Kansas City Chiefs --- GOOD RUN or DYNASTY

Thirty days ago, the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles went head-to-head in super bowl LIX and Chiefs Kingdom suffered through sixty minutes of agony as the Eagles dominated on every aspect of the game. This super bowl felt a lot like watching footballs preeminent game in 2021, where the Chiefs were dominated by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Within the past 30 days writers, talking heads, and fans have had many explanations of what happened during those 60 minutes. Interestingly, very few of the discussions consisted of participants who played the game, but everyone is entitled to their opinions. So let me be perfectly clear, I didn’t play the game either, but I also have my opinions.

Reviewing and comparing the Tampa Bay game and the Philadelphia Eagles game one thing stands out, the Chiefs were dominated at the line of scrimmage. However, it seemed the most popular subject matter focused

on Patrick Mahomes. It’s far “sexier” to focus on one of the elite players and tear him down, after you spent years building him up as the next

GOAT.

There is no argument here that Mahomes was completely out of sync, hesitating on his reads and missing his targets either too far ahead or

behind his receivers. Mahomes had 42 drop backs, and was sacked six times, without the Eagles ever blitzing. The Eagle's defense was able pressure 45% of his drop-backs and at the end of the 3rd quarter Mahomes was 9 for 16.

There is no argument that Patrick Mahomes had one of the worst days of his career, but let’s not put the entire game on his shoulders. He is a true leader and demonstrated this during the post-game press conference taking complete responsibility for letting the game get out of control and the Chiefs losing.

A quarterback may have three reads on each pass play, if the first ones not there, you have a split second to shift your focus to the next options. The Chiefs offensive line was a question mark all season trying to find a solution at left tackle. During the second half of the season they moved Joe Thuney, a likely hall of fame left guard, to left tackle. As good as Joe Thuney is he struggled to protect Mahomes. Thuney had the most uncomfortable day up-front, but the entire offensive line could not keep the Eagles defensive front four from finding the weak spots and not allowing Mahomes to find his second or third receiver.

For Chiefs Kingdom this game was déjà vu. They must have felt they were asleep having a nightmare re-living the 2021 contest against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers losing 32 to 9. The Chiefs rebounded after that embarrassing loss the following year in 2022 making it back to the AFC Championship game but losing to the Cincinnati Bengals, 27-24. Then two years after the loss to Tampa Bay they came back strong winning the 2023 Super Bowl against the Eagles. 38-35. What changed in from 2021 to

2023, the chiefs rebuilt their offensive line and bolstered their defense.

Since Patrick Mahomes became the full time starting quarterback the Chiefs have appeared in seven straight AFC Championship games winning five of them. Those five wins have advanced the Chiefs to five Super Bowls winning 3 of those. By any measure it is certain that any NFL franchise would be ecstatic with those results. The question becomes are the Kansas City Chiefs a dynasty or experiencing a very good run? Only time will tell for sure. We know they are experiencing an exceptional run,

can or will history say they were a dynasty.

If I were at a sports book, I would take the odds on them being recognized in future years as a dynasty. They have a quarterback who ranks one, two or three year after year. In seven seasons he has led the team to five Super

Bowls winning three of them. That statistic ties him for fourth all time in Super Bowl wins and he is only 29 years old. The Chiefs coach is an no brainer first ballot Hall of Fame member. There is no indication that Andy Reid has any intentions of retiring. The front office is one of the best in the league and the team chemistry appears to be as strong as any in the league.

Finally, the Chiefs have already begun to make moves to define changes for next year’s season. Travis Kelce has committed to another year and

seems hell bent on making all the negative talking heads eat their words. The Chiefs also appear to be ready to place a franchise tag on their all pro right guard Trey Smith and if anyone thinks they will not have a new starting left tackle either through the draft or free agency, then you should switch to following basketball.

Chiefs good run or dynasty? My vote goes to dynasty!

-John Sullivan & Shannon Duff