A Super Bowl Caliber Team

In a given year, there might be 4 or 5 Super Bowl Caliber teams for only 2 spots. Last season, I think it's safe to say there were 4 SB Caliber teams. The two that made it, plus the Saints and Chiefs were both one play away. The Bears were a kicker away from finding out if they were in the conversation. The Chargers were more than a few plays away. (The year before, the Eagles and Pats were SB Caliber, but also the Jags and Saints were one play away.)

Which goes to show that you can build a Super Bowl Caliber team, but that doesn't mean you're going to win it or even make the game. The Saints have seen their Super Bowl hopes end on fluke plays in back to back years. But the goal is to do what the Patriots have done. If you have a SB Caliber team for 4 years, hopefully you make at least 2 and win at least 1. If you can build a SB Caliber team for almost 20 years, that's how you build a dynasty.

When you think of building a SB Caliber team on paper, usually we think of what the Rams did last year, bringing in multiple great free agents. Sometimes that doesn't work (Eagles 2011 Dream Team) but last year, the Rams won the offseason and then went to the Super Bowl. But another way of building a top team is through the coaches. The Patriots success belongs to Brady's Offense and Belichick's defense. Usually they're both pretty great. Sometimes one is hall of fame level, which can carry the other side.

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A couple weeks ago, I wrote about the Chiefs new DC Spags. I noted that while he's not an up and coming younger guy, he brings a lot to the table. Well, Spags has brought in up and coming guys who were sought-after candidates for Defensive Coordinator positions.

First they got the DL coach from the Patriots, Brendan Daly. You know, the defense that just won the Super Bowl by allowing 3 points.

And DB coach Merritt, who's also won Super Bowls.

And then they added Matt House, the guy that turned around Kentucky's defense. 

I don't claim to be an expert on defensive fronts, but I like what I see:




Based on this, I feel like Chiefs could absolutely be a top 15, maybe top 10 defense next year. That might sound crazy from where we were last year, but the Chiefs D has good players. I think these coaches will make a serious difference.

You pair that with a top 5 offense (last year Chiefs were #1) and that's a Super Bowl Caliber team. Doesn't guarantee they make it or win it. But you have a chance.

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The Chiefs are going to the Super Bowl.

The Favorites for Super Bowl LIV

are the Chiefs. What a world to be living in.

The Farthest I've Ever Seen The Chiefs Go

Let's start here. Here are the Quarterbacks that have represented the AFC in the Super Bowl since Brady started playing. (It's easier to do QBs than teams because Peyton switched teams.)

01-02 - Brady
02-03 - Gannon
03-04 - Brady
04-05 - Brady
05-06 - Roethlisberger
06-07 - Manning
07-08 - Brady
08-09 - Roethlisberger
09-10 - Manning
10-11 - Roethlisberger
11-12 - Brady
12-13 - Flacco
13-14 - Manning
14-15 - Brady
15-16 - Manning
16-17 - Brady
17-18 - Brady
18-19 - Brady

Since Brady has entered the league, it's either been him or Peyton or Big Ben, plus one year of Flacco and one year of Gannon. In a league of parity, that's crazy. On the other side, only Wilson and Eli have multiple appearances.

(And just for fun, Brady has won MVP three times. Those years he is 0-2 in the Super Bowl.)

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You hear the question a lot in sports conversations: "Would you take this?" It's usually in the context of "If I had told you before the season that the Chiefs would go 6-1 in their first seven, would you take this?" Now I think I've figured out what that means, but I don't know that I've ever heard it fully explained.

As in, what is the opposite of not taking it? Well the opposite would be to let the season play out and be stuck with the results. (Of course, fans are always in this boat. We're always stuck with the results. We never get a chance to take any of these hypotheticals.

So before the 2018-2019 season, if you had offered me two scenarios:

Scenario A: The Chiefs were going to host the AFC Championship in Arrowhead and lose.
Scenario B: Let the season play out. Chiefs could finish anywhere from first to last in the league.

I would have picked Scenario A. That means that we won a playoff game, I got to see them in the AFC Championship for the first time, they get to host the AFC Championship for the first time and that Mahomes must be pretty good.

All of this is true. I'm happy with the season.

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In 2012, Russel Wilson went to the playoffs in his first season as a starter. The Seahawks went 1-1 in the playoffs that year. The next year they came back and made it to the Super Bowl and won it, 43-8 over the shitty Broncos.

In 2014, the Kansas City Royals went to the World Series. They lost. The next year they came back and won it all.

Sometimes people say that playoff experience is important. Well, if it is or isn't, the Chiefs got some good experience this year.

I've always sort of imagined that this might happen one step at a time. Which means the Chiefs might have to get to the Super Bowl and lose before they can go and win.

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There's also the case that this needed to happen. If they beat the Patriots and go to the Super Bowl and the defense plays great but they still lose (let's say to the Saints, lol) maybe Andy Reid feels like he can't fire Bob Sutton. And then it keeps going on for years, where Sutton's D costs Mahomes best Super Bowl window.

And yep, the Patriots are still the team to beat. Tom Brady will be 42 next season and says he wants to play to 45. So maybe it was best in the long run to lose this one, fire Sutton, replace with Spags who's had Super Bowl success against Brady.

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If you asked me this year, would you take a Super Bowl appearance and loss or would you let it play out...I'd let it play out. The bar has been raised.

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With a minute to go in the AFC Championship, there was a brief moment where I thought "the Chiefs are going to the Super Bowl." Here is that moment:

This play could have been known as Ward's Interception. Or Brady's 3rd pick. But instead it's known as Dee Ford offsides.

It's crazy how perceptions are formed, legends are written, on fragile circumstances. I've written this before how if the helmet catch doesn't happen, Tom Brady gets to 19-0.

Well, if Dee Ford scoots back a foot, Brady throws three picks and is blamed. Gronk is blamed. They're both washed up.

The previous Pats Super Bowl win was the Falcons comeback. The Falcons really should have held on to that one. And the one before that was the Seahawks passing from the 1.

You change three plays. Dee Ford. Falcons sack. Seahawks pass. Now the Patriots haven't won a Super Bowl since the 2004 season. It would be 6 straight Super Bowl losses for them. How different a legacy for Brady and Belichick, if you change 3 plays.

(Of course, it's just as easy to go the other way. Change the helmet catch, change one play from Giants in 2011, change Philly Special. Now the Pats are 9-0 in Super Bowls, including 19-0. Barf. Legends are written based on what happens, not what could have been.)

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Another thing about the Dee Ford play...this wasn't the Super Bowl. I know, it would have put the Chiefs there. And the Rams looked shitty against the Pats, but you never know. This cost them a chance at a title, not the title itself. There are plays in week 11 or sometimes 4 that cost you a chance at a title.

What I'm trying to say, it's not as hurtful as it would have been in the actual Super Bowl. It's not the Falcons collapse or the Bills wide right. (Honestly, I don't know how a Falcons fan doesn't walk away after that game.)

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Back in November I posted this list of QBs to make an appearance in the AFC Championship game. This was back when it looked like the Chargers might bump the Chiefs to the 5th seed.

Brady: 12
Manning: 5
Roethlisberger: 5
Flacco: 3
Sanchez: 2
Stewart: 1
Gannon: 1
McNair: 1
Plummer: 1
Rivers: 1
Luck: 1
Bortles: 1
Trent Green/Matt Cassel/Alex Smith: 0

Well now it's time to make updates. 

Brady: 13 out of 18 seasons
Mahomes: 1 out of 1 season

Mahomes MVP

Youngest NFL MVP since Marino in 84. That's the company Mahomes is in now.

And Chiefs get their first MVP which means they are no longer on this list:

So now and forever, if you ever here a Chiefs fan chanting M-V-P, there's only one person we're thinking of.