Post Super Bowl mailbag: answers, sadness, and lots of questions
Let's all get it out together
So as I write this mailbag, news broke about Terez Paylor passing away. It would be inappropriate to write without acknowledging what a giant that man was, and how instrumental he was in helping me gain any sort of platform. He was willing to talk to me when I was blogging on SB Nation with zero following, and gave all sorts of advice over the years. When I covered my first game and felt like I stuck out like a sore thumb, he stood and chatted with me for minutes on end, never seeming in a hurry, and included me in the “group” with all the big-time names who were covering the game. He was so kind when he didn’t need to be, a real measure of who someone really is.
It is not an exaggeration to say that all the wonderful things that this strange job has gotten me may not have happened without his support, advice and encouragement.
And he loved, loved, LOVED football. Loved it. I’ve known maybe a handful of people my whole life who love this sport more than me, and he was one of them. Losing him is a devastating loss not just for sports coverage, but a world that lacks enough people like him. I hope to see him again one day.
The Chiefs lost the Super Bowl in convincing fashion. They lost for a LOT of reasons. I thought about writing about individual parts but figured a mailbag might be the best way to talk about all those reasons. I received so many great questions, so sorry if yours got left out! Limited room means I’ll try to cover the “big issue” questions as much as possible.
Let’s mailbag.
I’ve seen this take a lot, but here’s the thing… the Chiefs were down their starting LT, RT, LG, and RG (remember LDT is the initial plan there). They were also down a rookie that they really liked in Niang who probably would’ve gotten the nod at RT based on his college tape (though it’s impossible to know.
The Chiefs, prior to LDT opting out, had on the starting OL a highly paid LT, a highly paid RT, and a highly paid guard. That IS spending money on the offensive line. They got Osemele in when LDT opted out, and then Osemele got hurt.
There’s not an offensive line in the league that has 5 highly-paid players. It just isn’t possible. The Chiefs relied on good play from the guys they’d paid, and none of hem were present. No offensive line is going to handle the loss of 4 starters without seeing a massive backtracking in pay, particularly when 2 of those starters (Fisher and Schwartz) are schematically depended on to handle their blocks 1x1 consistently to allow the Chiefs to run empty sets.
There’s no team in the league that has 9 available offensive linemen who are average starters, or even slightly subpar starters. The Chiefs had reached the point that they were going into the well at every position, and it finally caught up with them. One of the problems with subpar or average offensive linemen is that one never knows when a bad matchup will force a horrific performance out of them. The “hope” going into the game was that Remmers/’gretti/Wis/Wylie would all play at an average level against very tough competition, and none of them did.
The sad fact is that the Chiefs suffered a catastrophic number of injuries along their offensive line to ALL of their best linemen, and eventually it became one too many to overcome against a defensive line that didn’t have any weak points for the Chiefs to hide their problems up front. Tampa Bay built their gameplan around that (smartly), mimicking what San Francisco did last year. Except this time the Chiefs weren’t countering that gameplan with Fisher/LDT/Schwartz. It goes underrated how much Schwartz’s dominance on the right side helped KC deal with heavy pressure from the other side and the interior in las year’s Super Bowl.
I believe the Chiefs should spend heavily in the draft on OL (or perhaps find a FA or two who are hunting for a ring), but that’s not necessarily because they haven’t already invested heavily. It’s because I don’t know what the future holds for Schwartz or when Fisher will be back. Sometimes, injuries just get you. LDT should be back, and Niang will be in the mix, but they need to ensure they have the best possible line possible. We’ve seen a few too many games where Mahomes had to make miracles happen, and improving the OL at even its healthiest would allow them to diversify their game plans against great front fours.
The analogy I’ll give is this… let’s say Mahomes’ divisional round injury had been worse and he’d been forced out of the playoffs. Would people say (after watching Henne likely struggle in his stead and play at a much lower level) that the Chiefs didn’t invest enough in QB? No, they’d correctly point out that they lost a crucial player and the replacement was going to be, by definition, a big downgrade. And that’s what happened to the offensive line Sunday. It’s a testament to Mahomes, Reid, Andy Heck and the rest of the team that it took this long to happen.
I… SORTA can? Well, not really. The first one, I get. I really do. They stuffed TB for no gain on first down, and knew they were likely facing another run on 2nd and 10, so that timeout makes sense.
The next one, after the Bucs gained 8 yards on a second down throw? Bad idea. The Bucs were facing a really nice pass/run option on 3rd and 2 and could call anything in their playbook, as opposed to being more limited on a 3rd and long. They’d also shown they would start slinging the ball around if the Chiefs wanted to play that game, so it would’ve been better to play it safe and go in down one score. Tampa showed they weren’t going to just try and run it out, and at that point you go into halftime after a crap half with the game within easy reach.
Fortunately (like a lot of other things in this game), it didn’t come down to this call, as a LOT of other stuff went wrong.
The Buccaneers'’ gameplan once they got the lead (lots of play action with stuff in the middle of the field) avoided Thornhill almost by default. They did a great job accounting for how well KC’s secondary had been playing with the way they mixed things up and didn’t ask their receivers to consistently get open down the field.
I think people were surprised because it was SUCH sudden drop after patching it together all season. I think the thing with OL, as discussed above, is it becomes death by a thousand paper cuts. You can address one or two weak spots, but once you get to a position where your entire line is playing average or below against a high level DL, you’re in trouble. You need at least a couple guys who can hold their own so you can help the rest, and they didn’t have it.
The OL approach didn’t work THAT much better against New Orleans. Mahomes was still hit and harassed to death in that game. The primary difference was that when Mahomes made miracles that game, the receivers caught the ball.
Kansas City’s pass catchers dropped a pair of touchdowns and one crucial third down at MINIMUM on plays Mahomes made miracles happen. And in a game where the quarterback is under duress constantly, you can’t afford to miss those moments because you’re not going to get a million of them. Additionally, the Buccaneers did a better job in coverage down the field than the Saints did. Finally, Wylie played a lot better against Cam Jordan than he did against the Bucs, which helped staunch the bleeding a bit in the regular season. When he couldn’t repeat that in the Super Bowl all bets were off.
Never. Not once. It was he most unbelievable thing I’ve ever seen Mahomes do, and I’ve seen him do things I didn’t think were possible.
They didn’t catch a lot of contested catches. That’s a huge problem. They got out-physical’d at the catch point consistently, and you can’t win like that. Tampa Bay played a lot of cover 2 and cover 4 and kept everyone in front of them with the intention of contesting, and KC’s receivers by and large just played poorly in those moments. It didn’t help that their route combinations looked like they were trying to take shots down the field, which should’ve been given up on much earlier than it was.
So it was a combination of the OL getting destroyed, a good game plan and execution by the competition, poor performance at the catch point, and a subpar adjustment to what the Bucs were running. Other than that…
I have no idea, and I wish I had a better answer. It had reached the point I was rooting for them to run the ball a little just to see what would happen on draws (with TB playing 2 safeties high and having their defenders backing up at the snap). But KC was not ready for TB’s game plan.
Tampa Bay had a GREAT game plan once they had a lead and could legitimately threaten to run the ball. They did a lot of play action and quick throws designed to take advantage of areas vacated by blitzes or where hesitation might be caused due to the play action looks. They were able to avoid obvious throwing downs and didn’t give Kansas City (after the first quarter) a lot of chances to pin their ears back and get after Brady.
Sometimes, the way a game goes helps dictate what can happen. And when KC failed to jump out early, it let Tampa Bay play in a way that favored their strengths rather than the Chiefs’ in terms of fakes, play actions, and safe dink and dunk throws.
I don’t think the Chiefs need to get too carried away. They’re not perfect, but they were the best team in the NFL all season until a really tough Super Bowl where virtually everything that could go wrong did go wrong.
I think they’ll want to look at the line given the concerns there with Schwartz/Fisher and the interior. I’d love to see them try to find another weapon for Mahomes as well, because Sammy hasn’t been able to stay healthy and Hardman wasn’t able to do what they needed when it counted in the postseason (sadly, as the talent is there).
On defense, I’d want them to keep churning for secondary talent (though they look really good there, Breeland may well walk and you can never have too many cornerbacks). I’d want them to also try and find additional pass rush depth. Willie Gay Jr. should help at linebacker next year with a full offseason (and frankly would’ve helped in the Super Bowl, but I digress).
I’ll talk more about this as the offseason unfolds, but the key here is to add, not blow up, an excellent roster.
Yes, they were that bad. It gets worse every time I watch it, honestly.
Remember that this is part of being a contender. Tom Brady has lost multiple Super Bowls. And know that they’re absolutely going to get this chance again.
I think so, yes. A game plan that centered more on attacking the middle of the field and utilized a bit more of CEH to try and soften up the defense with draws and quick throws out of the backfield NOT to the boundary, as well as more cover 2 and cover 4 breakers as opposed to deep shot routes.
The Chiefs had a chance to take control early and alter the entire game plan that Tampa Bay was able to utilize by collecting stops on both of their first two drives. And on their fourth drive they collected a huge stop that had the potential to be game-turning. KC needed to jump out in front there and force Tampa Bay to be more aggressive in their downfield game. They just couldn’t get it done.
Look, the refs were BAD on a pair of Tampa Bay drives in the first half that were crucial in putting the Chiefs behind. Really, really bad. That said, the Chiefs got outplayed in multiple phases and even if you undo the penalties, they still lose that game. It’s actually given me a little bit of peace on the subject. Had it been a one-score game I would be much more haunted. As it is, the tenor of the game would have been different without those two scoring drives going the way they did. But, given everything else that went wrong, I don’t think the Chiefs walk away winners regardless.
This game was one of the few times ever I watched thinking “they should run he ball a little more here just to see how it goes.” I wish they would have utilized Clyde on more draws, as they had some success with that a few times and then went away from it. I don’t know if you can fashion an entire game plan around that, but given the way the Bucs were playing (pinning their ears back in the pass rush, 2 safeties high, corners and linebackers backing up at the snap) they could have made some ground and perhaps forced some change there.
Picking a running back in the first round was always going to be less “value” than a lot of other positions, but for me it’s more puzzling now than it was that day given how little they utilized him as a pass-catching threat. I guess we’ll see what next season holds, but as of now it’s hard to not think that they could have gone a different way, despite how talented Clyde is.
Clark’s contract is structured (like many of Kansas City’s big contracts) in a way that the team has an “out” after 3 seasons when the dead cap number goes down. What that means is that while there’s still a lot of dead cap money in his 4th year, they could move on from him and save a little under $14 million in cap space.
That said, don’t be surprised if restructuring of Clark’s deal that pushes out dead money is one of the ways the Chiefs get under the cap in 2021 (with the effect Covid is likely to have the Chiefs are going to need to find some spots to save money, and moving around a deal like Clark’s by converting salary to signing bonus, etc is one easy way to do that). That’s what they do with players they know they’re planning to keep around regardless. It makes the dead money last longer, but since they have no plan of cutting said player that doesn’t matter.
The Chiefs LOVE Clark from everything I’ve ever heard. He’s a leader in the locker room, plays hard, helps in a lot of little ways that don’t necessarily make the stat sheet, and has a history of being an excellent pass rusher. That said, he definitely seemed to drop off in his win percentage this year (I’ll be reviewing that this offseason), so I understand why people are asking the questions. But in my opinion he’s more likely to be restructured than cut by a LONG shot.
The Bucs did a great job targeting those two and trying to avoid testing Mathieu and other spots in the secondary too often. It’s also a game plan they were able to execute when the Chiefs fell behind early, making play action and running the ball actual threats and allowing the Bucs to avoid taking too many shots down the field.
Sorensen has shown himself to be a valuable player within a certain role. Niemann has struggled, and the Chiefs should be taking a long hard look at continuing to add speed to their LB group.
My way too early guess is 12-4 or 13-3. They dominated the NFL this year and got caught in a “everything went wrong” game in the Super Bowl. They’re returning their stars, and Veach has shown a consistent ability to churn the roster and find contributors. I think they’ll make at least one move this offseason that fires people up and gets them excited for the possibilities next year.
Durant was a rookie who looked not even close to ready in the few snaps he got. Rankin is a mystery, given the way he flashed last season. I wish I knew the answer to how the Chiefs see that OL room. But yes, Wylie had a horrendous day at right tackle after actually playing all right there against New Orleans. He also hasn’t had the most success at guard this year either. The Chiefs should look into developing some new talent along the offensive line, as I said earlier, especially with the future of Schwartz and Fisher in doubt. The interior line has been suspect all season, and I hope they are aggressive pursuing options there.
I think Tampa Bay’s game plan would have to be very different in that event, as they wouldn’t be able to count on getting any pressure whatsoever on Schwartz’s side. It’s underestimated how much that helped Kansas City’s offense last year and especially during the playoffs. Fisher would have been a significant upgrade (most likely at least) over how Remmers played, and LDT would’ve provided at least some benefit inside.
So yes, it would’ve looked very different for Mahomes. He wouldn’t have had to be a hero on almost every snap (I’ll be looking into this later this week as a sort of ode to Mahomes’ efforts against the 49ers).
You’re one year removed from a Super Bowl win and have the best quarterback on the planet on your favorite team, along with arguably the greatest tight end of all time and a slew of other potential Hall of Fame players. You’re gonna be fine, I promise!
I think having a coach like Andy Reid and a quarterback like Patrick Mahomes makes it tough to genuinely spiral. They have tons of talent, and one game doesn’t change that. It’s going to be a matter of looking at how they can improve rather than remain stagnant, then get back to their style of football. If that requires improving the OL or adding a weapon who can consistently threaten teams outside of Hill and Kelce, so be it. But I think they’ll do it. They’ve addressed weaknesses every year, no reason to think they’ll stop now.
Absolutely, yes.
We’re reaching my limit for posts like this, so that’ll do it for now. I’ll be writing about Mahomes soon, and then we’ll discuss offseason plans here at The Chief in the North. Thanks for participating, all!
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This article gave me peace. At the end of the day, you always learn more in defeats than in triumphs. I can't wait to see what the future holds for our Chiefs, and which changes they bring. :D
I don't know if this is the place for this, but since you mentioned it....Finding out about Terez yesterday was a gut punch after I was just starting to recover from Sunday evening's gut punch. But it, along with the loss of Marty Schottenheimer, helped bring back a bit of perspective. As Grunny said on 810 when he was saying a few words to honor the passing of Marty, the Chiefs have been to 2 straight Super Bowls and Marty would have given almost ANYTHING just to get to 1. So on that note, a big shout out to Marty and Terez: a Chiefs legend, and one that was in the making. RIP.