The Chiefs Ability To Flip The Switch – We’ve seen numerous times that the Kansas City Chiefs have used their ability to, flip a switch, both on defense and offense. It seems as if it happens either when they’re motivated, or when the pressure of a must do situation is at a high level. The stretch run of the 2019 season, as in the last six games of the regular season. We saw the defense flipped the switch, and suddenly became tougher against the run, they also limited the passing game. Essentially holding the opponent’s to short drives and turning real tough in the red zone, which enabled their offense to be more efficiently. Then in the playoffs, in all three games, we saw the switch get flipped when the pressure of must-win-now became extreme: that is the number one characteristic that you want a championship team to have. Anytime that you have a super talented team that excels in pressure situations, you will be almost impossible to beat and now, eleven games into the 2020 season, we see the Chiefs are 10-and-1.
Here, I’ll highlight each time the Chiefs have, flipped the switch ,for the entire 2020 season. First, let’s in detail the meaning of: flipping a switch.
Analogy: Flipping the Switch
Flipping the switch is the mental part of competition. It’s when a player, or a team, is 100% focused on the task before them and when the switch is on, you see mental and physical mistakes reduced to a minimal amount. You see the efforts of all involved at a maximum level, you often see players going above and beyond their normal talent level. It’s when you see highlight plays being made, both on offense and defense. We see this mental aspect of the game in high pressure moments, or when a player or team is motivated to perform better, often because of what someone else did or said.
When the switch is turned off, is when we see mental mistakes taking place. Dumb penalties happen, missed tackles, missed blocks, dropped passes, wrong routes run, running back misses the open running lane, fumbles, interceptions thrown, and yes even poor communication happens.
Now, let’s look at each game this season.
Week 1 – Houston Texans
The pregame festivities of raising the Super Bowl Championship Banner motivated the Chiefs to a “let’s prove it” that 2019 was not a fluke performance. Houston’s first possession only produced minus ten yards, then a punt, and the Chiefs first drive only gained 21 yards, followed by a punt. The Houston Texans produced the games first touchdown on a 80 yard drive, with a balance of run, passes mixed, and David Johnson running for a 19 yard Touchdown. Then the Kansas City Chiefs scored 31 unanswered points on five of six drives and the Texans didn’t score again until two garbage touchdowns in the fourth quarter. The final yardage stats were near equal, but the Chiefs were 7-of-13 on 3rd downs versus Texans 4-of-10 plus, the Chiefs controlled the possession time by 3:47 to 25;:13.
Week 2 – Los Angeles Chargers
This was what some people called a classic trap game, as in a team entering into the game was over confident that they would win, so they were already looking ahead to the next opponent. Then the Chargers were forced to start a rookie quarterback, with their original starter suffering an injury in pregame workouts, and this caused the Chiefs defense to let their guard down. The entire game was badly played by the Chiefs, a better talented opponent would have won, but the Kansas City offense accomplished just enough at the end of the game to win. They made a field goal with 2:27 in the 4th quarter to tie the game, then in overtime we saw Harrison Butker, “flip the switch” and he made three 50 plus field goals in a row. One 53-yarder was voided because of a penalty, next his 58-yarder was voided because of a last second timeout by the Chargers, then… we saw the game winner from 58 yards.
Week 3 – Baltimore Ravens
Leading up to this game, because of their offseason additions in the preseason, many pundits predicted the Ravens to win the Super Bowl, even though the Chiefs were Number 1 in the preseason Power Rankings. However, after Baltimore’s first two games, where they dominated their opponents, they were elevated to Number 1 in the Power Rankings over the Chiefs. With the preseason and media discussions leading into this game, the Chiefs were highly motivated to prove themselves, and the “flip of the switch” created the Chiefs best complete game played. They did so, both offensively and defensively, that we’ve seen so far this year. Special Teams had a bad mental mistake allowing a kickoff to be returned for 93 yards. The offense produced 385 passing yards, 132 rushing yards, 29 – 1st downs, 10-of-13 on 3rd downs. The defense held the Ravens to 158 rushing yards, but only 228 total yards, and 3-of-9 on 3rd downs, with a 33 to 26 minute advantage in the time of possession. We also saw Mahomes counting to four on his fingers, in the waning minutes, which refers back to the preseason top 100 players ranking. In which we saw Lamar Jackson was #1 and Mahomes was #4… which proves that motivation does affect a player’s mindset.
Week 4 – New England Patriots
The Chiefs were motivated to play good in this game, just because of New England’s long time stature as the dynasty team of the previous 20 years. It is now the goal of the Kansas City Chiefs to become the next dynasty team going forward. The Patriots never realistically had a chance to win this game, the Chiefs scored the first 10 points and never looked back.
Week 5 – Las Vegas Raiders
This game was the Chiefs first and only loss of the year and the switch to flip could not be found. The Raiders outplayed the Chiefs in all phases, and they won the game 40-to-32.
Week 6 – Buffalo Bills
Following a loss and many discussions on Buffalo’s level of playing leading into this game, and QB Josh Allen was being compared to Mahomes, solely because of his arm strength, it all created a motivation mismatch advantage for the Chiefs. The Bills kept the score close until the Chiefs took a 10 point lead on their 2nd possession of the third quarter, then they never looked back, and Josh Allen proved his arm strength is not equal to Mahomes, because of his inaccuracy. The Chiefs defense had their best game of the year, they held Buffalo to 206 total yards, and only 22 minutes in time of possession, as well as only 17 total points.
Week 7 – Denver Broncos
The Rain Game. After a 2nd quarter interception by Daniel Sorenson, that was returned for a touchdown, giving the Chiefs a 17-to-6 lead, Kansas City never looked back, winning 43-to-16.
Week 8 – New York Jets
Facing the 2020 version of the worst team in the league, very little motivation was needed. The Chiefs won easily 35-to-9.
Week 9 – Carolina Panthers
The Chiefs did win 33-to-31, but they’re play was very stagnant, and Carolina was as motivated as any team this year. All NFL teams attempt to elevate their level of play against the reigning Super Bowl Champions, but here, the Chiefs defense played poorly. Patrick Mahomes played well enough to propel Kansas City to a close win.
Week 11 – Las Vegas Raiders
After the Bye Week the “Busgate Game” was played in Las Vegas. This game was motivated by the Chiefs first and only loss of the year, a game after which the Raiders decided to take a victory lap around Arrowhead Stadium in their team bus. The Raiders kept the score close, but the better team won 35-to-31. That’s twice now that the Chiefs defense has not been able to find the switch to flip, resulting in making Raiders QB Derek Carr look like a MVP candidate.
Week 12 – Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The Chiefs were motivated by a preseason prediction by many pundits as the Buccaneers being NFCs best for a Super Bowl appearance being held in Tampa Bay, just because of the addition of the “GOAT” Tom Brady. Well, we saw the Kansas City Chiefs proceed to have the best 1st quarter in team history, if not NFL league history. Tyreek Hill went for 203 yards, and 2 touchdowns, on just 7 catches in the 1st quarter alone. Meanwhile the Chiefs defense held Tampa Bay to four possessions for only 39 net yards, which included 3 times that the Buccaneers had 3 downs followed by a punt.
This game was the perfect game to prove my point that I’m trying to explain within this article. We saw the Chiefs play near perfect mistake free football in the 1st quarter. Both high level play by the offensive and defensive units led to a 17-to-0 lead by the Chiefs. Then, it was quickly apparent that Kansas City got over confident and they flipped the switch to off mode. They let their guard down, and for the rest of the game, we saw too many mistakes being made by the Chiefs… and it allowed the Buccaneers a near comeback, with a final score of 27-to-24. The 1st quarter deficit was too much for Tampa Bay to overcome.
Summary: Flipping The Switch
Some teams have the ability to flip the switch better than others. The Kansas City Chiefs are the best team in the league. Especially when it comes to the mental part of any game. However, it’s also their downfall in any losses. If they were to play every minute of every game, with the switch turned on and 100% focused, no team would ever come remotely close to beating them. It is, Reason El Numero Uno, that they are the reigning Super Bowl Champions! It will also be why they repeat again in the 2020 season. See you all at the parade!
Alan Haupt — ArrowheadOne
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