A Super Bowl for the Ages: One Man’s Tale

A Super Bowl for the Ages: One Man’s Tale* – I am calmly basking in the glow of a Super Bowl LIV victory. I remain calm. After the game I made two wagers with a good friend of my son Ian, and a really nice guy… except he roots for the Cowboys no less… but the wagers related to Super Bowl LV and dealing with the Chiefs and Dallas Cowboys.

LIV Featured Two Teams of Talent

The football game was played by two very good teams. At the half, you could say that neither the Chiefs or 49ers dominated the game, neither obtained momentum that lasted. Errors were made on both sides of the ball by both teams.

The third quarter was problematic for me. The noise at a football gathering at my son’s home in Katy, Texas was a bit raucous at times. The Chiefs fell behind by three points and then by ten, I remained confident that if the Chiefs handled the ups and downs, which occur in any football game, they would handle trailing by two scores.

When Pat Mahomes threw the interception with the pass behind Hill that deflected into the hands of Tavarius Moore, there was a dramatic groan among the 10 people in the room. Much of the game was like that. These people in Texas were rooting for the Chiefs, my son included (while he is a Green Bay Packer nut, he also roots for KC otherwise).

The noise got to me. I was calm about the ups and downs of the game to that point. I needed to settle my stomach. I drank a half-glass of milk and went to a quiet room with a TV to keep calm and believe that the Chiefs would still win the game. Recall, I predicted a 33-27 final score — Chiefs. I was a bit off on that prediction but, I felt the Chiefs would indeed score 30 plus and they did.

After SB LIII, since the appearance of the Chiefs in the Super Bowl I, and winning SB IV in 1970, there was a dearth of appearances in even the playoffs and certainly in the AFC title game. Andy Reid came to town after a 2-and-14 regular season disaster in 2012 under HC Romeo Crennel (now retired from football). Then a human catastrophe occurred with a murder committed by a player at home and suicide in the Arrowhead parking lot. It was incredibly difficult, at the time, to consider that the Chiefs organization had an upside.

Hunt Stepped Up in 2013

In the off-season, Clark Hunt finally, according to my outlook, stepped up to the plate and took a highly active role in rebuilding the Chiefs football program from the ground up. Hunt hired Andy Reid as Head Coach and John Dorsey for the GM position. In 2013? The results were tangible. The Chiefs made it to the playoffs with a 11-5 record. The team streaked to a 9-0 record before a far less stellar finish. In the playoffs against a top notch Indianapolis Colts team, who seized the moment and made a dramatic comeback as the Chiefs blew a huge margin lead and lost. Was it a jinx?

2013 Postseason: A Matter of Inches

In that contest, the Chiefs lost on a play were Alex Smith threw a sideline pass to WR Dwayne Bowe. Bowe’s foot came down out of bounds by about the width of a shoe. Perhaps Bowe’s foot was out of bounds by 3-4 inches. The Chiefs would have had a first down within or close to Field Goal range. It was not to be. A dramatic collapse in one half of football. It is true, they weren’t even predicted to be a team that would make the playoffs, but fell apart big time, in a big time game.

2018 Postseason: A Matter of Inches

A similar distance cost the Chiefs an AFC title and a Super Bowl appearance in 2018. The distance in error was perhaps 3 or 4 inches. Dee Ford, the Chief’s speedy 3-4 Outside Linebacker lined up in the the neutral zone. But for those few inches, the Chiefs would have — and perhaps should have — reached Super Bowl LIII. The neutral zone infraction negated a very good pass rush on Quarterback Tom Brady, who threw an ill advised pass which was tipped, and then intercepted by young Chiefs CB Charvarius Ward.

Note: because his moment of glory was called back, Ward would have to spend all of the 2019 season working to prove his worth as a top defender in the NFL.

That penalty allowed the Patriots to tie the game, go to overtime and win, ultimately representing the AFC in the Super Bowl. Hearts fell. Silence. Heartbreak. Is it a Jinx? Is it the Madden Curse?

Whatever it was I sat in Stunned Silence as I watch the Patriots win the game and Patrick Mahomes didn’t even have a chance to right the wrong in overtime.

Fast Forward to 2019

From the start of the season, it was my belief that the Chiefs were capable of winning the Super Bowl for the 2019 season. They suffered setback after setback with injuries to key players. The Defensive Coordinator Bob Sutton was swapped out and so was the 3-4 base. As new DC, Steve Spagnuolo, took over and brought in the 4-3 base defense, it took several game for the players to master what Spagnuolo implemented. At the same time, Spags had to learn how to get the players in the right position at the right moments to succeed.

After the loss to the Titans in Week 10, the Chiefs defense solidified and played well enough to be considered a Top-10, or better, Defensive unit. The glaring set back to their performance occurred in the divisional round of the playoffs when it appeared that the Chiefs could not stop the Houston Texans offense. They dug their feet in after giving up 24 straight points. Not only that but, the Chiefs mighty offense had totally stalled.

Something happened. The Chiefs defense allowed only one TD after the early part of the second quarter. The Chiefs offense went on a wild 51 point ride and the Chiefs came away with a huge playoff win, 51-to-31.

In the AFC title game, the Chiefs once again gave up two scores to the Titans falling behind by 10 points only to dramatically turn the game around and whip the favored, mighty Titans to win the Lamar Hunt Trophy.

2020 Arrives: Chiefs Win Super Bowl LIV!

The rest as they say, is history. After falling behind the San Francisco 49ers, a top NFL Team on offense and one of the best teams in the NFL on defense, the Chiefs overcame another 10-point deficit, scoring 21 unanswered points for a comeback win in the last 7 minutes of the game. Great Jubilation erupted in Miami… in KC… and in many places around the country and globe. The Chiefs WIN!

My son came to greet me as I returned to the Great Room of his home where all the noise had continued. I had needed to savor this game in peace and quiet. Nerves? Yes. I also did not need the echoing noise (my hearing suffers greatly in my aged state).

To the side of the great room is a game room which has its own TV and a pool table and Packer paraphernalia. My son greeted me with a shout and “Go Chiefs!” He shook my hand, and hugged me. He knew the emotions were running rampant and he knew as well that the 50 year drought was ended.

David Bell — ArrowheadOne

* The 2016 game with the Titans and Chiefs, it was 0 degrees at kickoff. That day Clark Hunt was out front of the gate greeting fans. We chatted personally and discussed my fandom history since 1963. My respect for Hunt increased exponentially that day.

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