Kansas City Chiefs: Road to the Super Bowl

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A football on campus (source: Brian Guan)

Last year, the Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl journey was cut short in the conference championship against the Cincinnati Bengals. They came up just short, but this game just fueled their fire to win next year. The Chiefs had to make major decisions to help win another championship. 

 

In the offseason, the Chiefs traded their star receiver, Tyreek Hill to the Miami Dolphins. In the previous season, Tyreek Hill had 9 touchdowns, over 100 catches, and over 1,000 yards. People believed that this trade would make the Chiefs a worse team. However, the Chiefs replaced Hill with receiver, Juju Smith-Schuster and Marquez Valdes-Scantling. The Chiefs improved their team by drafting Trent Mcduffie (cornerback), Skyy Moore (wide receiver), and Isaih Pacheco (running back). All of these players would get their chance to play in the Super Bowl and made a huge impact on the final game. 

 

The Kansas City Chiefs started off the season with 2 straight wins against the Arizona Cardinals (44-21) and the Los Angeles Chargers (27-24). Isaih Pacheco proved his value in week 1 against Arizona with 1 touchdown and 62 rushing yards. In the first 2 games alone, star quarterback, Patrick Mahomes, had thrown 7 touchdown passes and almost 600 passing yards. In week 3, the Chiefs faced their first loss against the Indianapolis Colts (20-17). 

 

After their first loss, the Chiefs won 7 out of their next 9 games. In this 9 game period, Patrick Mahomes threw for more than 2,500 yards and 22 touchdowns. Mahomes’ performance put him in the MVP race and he was the frontrunner. The Chiefs went on to win the last 5 games of the season, securing them the #1 seed in the AFC conference, and gave them a bye in the wildcard round. Isaih Pacheco took over the starting running back role in the Chiefs backfield for these last games, and his performance improved every week. 

 

In the divisional round, the Chiefs defeated the Jacksonville Jaguars 27 to 20. Towards the end of the first quarter, Mahomes was hit and limped off of the sideline. After the timeout, Mahomes re-entered the game but was very limited for the remainder of the possession. The next drive, backup quarterback, Chad Henne, led a 98 yard drive that resulted in a touchdown. Mahomes was forced into the locker room for X-Rays where it was determined that he had a high ankle sprain. This injury affected Mahomes for the rest of the journey to the Super Bowl. However, Mahomes finished the rest of the game with 195 yards and 2 touchdowns. 

 

In the AFC championship, the Chiefs went against the Cincinnati Bengals. Until the end, the game was neck and neck. With 1 minute left in the 4th quarter, the score was tied at 20. With 40 seconds left, the Chiefs stopped the Bengals with Chris Jones (Chiefs defensive tackle) sacking Joe Burrow (Bengals quarterback). Skyy Moore returned the punt for about 25 yards, putting the Chiefs close to field goal range. With 10 seconds left, Mahomes scrambled toward the 40 yard line but was fouled by Bengals defensive end, Joseph Ossai. This penalty advanced the ball 15 yards forward, and Harrison Butker kicked the game winning field goal. 

 

In the Super Bowl, the Eagles scored a quick touchdown on their first drive, making the score 7-0. In the next drive, Isaih Pacheco helped move the ball down the field, and the drive was finished with a touchdown pass from Patrick Mahomes to tight end, Travis Kelce. The Eagles went on to score a touchdown, and the chiefs had to punt the ball after not scoring on the next drive. The score was 14-7 (Eagles winning) when Chiefs linebacker, Nick Bolton, forced a fumble and returned it for a touchdown, and the game was tied again. Before halftime, the Eagles were able to score a touchdown and field goal (24-14 Eagles). After halftime, the Chiefs received the ball, and Isaih Pacheco finished the drive with a 1 yard touchdown (24-21). The Chiefs’ defense held the Eagles to only a field goal, and they kept the game to 1 possession (27-21). The Chiefs then scored another touchdown pass with Mahomes to receiver, Kadarius Toney (27-28). This drive was mostly led by Isaih Pacheco and Juju Smith-Schuster, the players who they received in the offseason. 

 

The Eagles were unable to do anything on their next drive, and punted the ball to Kadarius Toney, who returned the punt all the way to the 5 yard line. In just a couple of plays, rookie receiver, Skyy Moore, caught a touchdown pass to extend the lead to 27 to 35. The next Eagles drive, Jalen Hurts (quarterback) carried his team to the end zone and they converted the 2 point conversion with a Hurts rush (35-35). There was about 5 minutes left in the game, but the Chiefs chewed down the rest of the time and were aiming to win with a game winning field goal. It was third down, and the pass was incomplete, so the Chiefs would score with 2 minutes left. However, there was defensive holding on cornerback James Bradburry which resulted in a Chiefs first down. The chiefs wasted the rest of the clock, and Harrison Butker kicked the game winning field goal. 

 

This Super Bowl win was important for Patrick Mahomes’ legacy because it was his second Super Bowl win and second Super Bowl mvp title. People are calling Patrick Mahomes the baby GOAT because he could become the greatest of all time if he keeps up his success for a long time.