The Chiefs had a 97 percent chance of reaching the Super Bowl before blowing their 18-point lead to the Bengals Sunday in the AFC Championship.
Their choke job is a good reminder about the importance of waiting until a team wins multiple Super Bowls before declaring them the NFL’s next dynasty.
It was a frustrating January for Patriots fans, who watched their team get eviscerated on a frigid Saturday night in Buffalo and then saw the likes of Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen and Joe Burrow tear through defenses with incredible performances. It seems like the Patriots are much further away from reasserting themselves as Super Bowl contenders than previously thought.
But then again, reaching the Super Bowl takes more than lighting up the scoreboard. Players and coaches must execute perfectly in the biggest spots, which Bill Belichick and Tom Brady always did while they were together.
Andy Reid and Mahomes continually come up short. They’ve won just one Super Bowl together and only played in two, despite boasting more talent than any other team.
The AFC Championship was a classic Reid screwup. He made crucial clock management mistakes in the first half that cost Kansas City at least three points. On the very first drive of the game, he called a timeout to think about challenging the spot on 4th-and-1, unnecessarily burning one of his three timeouts before the half really got started. As karma would have it, the Chiefs could’ve used an additional timeout when they were driving down the field at the end of the second quarter. Their drive stalled at the 1-yard line after two Mahomes incompletions.
The Chiefs couldn’t run the ball, nor did they decide to take the three points. A field goal would’ve been valuable, considering the Bengals won 27-24 in overtime.
Despite missing a golden scoring opportunity, the Chiefs appeared to start the second half with their itineraries to Los Angeles already printed out. Mahomes was horrible over the final two quarters, going just 8 of 18 for 55 yards, no touchdowns, two interceptions and four sacks. He took two horrible sacks on the Chiefs’ second-to-last drive, and then threw a pick in overtime that gifted the Cincinnati the ball at its own 45-yard line. Bengals kicker Evan McPherson nailed the game-winner shortly thereafter.
With Brady’s retirement seemingly imminent, there will likely be plenty more opportunities to relive the Patriots’ greatness over the next few weeks. Reid and Mahomes already gave us a head start.