The Kansas City Chiefs are NFL champions again and Travis Kelsey only wants one thing.
“Put some respect on our name,” said the spirited finale after Kansas City edged out the Philadelphia Eagles 38-35 in a thrilling Super Bowl LVII game.
“[Not] Someone said the chiefs are bringing her home this year. Not even one. feel that this ***? feel that?”
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Well, maybe Kelsey was exaggerating a bit. Well, actually a lotBecause it’s not like the Chiefs are an amazing underdog story that the entire NFL could get behind.
But after trading away star wide receiver Tyreek Hill, it looked like Kansas City was taking a small step back this season in order to move forward into the future.
The latter is still true. The Chiefs have 11 picks in the upcoming draft and plenty of room to work with, too. Moving up from Hill though, it didn’t slow down Kansas City.
Instead, it has accelerated the development of some new offensive weapons, led by Isiah Pacheco in the seventh round.
Meanwhile, some things have remained the same. Kelsey was still the best tight end in the league, relying solely on his unstoppable relationship with quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
Speaking of Mahomes, he became the first player to be named the NFL MVP and Super Bowl MVP in the same season this century, all while teetering on a sprained ankle.
“I think what I realized by the end of this year and what I’m willing to accept is that Mahomes is on his own level,” he said. Athletic Robert May said on “The Athletic Football Show” last month.
“He’s at his level as a quarterback and an NFL quarterback. He’s the best player in football.”
Mahomes has been here before, universally celebrated with falling confetti and another crowning moment added to the 27-year-old’s long list of achievements in the sport.
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But this is different poetry. That, Mahomes said after Monday’s game, seemed like a reminder of how difficult it has been to get to this point — as an individual and as a team.
“We’re not done yet,” he defiantly claimed.
“This hits differently. You appreciate the hard work it took to get here.”
After all, it was only two years ago that Mahomes—as he put it—was defeated “the worst I’ve been in a long time” when the Chiefs were humbled in their last Super Bowl appearance.
Mahomes had 26 of 49 passing for 270 yards and two interceptions and no touchdowns as the chief quarterbacks were constantly pressured by Tampa Bay’s ferocious offensive line.
In fact, Mahomes was pressured into a Super Bowl record 29 times in the 31-9 loss, but it was the lingering pain of that defeat that put the Chiefs on the road to glory once again.
It all started with a promise from GM Brit Fitch.
“She was on a bus ride outside the stadium,” said Louis Riddick. ESPN.
“he [Veach] He thought to himself and said to Andy Reed, “I’m going to fix this.” This will not happen to us again. We’ll never have quarterbacks under duress like that again if I can help it.”
“Then they immediately went out and signed Joe Thune, drafted Creed Humphrey, got Orlando Brown, got Trey Smith, and the result is you can lose Tyrek Hill, you can make Clyde Edwards-Hellier go to IR, get a seventh-inning run and come back and pick up the slack, you can Signing with Marquez Valdes-Scantling and Juju Smith-Schuster, the player could still throw for 5,000 yards and win his second MVP award and win the Super Bowl MVP.
“Get out of here.”
With Mahomes already crippled by a sprained ankle, and then apparently festering the injury in the second quarter, the rebuilt Kansas City offensive line was even more important.
And they did just that, not giving up a single sack to an Eagles defense that ranked best in the league in pass rushing and had the third-most sacks (78) in NFL history this season.
“We just got through and did our job at the highest level,” Brown said after the game.
“It was all worth it. Zero bags. Tell them to wear it over a T-shirt.”
For former NFL quarterback Dan Orlovski, Monday’s Super Bowl victory was yet another example of how complete Kansas City is as a team.
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“Today was in many ways for me a glimpse into why Kansas City has been the way it has been for the past five years,” he said. ESPN.
“Patrick was phenomenal, that rebuilt offensive line didn’t give up a sack, Andy Reed put on an absolute coaching clinic with Eric Bienemy on how to downgrade the defense and then attack him. The defense made the plays.”
Further evidence that trading away for a wide receiver won’t be the disastrous hit that some talking heads seem to make it.
Instead, the chiefs are back where they’re supposed to be, “on top of the mountain” as Kelsey puts it, and bracing for the future so they don’t have to go back down for long.
But is it a breed?
Mahomes has been reluctant to say that word so far, telling reporters after the game that the Chiefs have “a long way to go” before they can call themselves that.
“I wouldn’t say dynasty yet,” Mahomes said. “Because we are not finished.”
“You can call it whatever you want,” Kelechi added.
“All I know is that we will be back next year in our hearts and minds.”
Although Chris Jones predicted the Chiefs would build a dynasty three years ago, after Kansas City defeated the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl LIV.
“We’re going to build a dynasty in Kansas City,” he said in 2020.
“We’re like the Golden State Warriors, baby.”
A man named Tom Brady has other ideas. But that loss brought major changes to the offensive line and now that Kansas City is back again, does Jones still think this is a dynasty?
“I told you this after the first Super Bowl,” he said.
“I told you all this, ‘We’re going to go right back. Everyone laughed. Everyone thought I was just talking from the side of my neck.”
But he was right and now the foundations are laid for Kansas City and the Mahomes-Kelsey combo to dominate the league for at least a few more years.
“With all the change they’ve had in their team, all the rookies that are playing this year, it’s supposed to be a bridge year,” said Reddick.
“They have 11 renewal options and they will have a lot of cap space this off-season. What does that say?”
She says the chiefs knew what they were doing. She says they’re always finding different ways to keep the competition guessing.
She says maybe Kells is right. Maybe we Still Didn’t put enough respect on their names.
