Prepare for the Mother of All Super Bowls

What, were you expecting someone else? 

Of course the Kansas City Chiefs are heading back to the Super Bowl. Of course Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, head coach Andy Reid and the defending champs found a way to prevail in an overheated roller coaster of a season in which they sucked up most of the planet’s media oxygen, but didn’t play coherent football until this month.

That’s what great teams do, figure it out, when the early reviews are deservedly brutal, the haters pile on and the “experts” declare them kaput. The Chiefs, wheezing and angry mid-December, are going to be exactly where they wanted to be on Feb. 11—at the first-ever Super Bowl in Las Vegas, home of Wayne Newton, airport slot machines and the Stanley Cup champion Golden Knights. They will meet the San Francisco 49ers, who won the NFC title by snatching the soul right out of the poor Detroit Lions.

Kansas City’s 17-10 road victory over Baltimore in the AFC Championship was an experienced display of management calm—especially in contrast to the mistake-prone Ravens, who played like they’d all just met 10 minutes before the game. This was a messy contest K.C. didn’t clinch until late, but another game which showed why the Chiefs remain the NFL standard—and why the dynasty talk may not be premature. 

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