Chiefs v Patriots: Monumental Games with Seminal Moments

Chiefs v Patriots: Monumental Games with Seminal Moments – it feels like a huge game is coming this Sunday when the Kansas City Chiefs travel to Foxborough to face the New England Patriots. Yes, every game is a big game for the Chiefs right now but this one has the curious aura of something more.

There are games that are memorable… and then there are games that are unforgettable. Part of what makes the difference between a game that is memorable and unforgettable is usually a seminal moment, a play that becomes etched into the collective conscience of fans who are into sports. An example of this might be the play last year when Breeland Speaks had hold of Tom Brady near the goal line then released him because he didn’t want to get called for a penalty with the new league rule that punishes DL for plastering QBs into the turf…that’s memorable… and then there’s the play where the Chiefs QB Len Dawson hit WR Otis Taylor on an out route and Taylor turned, beat a defender, then dashed 46-yards high stepping it into the end zone making the score 23-to-7, salting away Super Bowl IV… and that one is Unforgettable, in every way (to quote the once great crooner, Nat King Cole). 

[Note: what many fans don’t recall is that the 1969 Chiefs are the only team in the modern era history of the NFL game to hold all playoff opponents to 10 points or less, including the Super Bowl.]

Now, there have been plenty of games with unforgettable plays, but some of those plays are attached to the outcome and the outcome attached to a changing of the guard.

By 1972, the Oakland Raiders had already been to Super Bowl SB II (which they lost to Lombardi’s Packers) but had also been a strong contender year in and year out. So, when they faced the ascending Pittsburgh Steelers, who to that point had won nothing and had no history of winning, it was RB Franco Harris who scooped a pass that bounced off a defender Jack Tatum’s helmet off the turf and ran it back for a TD putting the Steelers ahead 13-to-7 with 1:17 seconds remaining locking up the game. I was cheering for the Steelers then simply because I disliked the Raiders so much.

That special game, and special play, changed the course of the Pittsburgh Steelers franchise and they went on to win 4 Super Bowls in a 6-year period. Monumental game, seminal moment.

The same can be said of the game which produced what has become known as, “The Catch.” In the 3 season prior to January of 1982… the 49ers had gone 2-14 in Bill Walsh’s first season as HC which was also Joe Montana’s rookie year in 1979*. In 1980, the 49ers were 6-and-10 good for 3rd in the NFC West. What the 49ers were up against next was… America’s Team: the Dallas Cowboys. Although the 49ers had gone 13-and-3 in the 1981 regular season they faced Dallas in the NFC Championship game — The Catch game — and by then the Cowboys had already appeared in 5 Super Bowls winning two (following the 1971 and 1977 seasons).

* 1979 was also RB O.J. Simpson’s last year in the NFL, which was in a San Francisco 49ers uniform.

On January 10, 1982, the  12-and-4 Dallas Cowboys went into Candlestick Park in San Francisco and took the little known Joe Montana to the last minute of the game before he hit Dwight Clark in the back fo the end zone for the win. On that play — The Catch — I’ll never forget watching as Montana kept fading to his right, fading then backpedaling, and then faking to get the monsterous 6-foot 9-inch Ed “Too Tall” Jones up in the air so he could throw it over him at the last second, then tossing the pass so high that I thought he was throwing it away. However, out of seemingly nowhere comes Clark leaping up to the heights of heaven to make a fingertip catch barely snagging the pass and coming down inbounds, secruing 6 point and winning the game (with the extra point of course, to make it 28-to-27) In one catch, Clark also secured the 49ers historical victory and the beginning of a new era in the NFL: the Joe Montana Bill Walsh West Coast era and wave. A wave that has yet to have it’s seeds of creativity diminished in the National Football League and it’s still a growing scheme to this day.

One of the proponents of that West Coast wave (at least a variation), is a second generation coach in Andy Reid. Here’s a graphical look at the Bill Walsh coaching tree:

Directly above Walsh is Mike Holmgren, who took the Green Bay Packers to two Super Bowls, in the 1990s and for whom Andy Reid coached (Reid is pictured to the left of Holmgren at 10:00).

Holmgren’s breakthrough game was against Bill Parcells who had already won two Super Bowls with the N.Y. Giants but was attempting to do it again with none other than the New England Patriots (Jan. of 1997). Of course, Parcells gave way to Bill Belichick and five years later, the Patriots played the Rams in SB XXXVI (Feb. 2002) who had won the SB the year before and were attempting to repeat as Super Bowl champions.  Belichick’s Patriots had a breakthrough game against those Rams on an Adam Vinatieri 48-yard field goal with time running out. FYI, Tom Brady won his first SB ring that day on 16 of 27 passing for 145 yards and 1 TD (he was named the MVP).

Now, we’ve been waiting for a team for the past 18 years for the Chiefs to breakthrough against the Tom-Brady-Bill-Belichick led Patriots. I get the sense that now is the time.

As Chiefs fans, everyone is waiting for Tom Brady to show signs of aging and/or slippage in his play, so that the Chiefs can take over the AFC. The Chiefs were just one penalty away form going to the Super Bowl last season… at the expense of the New England Patriots. So, the Chiefs, can be viewed at least as, knocking on the door. In a piece for ESPN called, “Tom Brady is showing signs of a decline. Is it real or another mirage?” Bill Barnwell says this of Brady showing signs of slowing,

“The closest we came was in 2014, when he was overrun by the Chiefs on Monday Night Football in a 41-14 blowout loss. He had a passer rating of 79.1 after four weeks, and while it seemed like his future with the team could be tenuous, the Patriots righted the ship, won the Super Bowl and have added two more since.”

While I see that Tom Brady has been an excellent quarterback, I’m more inclined to think that Bill Belichick has been an even better head coach: the best the game has ever seen. Belichick can take a 20th ranked defense and turn it into a Super Bowl winner, like he did following the 2014 season. He’s done even greater things. The point is, you never count out Bill Belichick.

Now, why is that important? Because all good things (good for New England fans)… must eventually come to pass. Plus, the Kansas City Chiefs have been knocking on the door for the past couple of seasons while the New England Patriots have been trying to keep others from knocking down their door. In 2017, the Chiefs went into New England and beat the Pats, 42-to-27. In 2018, the Chiefs got caught up in a shootout and the Pats won in the last minute, 40-to-43.

Barnwell goes on to point out that, “The Patriots have been struggling on offense for most of the 2019 season.” So, the timing seems right… and… the Chiefs have the playmakers to create that phenomenal moment as well. Chiefs QB, Patrick Mahomes, has been prodigious and has already had enough plays that are highlight-memories. Now, he appears to be on the verge of inventing something extraordinary, an unmatched and unforgettable play… unforgettable to the masses. With a late game start of 3:25 on Sunday afternoon, more fans will be watching and don’t be surprised if the Chiefs not only pull this one out… but make sweet, sweet music, like no team ever has… that would be unforgettable.

Laddie Morse — ArrowheadOne

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