At the end of the conversation there is the most important question of all: Why do the Kansas City Chiefs win the Super Bowl? Mika Faierson thinks for a moment. After an initially more detailed answer, he summarizes it very briefly: “The boring answer would be: Patrick Mahomes at quarterback and a top-five defense.”
Faierson is a long-time Chiefs fan and runs the account “German Arrowheads” on X (formerly Twitter), which has over 2,400 followers and is intended to serve as a “German contact point for all Chiefs and NFL fans”. In an interview with our editorial team, he sheds light on his Chiefs, who are in the final of the NFL meet the San Francisco 49ers, from a fan's perspective on their strengths and weaknesses. And explains what has to happen for his favorite team to win in the end.
“We can’t allow ourselves simple turnovers like in the regular season,” says Faierson as an important point for the Super Bowl. Turnovers are changes of possession in which the opposing defense has taken the ball from the offense. It's the worst thing that can happen to a team. And in the “regular season”, i.e. the 18 weeks in which the play-off participants are played, the Chiefs allowed themselves 28 of them; only six teams had more.
The Chiefs started the season as defending champions with high expectations. The defense, still very young in 2022, was predicted to make a leap in development, which actually happened. However, the offense was a question mark, because the group of pass receivers, which was not outstanding last year, was further weakened. The hopes rested on Mahomes and that he would sort it out somehow.
“The offense didn’t really get going,” Faierson said. Kadarius Toney, who was actually planned as the top wide receiver, was more noticeable because of dropped passes or things outside of the sport. Age seemed to be taking its toll on tight end Travis Kelce. And so one thing led to another: the aforementioned turnovers, a Mahomes who has to do everything and perhaps wants to force too much in the end.
Faierson describes the duel with the Las Vegas Raiders in week twelve as a turning point. The Chiefs won 31-17, with rookie receiver Rashee Rice having his breakout game with eight caught passes for 107 yards and a touchdown. From then on, Mahomes developed more and more trust in Rice, who has consistently delivered ever since, which has been good for the offense.
Pacheco, the “cartoon character”
Perhaps even more important: “The biggest identity we built was the running game, which continued to evolve.” Isiah Pacheco, whom Travis Kelce's brother Jason described in the joint podcast as a “cartoon character” because of his running style, ensures here with his physicality for important yards on the ground. Just in time for the play-offs, the Chiefs had finally reached a top level offensively, and Kelce also showed his outstanding class again.
As hoped, the defense was consistent throughout the season. The starting point for this is the strong pass defense around cornerbacks Trent McDuffie and L'Jarius Sneed. Both usually attack their opponents directly when the play starts, “disrupting any timing that the quarterback and receiver are trying to set up,” as Faierson explains. This makes it easier for the quarterback hunters at the front of the defensive line because the opposing playmaker has to hold the ball longer and is thus induced to make mistakesde. The Chiefs brought the opponent's quarterback to the ground 57 times – second best value in the NFL.
That will also help against the San Francisco 49ers. But there is a completely different challenge: The 49ers are a team that relies heavily on the running game; 48.18 percent of all plays were runs – third in the NFL (for the Chiefs it is less than 40 percent). They also have the best running back in the NFL in Christian McCaffrey, who is even a candidate for the most valuable player of the season.
The Chiefs' run defense is about average in the league. If she can't stop McCaffrey, Kansas City has a big problem. But she has already proven several times that she can do it. Most recently against the Baltimore Ravens in the championship game, who were run-heavy with 49.92 percentth team in the league and were very successful. In the duel for the Super Bowl, the Chiefs held them to just 81 yards, 54 of which came through quarterback Lamar Jackson. The running backs were hardly a factor.
“First stop Christian McCaffrey”
They also beat the Miami Dolphins twice, who are a little bit comparable to the 49ers because they have a good running game and excellent players at wide receiver, who also have to be taken into account. But they hardly managed anything against the Chiefs.
“I think that Steve Spagnuolo (Chiefs' defensive coordinator, editor's note) will come up with something similar to what he did against the Ravens,” suspects Faierson. There were a particularly large number of people far up front near the line of scrimmage, where the ball lies and where the play begins. So more people to stop a possible run early and close everything at the front. “I think this is what plan A will look like: stop Christian McCaffrey first.” According to Faierson, the Dolphins and Ravens, against whom it worked, gave up their running game far too early. The fact that the 49ers do the same can be a factor in winning in the end. But for that to happen, the Chiefs need a very good start.
And these would also be the main points that Faierson mentions as to how the Chiefs can win the game: avoid turnovers, get their own running game going and play in a disciplined manner, especially to stop McCaffrey on the other side. “If the offense gets going and the defense has access, I don’t think you would lose a game in that scenario with Patrick Mahomes,” Faierson said.
#Stop #McCaffrey #Kansas #City #Chiefs #win #Super #Bowl
