LAS VEGAS — The thought has been swirling in Brett Veach’s head all week, and the what-if lingers after a season-ending loss that has the Kansas City general manager grappling with a reality he’s not used to. .
“You see it every year,” Veach said, “where a team starts off well and doesn’t make the playoffs.”
Five weeks ago, that fear was real.
that could be usVicky remembers thinking.
Of course, it’s easy for Veach to admit it now, standing on the field at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas six nights before the Chiefs’ fourth Super Bowl appearance in five years. But the general manager believes that without the humiliation of Christmas Day – a crushing 20-14 loss at home to the Raiders – his team would not have been able to solidify themselves as the NFL’s modern dynasty in 60 minutes and extend their first season since 2020. Won the Lombardi Trophy for the third time since.
“If we find a way to win this game … maybe it will be a wake-up call in the playoffs,” Veach admitted. “I think we not only need to lose, but we need to lose in this way.”
That Veach explained that what bothers him the most on December 25 is fashion. It’s a microcosm of a struggling team, one that has been underperforming for the better part of a month. The Raiders led the Chiefs downfield that day — “We were physical in our spots,” Veach said — and Kansas City’s offense was sloppy and disjointed, inconsistent with the first half and the second half. Most of the time. season. The defense played well for most of the afternoon but couldn’t stop it in the final minute.
Chiefs general manager Brett Veach expressed his gratitude for the wake-up call the team received before the playoffs. “I think we not only need to lose, but we need to lose in this way.” (David Ulett/Getty Images)
The Raiders went on a power play, turning two Chiefs second-quarter turnovers into touchdowns seven seconds apart. They then cemented the victory with a six-run, 61-yard drive late in the fourth quarter, with Patrick Mahomes stranded on the sideline and unable to steal the win in the final seconds.
These types of wins — the ones the Chiefs got off a fluke during a 7-2 start — Veach calls them just “deodorants” that mask the real flaws that have been lurking since midseason.
The loss doesn’t cover up anything. The loss exposed the defending champion, who was suddenly so fragile and so easily defeated that he was a completely different person in January. It was Kansas City’s fifth loss in eight games, the Chiefs’ sixth loss of the season for perennial Super Bowl contenders and the most since Mahomes became the starter in 2018 of a game.
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As December came to a close, they were 9-6. The picture of the AFC Champions League playoffs has come into view. The Ravens beat everyone. The bill is very hot.
And the champions are starting to get disconnected.
Veach remembers the frustration that erupted on the sidelines that afternoon and months of pent-up emotions. Mahomes berated his offensive lineman in full view of the cameras. Travis Kelce put on his helmet near the bench and it bounced high.Coach Andy Reid bans team staff from giving Back He said to Kelce a moment later, then bumped into his star tight end after saying a few words.
Mahomes is giving his line business pic.twitter.com/l1Jg731yn6
— NFL on CBS (@NFLonCBS) December 25, 2023
After the game, the Chiefs’ top decision-makers, including owner Clark Hunt, Veach and Reid, gathered in the coaches’ locker room for their usual postgame meeting. Most of them had their heads down, staring at the floor, Hunter recalled.
What went wrong. Something has been off for weeks. No one in Kansas City knew at the time: whether this was a low point that would turn the season in another direction, or a harbinger of a painful playoff loss to come in just weeks.
Or maybe Veach is worried about the unthinkable: no playoff trip at all.
At that point, the Chiefs still hadn’t finalized anything.
“This is definitely one of those deals that happens now or never,” the general manager said. “Just because you won the Super Bowl (last year), just because you had some success, doesn’t mean you’re going to win before the ball even gets kicked off.”
“We needed a little kick,” Reed admitted. He later said the loss was a stark reminder for his team: “Things don’t fall into our lap.”
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After the game, the coach was emotional but undeterred. In the locker room, Reid stood in front of the team and took responsibility. all.
“I’m going to take this,” Reid told his players.
According to some, this has always bothered players. They remember it’s not about the coach. This is their business. They weren’t ready to play.
“We’re all grown men,” rookie receiver Lahi Rice said, “and we don’t like this.”
Rice acknowledged that some people were distraught.
“A lot of us weren’t quite in game mode because it was Christmas and stuff like that,” Rice continued. “A lot of us are not ready to play on Christmas Day.”
A win would clinch an eighth consecutive AFC West title, which has become an annual ritual in Kansas City. Instead, Mahomes was sacked four times and stumbled to one of his worst passer ratings of the season, finishing with just 235 yards on 58 returns.
“When you have a chance to win a division championship and you come out and lay eggs like we did, it definitely resets you, fuels you and lets you know, ‘Man, we’re not close to where we need to be,'” the linebacker said. Drew Tranquill said.
“It doesn’t reflect well on who we are as a team,” guard Trey Smith added. “But at the time, we were a team.”
Who they were when the regular season ended: A team that featured a defense that was weakened by a middling offense that was arguably the worst of the Reid era.The Chiefs rank 14th in scoring this season, one spot behind the Colts, who have won nine games with backup quarterback Gardner Minshew. Gardner Minshew’s Browns 4 Four 2023 starting quarterback.
In fact, of Reed’s five Super Bowl teams in Kansas City, this year’s team finished last in regular season record (11-6), points per game (21.8) and net rating (+77).
“We’re more challenged than we have been in previous years to put points on the board,” Kelce said this week.
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At the end of the season, the coach quit, the general manager said. Reed takes a big-picture view of all the issues that arise in the offense. (It wasn’t just a league-high 44 fumbles.) Reid realized the coaches were trying to do too much on offense, looking for a spark that wouldn’t come.
“If you follow motorsport, sometimes it’s like when you’re in a race, there’s going to be some adjustments every pit stop,” Veach explained. “It’s a bad change if you make some adjustments, and I think we had some of that this year. The car wasn’t perfect. We went in and made some adjustments and it actually made it worse.”
Reid not only challenged the players, but also the coaching staff. “Let’s get started with the basics,” he told them. “Let’s be who we are. We have a good defense. We’re good enough offensively, we don’t need to sit here and game plan to try to score 60 points a game.”
He condensed the script. He simplified his game plan.
The Chiefs haven’t lost since.
Led by Travis Kelce (second from left), Chris Jones and Patrick Mahomes, the Chiefs have come a long way since an embarrassing loss at home to the Raiders. (Emily Currier/The Kansas City Star/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
In recent weeks, Reid has gone out of his way to praise the team’s leadership — Mahomes has returned to his all-around form and Kelce has rejuvenated since the start of the postseason. In turn, the offense has done enough. The challenge seemed to energize them, and this time they had to get back to the Super Bowl without being the favorite. They beat Miami in the freezing cold, the Bills in snowy Orchard Park, and then the Ravens in Baltimore in the AFC Championship Game.
Now they have a chance to become the league’s first defending champion in two decades.
“We knew we were going to get into a scrimmage,” cornerback Trent McDuffie said. “We knew we had to do it on the road. We knew everyone was going to doubt us.”
no longer. Not after this run. Over the past month, the Chiefs have reminded everyone who they are and why they struggle so much this time of year.
Just ask the dolphins. Ask about the bill. Ask the Ravens.
Veach put together the list with Reid, and he’s still amazed by how quickly things happened — and the opportunity they earned themselves on Sunday.
“If we didn’t realize in time that ‘we’re not a good football team’… but We have it there,” the general manager said, pausing for a moment and staring at the court.
any That Whatever was missing, Veitch’s team found it just in time.
(Above: Danny Medley/USA Today)
