigate this one, too — crowded the line of scrimmage and then gave Hill a clean release. By the time Mahomes’ meticulously placed pass landed in his hands, Hill was probably too far ahead of Breeland to hear him scream.
The play may have been marred by some confusion, if we’re honest, because Mahomes ran backward for no apparent reason and then forward, but either way, he looked downfield and saw Travis Kelce open but no passing lane to get the ball there. So he drifted a step or two to his right, leaned his body like he was in a roller-coaster making a turn, and threw a sidearm dart that must’ve made that whistling sound when it buzzed past the defensive lineman locked in a stalemate.
There’s more we could cite, but you get the point. And so do Chiefs coach Andy Reid and offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy and all other NFL employees. This was probably true before, but a 28-25 win over the Minnesota Vikings in the Chiefs’ final preseason game at Arrowhead Stadium on Friday offered more proof that the Chiefs are ready.
Ready for the Browns and after that the Ravens and the Chargers and eventually the world.
Ready to win a sixth consecutive AFC West title, play in a fourth consecutive AFC Championship Game and, after that, a third consecutive Super Bowl.
Chiefs fans of a certain age might want this whispered, because they know how quickly things can turn, but here goes: The offensive line has been really, really good.
“They’ve had an amazing preseason,” Mahomes said. “I haven’t gotten hit a lot. I don’t think I really got touched today. That just speaks to them.”
Mahomes sent the Internet into a tizzy when he said his goal was to go 20-0 this season, and we don’t count preseason games because that would be silly, but 23-0 is now on the table.
That’s a joke. Probably.
The Chiefs will lose a game at some point. Probably.
Preseason football is a lie. That’s probably truer now than it’s ever been, with more teams erring on the side of keeping starters safe. These games have no advanced game planning, little focus on the score, and plenty of plays called to learn lessons more than win downs.
All that said, these games and practices still matter. Coaches will tell you this is when teams are built.
Reid and his assistants have some difficult roster decisions to make, including at wide receiver and along both lines. But no matter those granular decisions, here’s what we’re looking at in broad strokes:
- The sport’s best quarterback with the league’s best pair of pass-catchers behind the best offensive line he’s had.
- A defense with enough pass-rushers to stay fresh for fourth quarters, faster linebackers than they’ve had in years and a secondary with two stars (L’Jarius Sneed is real).
Reid will not say much publicly. He is deliberately monotone in his news conferences, and like all football coaches is more worried about the next problem than the one he just solved. He could watch his team win the Super Bowl by a hundred while eradicating illiteracy and he’d say something like, Listen, I’m proud of the guys, they’re working hard, but all of us know we can still get better.
But he has to know this could be his best team yet.
Mahomes has seen more, and understands more. He is relentlessly self-critical and his stated goal of not breaking the pocket too early meshes with a line that should create a better running game, more consistent protection and more credible options with play action.
The stats that count probably won’t match those from 2018, when Mahomes went 5,000 (yards) and 50 (touchdowns) and the Chiefs averaged 35 points per game. But they could be more efficient this season.
The defense has earned attention during training camp and the preseason for the right reasons. The next man who can block defensive end Chris Jones will be the first. The speed of the linebackers will play in both the run and pass game. The secondary could be deeper, but no rosters are perfect.
NFL games have a way of surprising you. The 2012 Chiefs won twice, and the 2019 Super Bowl champions lost four.
This Chiefs team can be stretched in the secondary, and the offensive line will probably have some ugly moments early. But the Chiefs should be the better team in every game they play this season.
More to the point, this team has an edge. Some of this might be revisionist history or mind games, but there are players and others in the organization who believe last year’s team glided into the Super Bowl without taking full advantage of a season’s worth of opportunities to get better.
That’s part of why Mahomes said 20-0. The message here is to win every day, every practice, every drill. Maybe this is just training-camp talk.
But it’s also true that setbacks can turn into bursts forward, and that Super Bowl loss to the Buccaneers left the Chiefs humbled, angry and determined. Their front office built back stronger, particularly at the line of scrimmage. The players know they have a finite amount of time to make their money and legacy.
The Chiefs’ next Super Bowl win may have been forged out of their last loss.
This story was originally published August 27, 2021 at 11:37 PM.