MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Minutes after red, yellow and white confetti hit grass Sunday night at Hard Rock Stadium, Kansas City Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones already was making predictions for next year’s Super Bowl.
He believes the Chiefs will win it all again in 2020.
“Listen, everybody in the world doubted us,” a visibly fired-up Jones said after Kansas City erased a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit to defeat the San Francisco 49ers 31-20 in Super Bowl LIV. “… We shocked the world today. And now what we’re going to do is next year, we’re coming back. We’re coming back for a repeat.”
Jones, one of the NFL’s top interior disruptors, batted down three Jimmy Garoppolo passes in the win. He also helped force the first of two Garoppolo interceptions by overpowering right guard Mike Person and bringing heavy pressure on the 49ers quarterback.
Stonecold and Big Mike with the pressure, Breezy with the pick 👊 pic.twitter.com/9G79wL3jyV
— Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) February 3, 2020
The Chiefs didn’t just rally from 10-plus points down in all three of their playoff victories en route to their first Super Bowl title in 50 years. They did so, then went on to win each game by double digits.
“I told Coach (Andy) Reid we’re not leaving this place unless we have a ring,” Jones said, his voice rising. “I’m not getting back on that bus unless we have a ring, and I had no doubt in my mind that we were going to win it. We were down 10. The game got a little bit shifty up and down.
“But without a doubt in my mind — we had MVPat (quarterback Patriots Mahomes) on that side of the ball. We’ve got the fastest and best receiver corps in the league, and our defense — Sack Nation, baby. They’re going to make a movie about this.”
Jones reiterated that final line multiple times during his postgame news conference. He also compared the Chiefs’ defense to “Golden State in their prime” and himself to Michael Jordan.
“I felt like Jordan, Game 5,” Jones said, recalling the turnover on downs Kansas City forced after Damien Williams’ go-ahead touchdown with 2:44 remaining. “Three seconds left to go. Three seconds left to go, put Sack Nation in the game, and we’re going to make something happen. They’re going to make a movie out of this.”
Several sportsbooks have Kansas City pegged as the early favorite to win Super Bowl LV, which will be played at Tampa’s Raymond James Stadium next February. No team has repeated as Super Bowl champions since the 2003-04 New England Patriots.