The
Kansas City Chiefs have constantly been in the playoff discussion ever since Patrick Mahomes's career began. The current ride that
the Kansas City Chiefs have consistently been on is a monstrous feat,
but it takes more than just results out on the field for 60 minutes a game
every Sunday afternoon for 17 weeks.
Success must be earned, success must be premeditated, and there are a series
of tasks that must be repeated throughout months, years, or even decades. Repetition and failures on your journey will
help you become successful and are crucial to the learning curve. It is often underestimated how many
humans It takes to excel in any sport for any team or organization. Several humans are needed, but it could also
make a difference with one certain piece if all the other pieces buy into the
process that has the right ingredients and recipe for success. Success in the NFL is different depending on
the individual, it doesn’t have to mean the same for every person or every
team.
Chiefs head coach Andy Reid has
been around the sport of football for a long time now. He has held various coaching positions amongst other roles for numerous teams in the past 42 years. Andy started as an O-Line coach at San
Francisco State, then went on to Northern Arizona to do the same in 1986 for
just one season before moving on again, to UTEP, then Missouri. The Green Bay Packers hired Andy in 1992 to
begin his NFL coaching career. In doing
so GB made coach Reid their Assistant O-Line & TE coach, and then in 1997, they
upgraded him to their QB coach & Assistant HC. It wasn’t until 1999 when Andy Reid was hired
by the Philadelphia Eagles for his first head coaching job. That was when he wound up becoming
a household name. Under Reid, the Eagles
had a seemingly continual playoff run every year of his tenure. Andy led Philly to nine playoff runs
(1999-2012), six division titles, and five NFC Championship Games, (four
straight 2001-2004) plus he also brought them to a Super Bowl. Though he got them there the Eagles' play
showed that they were not quite ready for the challenge against the eventual golden
boy or the golden arm in Tom Brady.
Super Bowl XXXIX against the New England Patriots the Philadelphia
Eagles ended up losing 24-21, by just a field goal, and unfortunately for the
E-A-G-L-E-S Eagles, they never made it back under the Andy Reid regime.
Andy got word that the
Eagles would move on from him and was fired after the 2012
season. After Reid was relieved of his
duties in Philly, though you could never see it coming then, it was
honestly the best thing that could’ve ever happened for his coaching
career. Of course, I am alluding to the
fact that ‘‘Big Red’’ was hired to become the Kansas City Chiefs HC in
2013 following his departure from the Eagles.
Andy has become one of the G.O.A.T.S. among NFL head
coaches. With Bill Belichick out of the
league this year, coach Reid should probably be considered the sole best HC
in the league, at least this year given a possible return to the NFL, in the
future for ex-Patriots HC Bill Belichick.
Big Red, as he’s known in KC has taken these Chiefs to the biggest game
in the NFL four different times, of course winning three times is an incredible
resume alone. In route to these Super Bowl appearances, Reid led KC to 10 postseason runs in 11 seasons.
“Chiefs Kingdom” as many
refer to it has become a staple for postseason play and you can practically lock that in every year before week one of the regular season. KC has won eight straight AFC West titles
and made six consecutive AFC Championship Games. Under HC Andy Reid they also won their first
playoff game since 1993 when they came away with a win in 2015 against the
Houston Texans in a complete shut out 30-0.
That win against Houston ended the Chiefs record of the NFL’s most
consecutive playoff losses. He also led
them to clinch consecutive division titles (2016-2017) for the first time in
Kansas City’s history. Then the Chiefs won their first Super Bowl in 50 years in Super Bowl LIV (2019). Though Andy is still their HC it is
safe to say that these Kansas City Chiefs will probably never have another HC
as great as Andy, and one who possesses the football intelligence he has. Reid came into a situation in KC that was
very bad, and he helped revitalize this team & organization by not just
turning them into a competitive team, but also the league’s best team who is
currently seeking their third straight Championship!
This article was started by the implication that to have the success both Andy and the
Chiefs have had to this point it takes patience, time, and the right people to
get you to these kinds of heights. Well,
I know I would be remiss if I didn’t speak about certain people or
individual players here in the red, white, & yellow. Obviously, the football games are won on the
field every Sunday, not in the coaching staff offices, at practice, or
anywhere else. At the professional level
of football, you may be able to win meaningful games in the regular season
without a breakout talent out of your running back, receiver, or even tight end
skilled positional groups. If you are a
team that achieves this then you must have more than competent play from your
quarterback. Sure, some teams have won a Super Bowl with a “game manager” type of QB but they also need a top-tier defense and possibly one or two all-stars from his skilled
positions.
Patrick Mahomes interestingly
enough was vastly underrated during his college football days at Texas
Tech. While playing for the Red Raiders,
Mahomes freshman season he only played in 7 games and obviously didn’t produce
a whole lot because of his limited playing time. In his sophomore season, he provided a high level
of play while posting 36 TDs, and 15 INTs, rushing for 10 more touchdowns and throwing for
4,653 yards (including bowl game stats).
When Mahomes was a senior his gameplay was once again elevated to
another level as we watched him pass for over 5,000 yards, while also throwing 41
TDS, 10 INTs, and an added 12 rushing touchdowns on 260 yards. This was showing us the possible talent he
could be as an NFL starter early on, though what he was about to become in KC
nobody could have ever predicted. Enter
2017 when Kansas City drafted Patrick 10th overall in the first
round of the NFL draft. Upon getting to
Arrowhead Mahomes was placed as the backup to a pretty good QB in Alex
Smith. At this point, HC Andy
Reid was still trying to help rebuild this team and organization from the
inside out. After a good season
(4,000+ pass yds, 26 TDs-5 INTs ) as the Chiefs QB1 Smith finished the season 8th
in passing yards and 1st in passer rating (104.7), though he and the
Chiefs ultimately came up short in the Wild Card Round 22-21 against the
Tennessee Titans.
2018 started a whole new era
for Kansas City at Arrowhead Stadium.
After 2017 KC decided to part with QB Alex Smith and give way to this
young, gifted, freak of an athlete in Patrick Mahomes. In his first season as a
starter, we all probably thought to ourselves, KC has something special here,
but it was still too soon to really understand all the dynamics of this
eventual dynasty that was being built in front of our eyes. Patrick had recorded insane numbers right off
the bat, torching the ball to over 5,000 yards, while slinging 50
TDs, & 12 INTs. He took KC to the
playoffs that season and went 1-1 (a record).
In 2019 Mahomes numbers dropped significantly throwing a thousand yards fewer than in 2018 and having half as many TDs & INTs (26-5), but when it came
to the postseason, he went 3-0 and wrapped up the year with his first Super
Bowl Victory. This showed even further the ingenious offensive-minded coach Andy Reid.
2020-2022 Mahomes threw between 4,740-5,250
yds, ascending each season also staying consistent with TDs both passing
(38tds, 37tds, 41tds- 2020-2022) and rushing (2tds,2tds,4tds). Along with his statistics increasing each
season he also has had his team in the playoffs and winning their division (AFC
West) every single season that he has been in the league. Mahomes has now played in 4 Super Bowls with
his only loss coming at the hands of Tom Brady, when he took the Tampa Bay
Buccaneers to Super Bowl LV and prevailed 31-9 over KC. Since then, the Chiefs of Kansas City have
become what is known as the “Chiefs Kingdom” and have gone on to win back-to-back
Super Bowl Championships (2022-2023) with no sign of slowing down anytime soon.
General Manager Brett Veach alongside Andy
Reid are two masterminds at bringing in talent and are both responsible for
this franchise’s meteoric rise which is why Andy is very much involved with the
roster and player personnel. They have
kept this roster built strongly and improved it again this offseason. I think one of the most undervalued moves
made by KC is the signing of veteran backup quarterback Carson Wentz. They also added depth to their receiver core
with the additions of Marquise “Hollywood” Brown in free agency and drafting the
man who set the new all-time fastest 40-yard time in the history of the
NFL, Xavier Worthy. The Chiefs also
signed JuJu Smith-Schuster to his second stint with KC while Brown is still out
with shoulder issues from a dislocated shoulder. Let’s also not forget last year’s dependable
rookie WR Rashee Rice plus RB Isiah Pacheco.
The other day the Chiefs also made a huge splash with the extension
given to Pro Bowl O-lineman, Center Creed Humphrey who got a hefty contract
agreeing to a $72M deal that includes $50M in guarantees. That deal makes Creed Humphrey the highest-paid C in the league.
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