Chiefs News: The Chiefs’ inevitability’ is what annoys people

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Are All Dynasties Destined to Become Villains? The Chiefs Are Finding Out. | The Ringer

Problem no. 1 with the Chiefs’ villainy is that it’s not actually rooted in hate; it’s rooted in annoyance. Sports hatred works best when it’s concentrated around a central idea—the Patriots were cheaters, the Warriors played dirty and bought titles, the Yankees were cold and joyless. If something like this does exist for Kansas City, the central concept is its inevitability. The Chiefs will have now been to five of the past six Super Bowls. They have won 17 straight one-score games. Just when you think you’ve got them, they find a way to win. This season, the Chiefs had just the 11th-best point differential in the NFL, but they tied for the best record. They stick around. Preseason Super Bowl predictions—mine included—often boiled down to “Nothing matters, Chiefs win.” No mystery, no sense of possibility, no room for anyone else. Definitely annoying! “There’s no Dennis Rodman figure,” Nate Taylor, who covers the Chiefs for The Athletic, told me. “There’s not even someone who’s like, ‘All right, they’re a good team, but I fucking hate that guy.’ There’s no Draymond Green on this team. It’s just Nick Bolton tackling you.”

Super Bowl 2025: Chiefs-Eagles picks, key stats, predictions | ESPN

Can the Chiefs defend the Eagles’ tush push? Judging solely by how they defended the Bills’ version of the play in the AFC Championship Game, the Chiefs have reason to believe they can hold up well. Josh Allen and Buffalo tried it six times against Kansas City but converted just twice. One stop came on fourth down at the Kansas City 41-yard line in the fourth quarter, when the Chiefs trailed by a point. They used the favorable field position to score the go-ahead touchdown. “The [defensive] line has to be dominant,” defensive tackle Chris Jones said on how the Chiefs defended the play. “Your two [nose guards] and your two ends have to be physical on the inside.” Kansas City hasn’t fared as well in defending Hurts on the tush push. He used it to score two touchdowns against the Chiefs in Super Bowl LVII. Hurts also used it to score the winning touchdown against Kansas City in the fourth quarter of a Week 11 regular-season contest in 2023. — Teicher

5 Thoughts Ahead of NFL Super Bowl LIX | Bleacher Report

The Chiefs Could Become the Greatest Dynasty of All Time The Super Bowl era has contained some pretty clear-cut dynasties. The Steelers won four Super Bowls in a six-year span in the 1970s, the 49ers won four titles in a nine-year span in the 1980s, the Cowboys took home three Vince Lombardi Trophies in a four-year span in the 1990s, and the Patriots won six Super Bowls in an 18-year stretch earlier this century. Having now appeared in five of the last six Super Bowls and seven consecutive AFC Championship Games, the Chiefs are almost certain to go down as a dynasty, even if they don’t win on Sunday or ever again in the Patrick Mahomes/Andy Reid era. But now it’s time to start looking at whether this could actually become the greatest dynasty of the modern era. With a win Sunday, Kansas City would match Pittsburgh’s “four in six” run from the 1970s while also becoming the first three-peat champion in Super Bowl history. Making the game despite losing to the Buccaneers in 2020 also counts for something, just as New England’s three losing Super Bowl appearances under Tom Brady and Belichick do. Belichick and Brady deserve a ton of recognition for sustaining their dynasty longer than anyone else, and there’s a good chance that holds up beyond this Chiefs run. But a Chiefs win on Sunday would cement the team’s run between 2018 and 2024 as the greatest dynasty in Super Bowl history. A loss on Sunday complicates things slightly, but three Super Bowl wins, five Super Bowl appearances and seven conference title game appearances in a seven-year span would still keep Kansas City in the conversation with the four dynasties listed above, and Mahomes still hasn’t turned 30. You might have Chiefs fatigue at this point, but it’s important to remind yourself you’re witnessing history.

Super Bowl LIX: Four things to watch for in Kansas City Chiefs-Philadelphia Eagles | NFL.com

2. Mahomes-Kelce magic must be in peak form The Chiefs were content to win a lot of close games this season where the offense did just enough and the defense and special teams did a lot of the heavy lifting. That has started to shift a bit as the season has wound to a close. Patrick Mahomes took over against the Bills in the AFC title game, playing one of his most complete games of the season. He has started using his legs to get him loose as a runner and opening up more possibilities as a passer. Mahomes also has limited his turnovers significantly, fumbling last week for his first giveaway in a game since mid-November. This clearly is a concern for Vic Fangio’s defense. It might be as good a unit as the Chiefs have faced all season, but it’s also a unit that has thrived on takeaways — especially since about the midpoint of the regular season — and sometimes has struggled to contain mobile quarterbacks The Eagles have defended tight ends well, but it’s worth noting that Oren Burks (then with the 49ers) had trouble staying with Travis Kelce in last year’s Super Bowl. Burks now has taken over for injured LB Nakobe Dean and is coming off a strong showing in the NFC Championship Game, but he’ll have his hands full with the future Hall of Fame tight end — and likely will need some help. Kelce was held in check against the Bills, but his Super Bowl track record is impeccable, catching 31 passes for 350 yards and two scores in his four prior championship appearances. Where he’s most dangerous is finding and creating space when Mahomes goes into scramble mode. There are few better pairs in league history at creating improvisational advantages on the fly.

Tom Brady blasts fans who think NFL, referees favor Chiefs | Yardbarker

During a Friday appearance on the “Fox & Friends” program, legendary quarterback and Fox lead in-game analyst Tom Brady rebuked those who think Sunday’s showdown will somehow be “rigged” in favor of Kansas City. “I think it’s just all BS,” Brady directly said, as Ryan Gaydos of Fox News Digital shared. “It’s just a bunch of noise. These refs have very challenging jobs to do. I’m very happy Twitter didn’t exist during the ‘Tuck Rule Game’ in 2001, let me say that. I would’ve been on the wrong end on a lot of those. But these refs are out there trying to do their very best.” Of course, Brady was referencing the 2001 AFC divisional playoff game that featured the signal-caller losing control of the football late in the contest’s fourth quarter. The play was controversially ruled an incomplete pass after a video review deemed that Brady’s arm was going forward when he lost possession, but he admitted in May 2022 that “it might have been a fumble.”

Around the NFL

Dolphins WR Tyreek Hill ‘loves’ Miami, apologizes for comments | ESPN

Miami Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill wants to remain in Miami, despite his “frustrated” comments at the end of the regular season that suggested otherwise. Speaking to local media after the Dolphins’ season-ending loss to the New York Jets in Week 18, Hill said he would do what’s best for his career this offseason “whether that’s here or wherever.” Hill later explained during a video game live stream this month that his comments came from a place of frustration, but confirmed Friday on the “Up & Adams Show” that he wishes to stay with the Dolphins. “I don’t want to go nowhere. I love [Miami], my family loves it,” Hill said. “It’s an amazing thing, man. We are really building something special in Miami. We made it to the playoffs the first two years. Obviously, this year was hard. If guys continue to buy in, to what coach is building and the culture that he’s trying to build, it’s going to be an amazing thing.”

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Chiefs-Eagles Super Bowl LIX: 5 things to watch

2. The gravity of Saquon Barkley A key factor for the Chiefs’ defense will be how committed the scheme and players are to sealing run lanes against Eagles’ running back Saquon Barkley. This postseason, Barkley has touchdown runs of 62, 78, and 60 yards. Those game-breaking plays boost a three-game stretch with only a 34.8% rushing success rate; in the regular season, that would’ve ranked 34th among qualified running backs. A plan to limit Barkley’s explosive plays would involve safety Justin Reid consistently playing closer to the line of scrimmage. Defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo may also use three-linebacker sets featuring linebacker Leo Chenal. The interior defensive line and linebackers will have a lot of responsibility to break through the wall of blocking. It will be harder to do that on the edge, so look for those defenders to be stout on the backside and pick their spots to try to blow up a run.

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When Micah started doing the chop I laughed out loud

pic.twitter.com/2sblo0qpLI — how bout those CHIEFS (@hbtCHIEFS) February 8, 2025

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