Even if the Kansas City Chiefs weren’t willing to admit it, deep down in their souls they had to know they were cooked.
The Chiefs battled like hell to get back into the AFC Championship Game on Sunday night, erasing a 14-0 deficit against the New England Patriots before Tom Brady and the Pats eventually prevailed in a 37-31 overtime thriller at Arrowhead Stadium.
It’s not like the Chiefs, especially their defense, didn’t have a chance to win the game. In the second half, the Kansas City defense stepped up and slowed down New England just enough to allow Patrick Mahomes and the high-powered Chiefs offense to make it competitive. Kansas City even stormed all the way back to take a 28-24 lead with 2:03 to play.
But as has been the case many, many times before, the Chiefs left Brady and the Patriots’ offense too much time on the clock.
Chiefs nose tackle Derrick Nnadi: “We know who Tom Brady is. When we got to the two-minute warning, I already knew, that’s where he thrives. My thought was, we have to get a stop soon and get a stop now.”
Kansas City actually appeared to get that much-needed regulation stop to ice the game when Brady’s pass glanced off the hands of Rob Gronkowski and into the waiting arms of Chiefs cornerback Charvarius Ward as the clock dipped below the one-minute mark in regulation. Of course, that play was negated when linebacker Dee Ford lined up in the neutral zone.
Chiefs safety Daniel Sorensen: “I thought the game was over and it wasn’t.”
Fifteen seconds later, the Patriots took the lead. Improbably, however, the Chiefs marched down the field and got into field-goal range to tie the game and force overtime.
Nnadi: “When it got to overtime, honestly, I thought we could have done it. Football doesn’t always go the way you want it to go.”
The Chiefs’ season ultimately ended when Rex Burkhead barreled into the end zone less than five minutes into overtime, but the campaign might as well have been doomed when the coin landed on heads prior to the extra frame.
Nnadi: “Going into the last drive in overtime, we all tried our very best, point blank, period. With our backs to the wall, we need to make a stop and get the ball to the offense so they can do what they do. We got to that point and things just didn’t go the way we wanted them to go.”
Again, there wasn’t a lack of chances for KC to get off the field. The Chiefs defense forced Brady and the Patriots into third-and-10 situations on three separate occasions during overtime — and they converted each one of them.
Linebacker Reggie Ragland: “We had them on third down but we just couldn’t get off of the field. We had them. You just have to finish man, you just have to finish.”
Defensive end Chris Jones: “Brady got rid of the ball fast. We didn’t get to the quarterback like we usually do. I put this on the defense.”
Nnadi: “Those type of things, that’s team defense. They stepped up their game. Great players make great plays. We just had to do our job. They saw an opportunity and they struck hot.”
The Chiefs were officially put to bed when Burkhead plunged through the line for a 2-yard, walk-off touchdown that sent the jubilant Patriots to the Super Bowl leaving KC to play a game of “What if” that will extend through the spring and summer and into next season.
When it was all said and done, the Patriots ran 94 plays in regulation compared to just 47 for the Chiefs. The KC defense was on the field for nearly 45 minutes of game time. That’s a lot to handle, even for the best-conditioned teams.
Ragland: “We were exhausted but we still had chances to make plays and we’ve got to make those plays.”
Ultimately, the Chiefs weren’t able to make those plays, and they became just the latest in a long line of Brady’s victims. When the chips were down and things mattered most, Brady once again elevated his game to a level few athletes in any sport let alone football are lucky enough to enjoy.
Ragland: “His calm and his poise, he has seen everything. He has been doing this for 100 years. It ceases to amaze me. Every year he does it, year in and year out. That’s the type of guy he is, a great competitor, great quarterback. You can see why his team goes to Super Bowls every year. This team will be back, though, we will be back.
If and when the Chiefs are back, expect them to have to once again go through Brady and the Patriots.
