At this moment in time, there seem to be only three certainties; death, taxes and Kansas City making the Super Bowl.
The Chiefs are no longer strangers to playing matches in February. What was once a multi-generational 50-year drought has become an almost yearly tradition.
This Super Bowl marks their fourth appearance in the space of five seasons, and it’s just the third time in history a team has achieved the feat.
A win in Las Vegas would cement their dynasty within the NFL world adding a third title. So how did they get there?
While this year may not have been as dominant as other seasons gone by, it just goes to show how much sustained success they have had.
For instance, in the years that Patrick Mahomes has been a starting quarterback, they never finished lower than sixth for points scored. This season would see them finish 15th.
Travis Kelce for the first time since 2015 had under 1,000 yards receiving for the season (albeit 16 yards away from the total).
The Chiefs finished the regular season with a record of 11-6, which was the lowest win count they have had since Mahomes took over the QB role.
The offence led by Mahomes and coach Andy Reid has been the dominating factor for their success throughout his time in Kansas City.
But this year, the Chiefs’ success from a statistical point of view has largely come from its defensive actions. This season, they have only allowed 4,926 total yards which sees them 2nd in the league.
Before this season, the highest they finished in this stat in the Mahomes era was 12th. This has been largely done by defending the passing game much better.
Through the development of Kansas City’s secondary unit with the likes of L’Jarius Sneed, Jaylen Watson and Trent McDuffie who are in their 4th and 2nd seasons respectively, the Chiefs have been restricting the opposition’s passing games at a far better rate.
Last season they were ranked 18th in this stat with 3,756 yards conceded. This season they were 4th best seeing them only allow 3,352 yards.
They also finished 4th for least passing TDs conceded which was a major turnaround from finishing 32nd in the stat. The transformation in results has been big in helping limit scoring opportunities.
Their pressure around the quarterback has also been immense. Overall, they have finished second for sacks with 57.
This was led by defensive tackles Chris Jones and George Karlaftis who both got 10.5 sacks which helped Jones get named in the AP All-Pro First team.
On the offence side, while it has not been the greatest compared to other years, they have still been effective.
Running back Isiah Pacheco built upon his rookie year to help continue his consistent output in the position having 938 yards in rushing for the season.
On the receiving end, wide receivers Kadarius Toney and Marquez Valdes-Scantling have both had a down year but it has allowed others to succeed in a pass-heavy offence led by Mahomes.
An example of this has been wide receiver Rashee Rice. Drafted in the 2nd round last year by the Chiefs, he has made an immediate impact. In this regular season, he received 938 yards at a completion rate of 77%.
In yards, that was the second highest amongst the team behind Travis Kelce and was the highest completion rate in catches.
This would quickly rise in the Chiefs depth chart becoming the Chiefs first option in the position making himself indispensable this season.
But like any championship team, they seemed to have peaked at just the right time. Their experience in these games has helped them to overcome the challenge of this year’s playoff.
Coming into the playoffs as the 3rd seed meant that after their Wildcard game against Miami, they had to play on the road.
(Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
It would be the first time outside of their Super Bowl appearances that the Chiefs played an away playoff game with Mahomes as QB.
In both games, they beat the 2nd seed in Buffalo in the divisional and the 1st seed in Baltimore in the AFC Championship game.
Now that they have shown they can win on the road, there are very few doubts remaining about what this team is capable of.
Super Bowl LVIII serves as a date with destiny for Kansas City to coronate their dynasty and put them into the upper echelons of NFL history.
A win over the star-studded 49ers in what has been a challenging year compared to previous ones for the Chiefs would likely go down as their best victory out of the three helping add to its esteemed nature of the achievement.
The question now is whether Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs will be able to answer the call of history.
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