Confessions of a Longtime Chiefs Fan: I Didn’t Predict a Super Bowl Win but…

Confessions of a Longtime Chiefs Fan: I Didn’t Predict a Super Bowl Win but… – in early June of last year, I wrote an article, “I Will Not Predict the Chiefs Win the Super Bowl but…“… and it was maybe the fourth or fifth article that I wrote for Arrowhead One. I remember being skittish about posting the article due to of my overly optimistic homerism, and, the predictions were big. They were bold. They were brazen… and, they were (mostly) all wrong.

ArrowheadOne readers might wonder why I would subject myself to the humiliation and inevitable finger-pointing and snickering by revisiting an article I was so wrong on. It’s really no biggie for me. Almost 30 years of marriage coupled with eight years in the Navy has taught me I’m not only often wrong but also wrong often as well. Those years of being off-track, wide of the mark, inaccurate, way off beam — choose your adjective — has made me impervious to ignominy or shame, no matter how public.

So, join me as I frolic down my self-inflicted path of abasement and self-degradation.

#6 – The Chiefs will have a top ten defense in 2019

I tried to wiggle my way out missing the mark on this by visiting different websites to provide me the statistics to prove me right on this. The first three websites I visited, the official NFL website, ESPN, The Football Database, all had the Chiefs defense ranked 17th overall. Undaunted, I tried again. Give up? Not me! I gave it one more try.  Pay dirt!  Pro Football Reference had the Chiefs ranked closer to where they should be at 7th.

Who am I kidding? NFL.com is the official stat keeper for rankings such as these… and ESPN is hardly ever wrong, except for always when they sit Skip Bayless in front of a camera. [Important Note: I’m strongly considering renaming the mute button on my remote to the Skip button. Oh well, at least he’s aptly named!]

No, Chiefs Kingdom, I was wrong.  Our defense was 17th overall in the NFL this regular season and that’s just a fact.

[Editor’s Note: NFL.com lists the Chiefs Defense with the 7th fewest points allowed per game with 19.2] So, Travis could be right.

I’d argue that we were top ten, maybe even top five, in the last half of the season. They definitely got better as the season went on. Defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo got the most out of his players. Newly acquired safety Tyrann Mathieu earned a 81.5 PFF coverage grade, despite being snubbed for the Pro Bowl. His protege, rookie safety Juan Thornhill put up an admirable 78.0 coverage grade.

Who cares, though, we won the Super Bowl. Right?

#5 – Patrick Mahomes will repeat as MVP

I won’t even try to sugarcoat this flub. Even if Mahomes had not gotten hurt earlier in the season, he would not been the NFL MVP this year. While our QB had an outstanding year, especially considering his missed games and playing many games gimpy, some guy from Baltimore fairly bested him. I reckon these two are the new Brady-Manning duel for at least the next decade.

Baltimore Ravens QB Lamar Jackson won the NFL MVP for 2019, deservedly so.  He earned it and I could not be happier for him. However, don’t get confused. Mahomes stats, even with the injury were MVP worthy. Our guy completed 319 passes out of 484 attempts for 26 touchdowns and just five interceptions. Showtime’s passer rating for the regular season was 105.31.

Who cares, though, we won the Super Bowl. Right?

#4 – The Chiefs regular season record will be ____.

I passed the buck on this one. In a move that would make even the sleaziest politician jealous, I sidestepped this masterfully. Instead, I predicted that the Chiefs would sweep the AFC West and win their December 8th matchup with the Patriots in Foxborough, MA.

The Chiefs pulled off both in fabulous fashion. We beat the Oakland Raiders — twice. We beat the Los Angeles Chargers — twice. We beat the Denver Broncos — twice. I realize that I could have written those last three sentences with just one, but as a Chiefs fan, that felt soooo good! Not Super Bowl Win good, but good nonetheless!

Oh, and we also beat Tom Brady (is he even still playing?) and his New England Patriots… in their own stadium: Schick or Braun or Bic Stadium, I think? Heck, I can’t remember. Anyway, the Chiefs pulled off the win, 23-16.  Terrific Tom (is he still in the league?) completed 19 passes out of 36 attempts, threw for a paltry 169 yards, tossing one touchdown and one interception.

As for Mahomes, he went 26 for 40, 283 yards and one TD and one INT, too. However, Brady (are you double-sure he’s still playing?) had a 63.3 passer rating that game. Our boy, Mahomes? Oh, he had a 83.6 passer rating. Just sayin’.

You would think I would quit while I was ahead. Noooooo! Not me, the self-proclaimed KC keyboard warrior and boaster of Chiefs. I further prognosticated that “a Tom Brady quarterbacked team will never again beat the Chiefs.”  We’ll just keep an eye out for that one. Okay?

Who cares, though, we won the Super Bowl. Right?

#3 – Mecole Hardman breaks the record (both of them):

4 Punt Returns for a TD, 4 KO Returns for a TD & 

#2 – Mecole Hardman nabs Rookie of the Year

I had to put both prophecies together, as each were equally wrong. I not only forecast that Mecole “Jet” Hardman would break the current single-season record of four punt returns for touchdowns, but that he would also break the single-season record of four kick return touchdowns in the same year. He didn’t.

Those two predictions were not enough for this gung ho Chiefs writer, however. I had to further predict that Hardman would be the pick for Rookie of the Year. He wasn’t.

However, Hardman held his own and contributed greatly to a successful Chiefs season. Specifically, our “no longer a rookie” WR and Specialist accomplished the following.

• Finished the season with six touchdowns, tied for the second-most by a rookie or first-year player in Chiefs franchise history. Abner Haynes and Tyreek Hill tie for first with 12 each.
• His 104-yard kickoff return touchdown in Week 17 against the Chargers (BTW, is Phillip Rivers still in the league?) was the third-longest in Chiefs’ history, not to mention the longest in the NFL this season.
• If you combine his special teams stats with his offensive states, Hardman made seven journeys to the end zone this season, averaging an unheard of 55.9 yards for each trip.
• He led the NFL in players with at least 20 catches, averaging 20.7 yards-per-catch.
• Our stud rookie wideout was the AFC’s Pro Bowl selection as a return specialist.
• Better yet, Jet won the Mack Lee Hill Award, which goes to the Chiefs Rookie of the Year. I can imagine that a strong case existed for Juan Thornhill, too.

While he did not get the NFL Rookie of the Year as I expected, Hardman was a key component of this Chiefs team.  Imagine his numbers if there were no Tyreek Hill, Travis Kelce, Demarcus Robinson, or Sammy Watkins. With Mahomes slinging it, he would have been Rookie of the Year for sure.

Who cares, though, we won the Super Bowl. Right?

#1 – I am not predicting that the Chiefs will win the Super Bowl but…

While I refused to predict a Super Bowl win for the Chiefs, I predicted that Patrick Mahomes would win the Pete Rozelle Trophy in February 2020. What’s the Pete Rozelle Trophy, you ask? Oh, it’s just the trophy they give to the Super Bowl MVP. I also predicted that Mahomes would go to Disney World. Bullseye!

The other part of my prediction was that Mahomes would win a car. It was not to be so, however. It turns out that the last Super Bowl MVP to win a car was Tom Brady (he’s still playing, right?), who won a Chevy Colorado Z71 in Super Bowl XLIX against the Seattle Seahawks against. The Patriots won 28-24 in the final minutes via an end zone interception by Malcolm Butler. Brady gifted the Colorado to his teammate whose last-minute heroics saved the day.

Little matter, though, Mahomes still has his 2019 Genesis G70 for being named MVP of the 2019 NFL Pro Bowl.

As a bonus prediction, I wrote “I predict that the City of Fountains will hold a red and gold themed parade on Tuesday, February 4, 2020.” Off by one day, but I still nailed it!

By the end of writing my article, I had hyped myself up so much that I just had to make one more bonus prediction. Huge mistake.

I predicted that the Chiefs would have the most players selected to the Pro Bowl, but they would not attend on account of a prior commitment. Well, I had the prior commitment pegged, but the Chiefs only had six players selected to the Pro Bowl. The Baltimore Ravens led the way with 12 players selected, tying an NFL record with the 1973 Miami Dolphins.

Drats!  Even when I get a prediction right, I only get it “kinda” right!

Who cares, though, we won the Super Bowl. Right?

Right!

Michael Travis Rose — ArrowheadOne

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