The Chiefs season officially ended on Sunday as all hope was finally lost losing to the Chargers 16-13. It was a brutal ending to a brutal season as Patrick Mahomes tore his ACL while attempting to lead the team to a tying or game winning score. Ironically, I think there was at least a good chance that they would have at least gotten a field goal and tied the game, but instead Gardner Minshew came in and threw an interception to end the game and this miserable season. Even though the season ended on Sunday there had been signs all year long. I correctly predicted that the Chiefs would start 3-3 due to not having Rice and the toughness of the first 6 games on the schedule. But I also predicted they’d turn things around and finish 12-5. They went to Buffalo and that was the first sign for me that we were in trouble. In that game they refused to run the ball even though Buffalo was terrible against the run. The Bills played extra defensive backs knowing that we either wouldn’t run because of our arrogance in our passing game or couldn’t run because of our lack of talent at running back. It was probably a combination of both. After the bye, we headed to Denver at 5-4 in a must win game if we wanted any real shot of winning the division. Pat threw an unfortunate interception in the red zone. The offense couldn’t get first downs up 3 late in the game. The defense couldn’t get off the field. Ultimately the better team won the game but there were so many moments that the old Chiefs have come through so many times in the past that they failed in that game. The next week in another must win game, the Chiefs did just enough to beat the Colts in overtime. But that would be the last meaningful win of the season. The Defense failed against the Cowboys. The offense failed against the Texans and both sides failed at times against the Chargers. There was a sequence of events during the Chargers game that perfectly exemplified the Chiefs this year. The Chiefs got the ball with around 4 minutes left. The team successfully and methodically drove down the field. However, the drive stalled and they had to settle for a field goal. It was great example of the offense all year that statistically didn’t look awful but couldn’t finish drives against good teams. Still, they were up 10 with 38 seconds left in the half which was a pretty good feeling. Then they kick off and special teams immediately lets us down by giving up a return past the 40. The defense gives up a big pass play and eventually a touchdown all in under 30 seconds of clock time. Instead of being up 10 at half, they are only up 3. The Chargers taking the second half kickoff and drive down the field to tie the game 13-13. And just like that, what was a good half of football was erased and a dynasty was ended.

There will be lots of time now to analyze what went wrong and who is to blame. But the bottom line is everyone is at fault including our biggest stars who have come through so many times. Mahomes had some good games but overall seemed impatient in the pocket (although it is hard to blame him). He often left good pockets too soon and took too many sacks and just didn’t play well against the best teams. He couldn’t hit the deep ball consistently and he forced too many throws in the red zone leading to critical turnovers. Kelce came back in much better shape. Statistically he’s been great, especially for a 36 year old tight end. He is top 3 in most categories amongst tight ends. But he had some crucial drops including 3 that lead to interceptions. Rashee Rice who was supposed to be our star receiver, looked the part for a couple of weeks against bad teams. But after that, he struggled to get open against man coverage and got his own case of the drops including 3 crucial ones against the Cowboys and the Texans. Chris Jones played amazing down the stretch. But he started out the year by blowing an assignment in the first game of the year against the Chargers that led to them being able to run out the clock. He was often seen loafing early on in the year. Against the Jags, he stood and watched as Trevor Lawrence ran in the game winning score. And even Butker missed a career high 8 kicks so far this year. The people this team has counted on for years, could no longer be counted on at least not in the same way.

And this is where the blame heads to the Coaches and the front office. They did not build a roster around these veterans to succeed. And the scheme is old and stale and everyone has caught on. The running back room is the worst in the league and it is not close. Every team we played, I thought to myself, how do they have 2 or 3 guys who can run the ball and we don’t have any? The offense was predictable. If the Chiefs were under center, 90% of the time they were running. And if they did pass, it would be obvious because the play action wasn’t good and the passing typically wasn’t successful. If they are in shotgun, they are going to throw the ball. If they did run it was typically an RPO that either Pat would end up throwing instead or the running back would gain 2-3 yards. Veach decided not to trade a 3rd round pick for Breece Hall even though he would have helped dramatically. The coaching staff refused to play Elijah Mitchell even though he was very good for the 49ers and instead called up CEH who has never been very good. They signed Dameon Pierce who is more explosive than either Pacheco or Hunt by a wide margin. But he too just sits on our practice squad. It’s odd to have a problem so obvious yet continue to run the same guys out there. On the defensive side, we have built a roster without really any defensive linemen who can win one on one besides Chris Jones. So we have to blitz constantly because we can’t get pressure otherwise. But now, teams know we are going to blitz. And we have been blitzing for seven years because we don’t have the edge rushers who can win and really never have. Eventually you run out of blitzes that they haven’t seen. We continue to play guys like Charmari Connor even though pretty much every pass that gets thrown his way is completed. Meanwhile, Jaden Hicks sits on the bench because in Spags words, He’s made some mistakes this year. Everyone on your defense has made mistakes. The scheme is bad. The players playing aren’t great choices and the roster isn’t great. Later I’ll give some thoughts on what they can do to fix it going forward but for now all we can do is accept that the season and at least this part of the dynasty is over.

Will there be a second act? Mahomes is still relatively young. I guarantee you that no one will work harder this offseason to get back to being full strength as quickly as possible. Will that be for the start of next season? I don’t know. Will he play at all next season? I don’t know. Will he ever be the same when he does come back? I don’t know. Tom Brady actually tore his ACL at the exact same stage of his career as Pat. Both were 30 and had won 3 super bowls. Tom tore his in week 2 instead of week 15. But the similarities are odd. However, Tom played a much different style than Pat. Tom was not mobile so an injury like that was not as damaging to how he plays. So much of what Pat does and how he does it has to do with his mobility. But one thing is for sure, Pat is a competitor and will want to be on the field as soon as possible. He also heals freakishly fast. His knee popped out of place and he only missed two games. He got a high ankle sprain and played the next week. But he is older now, and as we get older our bodies heal slower. No matter when Pat returns, if there is going to be an act 2, changes will need to be made.

I know many of us Chiefs fans are frustrated not because we aren’t grateful for the success but simply because of lost opportunity. You only get so many years with Prime Mahomes and this one was wasted. We also know after suffering for so long, that it could be a long time until we will be great again. It could be next year. Or it could be in 30 years. These things are fragile and can end at any time as we learned on Sunday. It’s okay to be sad and bummed about the season and perhaps the end of the greatest run in franchise history. But we should also be grateful for all that we have seen. It has been better and more amazing than anything I ever expected as a Chiefs fan. After years and years of playoff failure, Mahomes changed everything. This is arguably the second greatest run in NFL history. Here are the big highlights of what this team accomplished.

10 straight playoff appearances. Second only to the Patriots who had 11.

9 Straight division titles. Second again to only the Patriots who had 11.

7 Straight conference championship appearances. Second once again to the Patriots who went to 8.

5 Super Bowl appearances in 6 years. Never been done before.

3 Championships.

Back to back Champs.

First team to make it to the Super Bowl on a 3-peat attempt.

17-4 playoff record with Mahomes.

No AFC playoff losses in regulation.

The Chiefs dominated the AFC West for a decade, the AFC in general for 7 years and the NFL for most of 7 years.

So while it is okay to be sad, we have much to be thankful for and appreciative of. And yes, we will have to endure the talking heads who said I told you so. Even though they have been saying the same thing every year since 2022. The boy who cried wolf, eventually saw a wolf. So they can be cocky with their bad take that eventually was right. And we will have to put up with our non Chiefs fans who are celebrating and gloating. Remember they are just jealous and bitter that their team sucked during this great stretch or mad that the Chiefs kept knocking their favorite team out. Or they are just one of those people that hate greatness and don’t like it when one team is successful over and over again. It’s the price we pay for the level of success we have had. Just like being disappointed when we don’t win the Super Bowl. I remember before Patrick, I just wanted to win a playoff game. Before Andy, I just wanted to make the playoffs. We have been spoiled and it shows with some of our grumpy attitude about this season. I get it, I’m grumpy too. But it has been a hell of a run and even if we don’t make the playoffs for years, we still got to enjoy the greatest run in our franchises history and one of the greatest runs in all of sports.

But I wouldn’t be me, if I didn’t end with a little hope. 2021 was a rough year. Teams started playing us different and the Chiefs struggled early in the season. They began to figure things out and ended up losing in the AFC championship game that they should have won. In the offseason they made changes. Pat changed how he played. Tyreek got traded. Lots of our personnel changed. We changed our game plan. We went to the next 3 Super Bowls and won the first two. This franchise has been at a crossroads before. That one wasn’t nearly as bad as this year and they still made a bunch of changes. So this front office and coaching staff has it in them to make changes again and I hope and believe they will.

But for now, be sad and grateful at the same time. And watch our Chiefs play the next 3 weeks even though it doesn’t mean anything. It will kind of suck but remember bad football is still way better than no football. And perhaps watching meaningless games will make us appreciate all the meaningful ones we have watched over the past decade all the more. And have us hungry for the beginning of next year to see how our Chiefs respond. I’m already looking forward to it. Go Chiefs!