Kansas City Chiefs and Patrick Mahomes face familiar doubts as search for Super Bowl history continues | NFL News

The Kansas City Chiefs have been here before. The NFL has been here before. The outside doubts, the lackluster performances, the good margin wins, the feeling that their good luck may be about to run out.

And the same aura that inevitably comes with football’s New England Patriots — but slightly more likable — villain. It’s all a little too familiar. And for their rivals, a little too fearless.

Stumbling in a 2023 offensive campaign, they are a shadow of their former destructive selves, and Steve Spagnuolo’s reshuffled defense shut out their favorite teammates and broke the heart of the San Francisco 49ers. Second consecutive Super Bowl.

Now they’re here once again, with a one-point win and Patrick Mahomes posting his worst season statistically, the No. 1 seed and the A. A crucial bye week with a 15-2 record.

Their historic pursuit of a third straight Super Bowl remains alive, and it continues this weekend when they host the Houston Texans for a chance to compete in their seventh straight AFC Championship Game.

Three-peat talk looms over them, though Andy Reid tries to play it off.

“You’re never going there,” Reid told the media. “You’re in a cave.

“You’re just trying to find another game that works. It’s an amazing dynamic. You’re just in the middle of trying to communicate with the players and trying to teach them.”

Lombardi’s victory last season was regarded as both spectacular and highly unlikely, such was their struggle. But another clouded their fortunes this year, with late exits and marquee injuries allowing them to continue to dominate without really letting us know if they’re good or not.

The Chiefs didn’t take their first lead against the Los Angeles Chargers until the final six minutes of the Week 4 game, surviving overtime after Isaiah’s sprained toe beat the Baltimore Ravens on Opening Day. He blocked a last-second field goal to deny the Denver Broncos a 9-0 start against Bucker Mayfield and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Only then did they get a taste of their own medicine when Josh Allen’s heroic 26-yard touchdown burst on fourth-and-two cost the Buffalo Bills another late November loss to their legendary AFC foes. That rematch could still come depending on how this weekend ends.

Kansas City’s very own football god, albeit less so this season, will take on the Carolina Panthers football gods next week as he makes a 33-yard quarterback scramble in a 27-27 win. goal. Whatever rooting for Bryce Young and his NFL revival, the Chiefs and Mahomes wanted no part of it.

Come Black Friday and the Las Vegas Raiders were the beneficiaries of extra drama at the death when a fumble between Jackson Powers-Johnson and quarterback Aidan O’Connell gave Nick Bolton a fumble recovery after a 38-yard line. Just two points with 14 seconds left. Now the buzz around Chiefs Voodoo has never been louder. In fact, there may be.

11 of their 15 wins this season have come by one point, and the Chiefs finished 11th in the league with 59 points.

“It’s not easy to get through every week because you’re public enemy number one and you’re getting the best of the team,” offensive coordinator Matt Nagy said. “So there’s that mental toughness of getting ready every week to know you’re going to get the best.”

Of course, a back-to-back defending champion with the league’s (still) best quarterback, one of the NFL’s greatest offensive minds and a defensive coordinator who boasts the number of every quarterback in the league is good. But how good is it? We’re about to find out just how good it is.

The Chiefs’ offense finished the regular season 17th in total yards, 14th in passing, 22nd in rushing, 15th in scoring and ninth in EPA/game, with Patrick Mahomes throwing for a career-low 3,928 yards as a rookie and 26 touchdowns to 11. Interference.

Reid’s team had the second-highest target share in the NFL due to a season-ending injury, as well as several weeks without starting running back Isiah Pacheco. He stretched out.

An injury to Rice has put a lot of pressure on starter Xavier Worthy’s role as the Chiefs initially look to expand a route tree suited to his straight-line speed, not to mention 34-year-old Travis Kelce finding himself again. Playing a central role on offense en route to leading the team with 97 catches for a career-low 823 yards.

Veteran Kareem Hunt was re-signed at Arrowhead to replace Pacheco behind three Pro Bowl interior offensive linemen in Joe Tunney, Creed Humphrey and Trey Smith, and the Chiefs traded for three-time first-team All-Pro receiver DeAndre Hopkins. Strengthening Mahomes’ aerial options downfield.

They’ve had constant pass protection issues at both ends of the offensive line, have been able to salvage wins with a transition skill-position team, Mahomes is guilty of poor decision-making and are ranked 22nd in the red zone, all while backed by Spagnuolo’s fourth-ranked goal defense.

“This team shows a lot of resilience,” Chiefs defensive end Chris Jones said. “This team can win in a lot of ways, whether it’s offense, defense or special teams. We’ve communicated that all year. This team has had a lot of close games, we’ve had a lot of injuries, we’ve had a lot of ‘crunch time’ early in the year.”

The once flamboyant Pandora’s box of offensive sauce and magic has turned into a sexier but stubborn winning machine with excellent timing and possession control, along with a nimble defense that has the flexibility to meet every opponent’s needs on a week-to-week basis.

For all of this season’s limitations, it’s been an amazing feeling that there are more gears to kick into once the game arrives. No one knows how to navigate postseason football like they do.

Mahomes can still light the torch for the league’s best pass rush as a generational outside pocket creator, and he can still shatter the dreams of qualified opponents like no other quarterback in the NFL.

Kelsey still has the ability to buy separation knowing every player on the field is going to him. Hopkins still has some of the best snapping hands in football, Pacheco still runs the football like his life is on the line, and suddenly Worthy has become one of the most intriguing elements in the game as a potential haymaker Reid can step up to. by land control.

No one knows what kind of Chiefs team is coming this weekend. But there were warning signs of improvement in the regular season: Mahomes entered the game riding his longest interception-less streak after 237 straight passing attempts, throwing at least one interception after throwing the last pick in the first seven games of the season.

He finished the campaign strong, posting a career-high 127.1 passer rating in Week 17’s win over the Pittsburgh Steelers, throwing for 260 yards and a touchdown while rushing for a score in a 27-19 win over the Chiefs at Texans. 16th week.

The three-time Super Bowl MVP went 15-3 in the Finals, throwing for 5,659 yards, 46 touchdowns and eight interceptions, with a passer rating of 105.8. In that stretch, he went 6-0 in the divisional round with 1,813 yards passing for 16 total touchdowns, zero interceptions and a passer rating of 115.8. The win would tie the great Joe Montana for the second time in playoff wins.

Him, Reid, Kelce, Chris Jones, Spagnuolo — they’ve got the postseason formula.

It’s time to see if the Texans can crack the code, with Justin Herbert intercepting four times and four other times to demolish the Chargers on Wild Card weekend, ranking in the top three this season in sacks and tackles (plus playoffs). DeMeco Ryan’s team allowed a league-best completion percentage of just 58, with Daniel Hunter and Will Anderson Jr. both in the top five in QB pressure percentage.

Houston themselves, however, ranked in the bottom half in yards, passing, rushing and scoring while ranking 26th in the red zone and allowing the third-most 54 sacks. Can’t beat the Spags defense? Then you can not defeat the bosses.

“I think every year is special,” Mahomes said. “Obviously you want to win three in a row and build those memories with the guys and the community. But every year is special. And when I look back at all the Super Bowls that we’ve won, I look back on them as special. The moments that we’ve had and the special games that we’ve had, and the same thing this year. We will try to do it.

So here we are again. A Super Bowl champion captain’s team that divides opinion, the league’s best quarterback faces questions about whether he’s still the best, ‘he’s too old’ Kelce and the title defense will be asked every week this season. Door no.

“Football is a simple game. Twenty-two guys throw, catch, run and chase the ball for four quarters, roughly three hours, and in the end – Patrick Mahomes always wins. Or something like that,” I wrote last February. Kansas City’s Super Bowl victory immediately followed.

Will you be playing with the same story this year?

Watch the Houston Texans take on the Kansas City Chiefs in the divisional round of the playoffs on Sky Sports NFL on Saturday, starting at 9:30pm.