Destiny Houston:
Kansas City Chiefs Bid
For The Superbowl
Frank Leggio
As I reflect on this season, barring a few bizarre performances, it seems this team is destined for greatness. Starting with the first game of the season, they have shown an incredible resiliency in games. In past years, when the team fell behind, the game was pretty much over. This year I felt a completely different feeling. I wrote this in another article, but it is reminiscent of my feelings watching the Royals the last couple of years. This team can win any game.
In week 1, versus the San Diego Chargers, the Chiefs came back from a 21 point deficit. This is the largest in franchise history. Other memorable comeback moments were in week 10 vs Carolina, week 12 vs. Denver, and week 13 vs. Atlanta. The wonderful thing is that is isn’t always one phase of the game bailing out the team. In just the examples above, the offense, defense, and special teams all contributed.
This team seems to step up and play against teams that are thought to be tops in the league. While not 100% victorious, KC did beat Denver (x2), Carolina, Atlanta, & Oakland (x2). They were also the only team in the league to sweep their division this year. Couple that with the fact that the AFC West was the toughest division in the NFL and you should see why the Chiefs play so well.
Next Man Up
Over the course of the season, the team experienced numerous injuries. Many of these injuries were to star players. The above graphic shows that while we didn’t lose as many man games due to injury, the players injured were substantial (size of the bubble).
As you can see below, the injuries seemed to affect every position group and hit starters as well as backups. Despite these injuries, the team was able to continue performing at a high level. In a couple of cases, the next man up equaled or surpassed the teammate they backfilled.
Between this player depth and the quality of play across all three phases, the Chiefs should be hard to stop in the playoffs.
Road to Houston
Just for fun, I put together a March Madness sort of playoff tree. Below are my picks, along with game scores, for how I see the playoffs unfolding. While I will fully admit I am a KC homer, I think the play of the team backs up that perspective nicely this year. A poor team doesn’t win 12 games in a season and sweep the toughest division in the NFL.
I look forward to watching some games this weekend with an eye out for our next opponent. I almost feel sorry for whichever team has to come into Arrowhead and face the wrath of the crowd.
What do you think KC faithful? How far off are my picks?
Go Chiefs!
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