‘You know we’re living right.’ Chiefs take AFC No. 2 seed to start quest in earnest
With an AFC championship in their grasp only to be squandered by an offsides penalty, an untoward coin toss and an ensuing defensive meltdown, last season ended in a new sort of torment for the Chiefs and their fans after so many years of early flameouts.
“That was almost one of the happiest moments of my life,” said cornerback Charvarius Ward, whose apparent game-clinching interception was negated by the infamous Dee Ford offsides call.
Instead …
“That was a sickening feeling, knowing we had the game sealed,” Ward said after the Chiefs beat the Los Angeles Chargers 31-21 Sunday at Arrowhead Stadium to earn the AFC’s No. 2 seed in the playoffs thanks to the Miami Dolphins’ improbable upset of the New England Patriots.
But that sickening sensation also was the closest whiff of a Super Bowl since the franchise’s last berth nearly a half-century ago. So it had more resonance than just the anguish of a rare opportunity frittered away: What didn’t kill them made them stronger.
It became a baseline for expectations in the dawning of the age of Patrick Mahomes, whose wondrous game singlehandedly changed the perception of what’s possible for a justifiably show-me fan base.
And the Chiefs’ 37-31 loss to the Patriots that day last January also was a catalyst, both in terms of engaging an extreme makeover of the defense and inspiring a quest to reach the next step.
That “four inches” away, coach Andy Reid reiterated Sunday, gave them “a taste of it” that Mahomes said “definitely gave me some motivation.”
That inspiration and vision fueled them through the offseason and the slog of training camp. It sparked them through a 4-0 start and buoyed them beyond a midseason sag of four losses in six games.
And it has animated them through a compelling stretch run of six straight wins marked by their reinvented defense allowing an average of 11.5 points a game in that span.
Now the chase begins in earnest — with an utterly unexpected boost furnished by the Dolphins, who were 5-10 entering their season finale and had been thrashed by the Patriots 43-0 at home in September.
On Sunday? Miami upended New England 27-24.
“Man, football gods (are) looking out for us,” receiver Sammy Watkins said, adding, “To have the Dolphins beat the Patriots, you know we’re living right; we’re doing right over here.”
If you’re looking for signs of good mojo, this would do.
A “late Christmas present,” center Austin Reiter called it.
One that left the Chiefs and Patriots with equal 12-4 records but the Chiefs with a first-round bye, thanks to owning the tiebreaker by virtue of their 23-16 win at New England this season.
At its simplest, it means the Chiefs only have to win two games to get to the Super Bowl instead of three. To Mahomes’ way of thinking, and it’s perfectly logical, it’s effectively as if the Chiefs won two games in one day.
“It’s basically a win (next week); I mean, that’s basically what it is,” he said. “You basically get to … eliminate that game, and then you get to play a home game.”
No wonder Reid in the opening remarks of his postgame news conference couldn’t resist saying “hail to the Dolphins.”
Whether this all translates into ultimately being able to say “hail to the Chiefs,” of course, remains to be seen. And, yes, they were flat Sunday before Mecole Hardman’s 104-yard kickoff return and Damien Williams’ 84-yard touchdown run gave them a 24-14 lead and changed the complexion of the game in the third quarter.
But it seems reasonable to assume this was merely a workmanlike blip with the bright horizon perhaps more on their minds Sunday.
And with the exception of a knee injury that left sterling rookie safety Juan Thornhill being carted off, the remainder of his season in apparent jeopardy, this day still was all about forward progress for the Chiefs.
The defense wasn’t what it had been lately, allowing its first touchdown in 10 quarters and two more along the way, but there’s still ample reason to believe it’s vastly improved.
That aforementioned run by Williams, who has missed five games with injuries this season, reminds how much he can bring to a suspect running game. The Chiefs’ special teams are flourishing, producing perhaps their best game of the season against L.A.
The offensive line, ravaged by injuries much of the season, kept Mahomes clean with no sacks and more time to make plays.
And then there’s always Mahomes, who didn’t have his most productive day (16 of 25 for 174 yards) and threw his fifth interception of the season. Tyreek Hill took the blame for the interception, blaming it on a poorly run route. And it appeared that Reid was largely keeping Mahomes under wraps, which also came naturally since the Chiefs hardly were on the field in the third quarter thanks to Hardman and Williams’ explosive plays.
For everything else that has transpired over the last year, Mahomes remains the primary reason to have faith in this team. That faith was well-described by actor, comedian and Chiefs fan Rob Riggle during a Facebook Live session with The Star Sunday morning.
“He changes everything,” Riggle said, later adding, “I definitely think he creates things. Not only like a broken play but whatever he sees out there, he’s always making it up. A lot of it, you have a plan, but the defense has a vote in that plan. A lot of times it gets screwed up, and so you have to adjust.
“And he is one of the best at adjusting on the fly, and he’s got all the physical skills to make that happen. Yeah, I’d say he’s an improv genius.”
Between all that and the painful but stirring experience of a year ago, the Chiefs certainly seem at least positioned and poised to take that next step.
“Time to get healthy,” safety Tyrann Mathieu tweeted after the game, and “Earn the right to be a champion.”
This story was originally published December 29, 2019 at 5:50 PM.