Score points and hold the other team to fewer points than you score… that’s what great teams can do right? Well, it’s a little more difficult than that. What great teams are usually remembered for… especially Super Bowl champions… is notably scoring in the 2:00 minute drill, or keeping the other team out of the end zone, during the last two minutes of the half, or the end of the game.
The question is, are the Kansas City Chiefs going to be one of those kinds of teams? I’m convinced that this is what great teams can do… and answering that question is important if these Chiefs are going to make that championship progression.
So, the question is essential to answer in 2016: can the Chiefs win at crunch time?
Crunch Time History
When I think back to Super Bowl XLII, I recall when Eli Manning escaped pressure and threw a long pass to WR David Tyree, who pinned it to his helmet, with :59 seconds remaining. Then Eli followed that up with a TD pass. The N.Y. Giants had the players to make it happen against a N.E. Patriots team that had gone unbeaten up to that point.
This past season, the Chiefs started out in Houston and late in the game were leading 27-17 when the Texans went on a 10-play drive to reach the Chiefs 29 yard line but, the Chiefs defense forced them to kick a field goal with 1:23 remaining on the clock. After a failed onside kick by the Texans, K.C. ran out the clock on two plays.
A championship ending? Yes and no. Yes, the defense did their job in the end but they never should have been placed in the position for Houston to try an onside kick with the possibility of tying the game up. Also, the defense allowed 11 fourth quarter points… not necessarily the hallmark of a great defense, especially considering that they eventually shut the Texans out later in the playoffs.
Did the offense play a role in that. Yes, on the four K.C. drives, before Houston’s 10-play drive, they went 5-and-out, 7-and-out, a missed field goal and 6-and-out.
The Chiefs must learn how to focus, raise their level of play, and force their will on another team offensively this year if they truly hope to harbor any championship caliber aspirations.
I’ll never forget watching Joe Montana lead the 49ers, on what seemed like a magical drive down the field, to score the winning touchdown against the Cincinnati Bengals in Super Bowl XVI.
At the end of Super Bowl XVII, following the 2012 season, one that Alex Smith couldn’t complete because of a concussion, Colin Kaepernick had four chances to drive the 49ers into the end zone late in the game, from only 7 yards out, but failed, leaving 1:46 on the clock.
Why is having the ability to score late in the game, or the half, so important?
Why You Must Dominate at Crunch Time
The answer to that is evident by looking at the scores of the Super Bowl in the past 20 seasons: since 1995, 17 Super Bowls were decided by a two touchdown difference or less.
That means almost every Super Bowl game was winnable in the last 5 minutes of the game. Plus, for teams that have a balls out passing attacks, making up a two-score difference is easy-breezy-feasible. Well… maybe not easy or breezy… but definitely feasible.
Teams that can score, when they absolutely must score, are at a great advantage. I know that may sound simplistic or to some extent idiotic to say… however… in Super Bowl XXIII which I made reference to above, I recall thinking, during 49ers magic drive, that every moment which that team spent practicing, was leading up to that moment.
It’s a point worth paying attention to during training camp. Yes, the Chiefs may have an excellent defense but the offense should be winning their fair share of those late game situational set-ups in camp.
It seemed to be a point of concern, and perhaps a pattern of failure, during the 2015 season.
In week two, following the Chiefs somewhat shaky start in Houston, the offense broke down late when RB Jamaal Charles fumbled the game away in the last minute, losing 31-24 to the abhorable Bronchites. Really good teams develop “the eye of the tiger” at crunch time. Not fumblitis.
In Green Bay last year, K.C. was down 38-7 late in the third quarter (:56) when they began scoring the first of three straight touchdowns. However, it was too little too late by then. In that game, the Chiefs came out flat and appeared over matched and seemed to be beaten by the Lambeau mystique.
Two weeks later the Chiefs lost back-to-back close and winnable games, 18-17 to the Chicago Bears and 16-10 to the Minnesota Vikings.
The Bears scored two straight touchdowns inside of the last 3:06. While the defense created one of the TDs earlier in the game for the Chiefs, the offense was responsible for one field goal and a De’Anthony Thomas TD. That level and lack of production will not win any championships, much less games in the middle of the season.
Down 16-10, Charcandrick West fumbled the ball away with 4:32 left at the Vikings 38 yard line. When the Chiefs got the ball back, from their own 32, Alex Smith threw 4 straight incomplete passes and the team fell to a 1-5 record.
The next week vs. the Steelers, when leading by less than a touchdown at 16-10, late in the 4th quarter, QB Alex Smith hits rookie WR Chris Conley in the flat for his only regular season TD and Tamba Hali does a strip search of Landry Jones for the football and the Chiefs recover the ball and their season for the first of 11 straight wins.
The Chiefs Crunch Time Turnaround
Media has interviewed coach Reid, the staff, the roster and seemingly every blade of grass asking them the question: how did you turn your season around? The common answer was that they didn’t turn on each other, stayed focused and believed in their own process. I’d specifically suggest that the Chiefs improved their performance level, late in the 2nd and 4th quarter of games, on both sides of the ball.
- Do you remember… when Dee Ford dominated against the Chargers and made a great play on the last of the game in a 10-3 win at Arrowhead? That’s one reason I believe Dee Ford will be a very good player: he has the capability to rise to the occasion… and he did. Now, we just need to see more of it on a consistent basis.
- Do you remember… when the Chiefs were down 16-7 and Jeremy Maclin caught a 41 yard touchdown with 1:48 left in the half against the Buffalo Bills? Also, with the Bills driving, down 30-22 and only 2:07 left in the game the Chiefs defense steps up and forces a 4th down that the Bills can’t convert.
- Do you remember… the end of the Cleveland Browns slash Johnny Foosball game… when the Chiefs defense gave just enough resistance to keep them out of the end zone?
- Do you remember… the last Raiders game? Up 14-3, Alex Smith throws a pick-6 with 3:26 left before the half. Ouch… but the Chiefs responded. Up by 6 point, 23-17 with only :22 seconds left, Raiders quarterback Derek Carr hits RB Mychal Rivera in the flat and as he’s attempting to run out of bounds two Chiefs players hold him up and the clock runs out. And… a ten game winning streak was complete.
More importantly… the Chiefs somehow learned to hunker down, late in the 2nd and 4th quarter of games, on both sides of the ball. Where the Chiefs were not having success doing that early in the season… the difference appears to be that they began to play… smarter, harder, stay composed 
and rose to the occasion… late in the 2nd and 4th quarters of games.
Now, obviously, the rest of the game is important. You don’t merely show up late in the 2nd and late in the 4th quarter of games and expect to win. However, it is exactly at those critical times that mistakes must be minimized and the level of play must go into hyper-drive.
That’s what great teams do. And, these Chiefs appear to have learned their lessons well. Now, let’s see if there is a carryover to the 2016 season.
What do you say Chiefs fans? Think K.C is on the verge, like I do… or do you have something else on your mind?