Dominate the Super Bowl

Reflecting on the Kansas City Chiefs' 2016 season, was it a failure?

Of course not.

With twelve wins and four losses, they secured the second seed in the American League, finishing just behind the New England Patriots in the regular season, and advanced to the playoffs as division champions.

However, the disappointment was undeniable when they, highly favored, fell to the Pittsburgh Steelers in their first playoff game and were eliminated.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

No wonder the loyal fans in Kansas City despaired; despite having all the essentials, they were thwarted by the playoff curse yet again. Their anger did nothing to help—more than anything, they felt powerless and void, unsure of what more their team needed to break through.

In truth, the signs were all there.

It's hard to believe, but over the past two seasons, the Kansas City Chiefs won games relying on their defense. Andy Reid winning games with defense?

Just like in soccer, the saying in Football goes, "Offense wins games, defense wins championships." Yet, Football differs slightly from soccer, where solid defense can lead to a penalty shootout; in Football, ultimately, you need offense to finish the game.

Clearly, Reed realized this, which is why he focused on picking offensive core players in this year's draft to prepare for the team's future.

Last season, the Kansas City Chiefs' defense ranked seventh across the league.

But on closer analysis, their pass defense ranked eighteenth and their rush defense ranked twenty-sixth, both quite poor and in the lower half of the league. So, what propelled the Chiefs' defense to rocket into the top ranks?

Red Zone defense.

Approaching the end zone, the Kansas City Chiefs' defense was particularly strong, helping their average points allowed per game to be the seventh lowest in the league, especially their tough ground defense, which tied for the third fewest rushing touchdowns allowed in the red zone.

In other words, their staunch performance in crucial moments kept the end zone secure, shaping the team's twelve wins and four losses for the season.

In stark contrast was the offense.

Last season, the Kansas City Chiefs' offense ranked only thirteenth among the thirty-two teams in the league.

Though it wasn't a drag, still hovering in the middle of the league, this was unusual for Reed, known for his offensive scheming and quarterback coaching.

Specifically, their passing offense ranked eleventh, while their ground game ranked nineteenth.

One key piece of data is telling: throughout the season, the Kansas City Chiefs entered the red zone fifty-five times, ranking tenth in the league; however, their scoring rate in the red zone was only 45.5%, ranking thirtieth in the league, third from last.

Also, for the entire season, the Kansas City Chiefs scored only four long-distance touchdowns from outside the red zone—a mere four.

Taking all these data together, several conclusions can be drawn:

First, the Kansas City Chiefs had the capability to advance, and their combined passing and running tactics still ranked among the top in the league. Reed remained a brilliant offensive mind.

Second, the combination of quarterback Smith and the wide receivers and running backs lacked explosiveness, whether it was Smith's long passes targeting the end zone or the ability of the running backs and receivers to advance significant yards into the end zone.

Finally, they lacked a breakthrough in the trench warfare of the red zone, without reliable heavy weapons to open up the game once inside the red zone.

This means that the Kansas City Chiefs could advance and attack, but struggled to score, lacking explosiveness at crucial moments.

This weakness was further magnified on the playoff stage. When facing the defensively strong Pittsburgh Steelers, their own defense wasn't tough enough, and their offense couldn't break the deadlock, particularly lacking explosiveness during crucial moments, which consequently influenced the outcome of the game.

"16:18".

The Kansas City Chiefs lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers by a very, very close score.

In fact, there was a critical yet often overlooked statistic from the 2016 season—

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In the sixteen regular season games, ten of them had a winning margin of just one touchdown with the opponents.

If you include the playoffs, that number would be eleven.

It clearly indicates that throughout the season, the Kansas City Chiefs were constantly walking a tightrope, whether in victory or defeat, offense or defense, everything was precarious and teetering on the brink, and the seemingly brilliant "twelve wins and four losses" record hid major pitfalls.

With a slight misstep, they could have fallen off the tightrope and shattered to pieces, and the issue wasn't about whether they could win another playoff game, but whether they could even make it to the playoffs again.

After all, last season, the division championship for the Kansas City Chiefs was also a close call, with the Oakland Raiders having the same twelve wins and four losses record, but the Chiefs topped the division due to a better division performance.

The new season was just as fiercely competitive and could change the dynamics of the game at any time.

This was the issue that the Kansas City Chiefs had to face and resolve during the off-season.

But it wasn't easy.

For basketball, there are five people; for volleyball, six; for soccer, eleven. The larger the number, the more difficult it is to adjust the lineup and enhance strength, not to mention that in football the offensive and defensive groups alone comprise twenty-two people, plus a special duty group that might seem unimportant but often plays a vital role.

Just like the Cleveland Browns, all you could see were problems everywhere, to the extent that you wouldn't even know where to start.

Of course, Reed could see it, and so could the professionals who seriously studied football and made their living from it—

Cleary, Reed excelled at offense, and naturally, he started with adjusting the offense; moreover, for the moment, the Kansas City Chiefs' defense was not a significant concern, but the offense needed a substantial adjustment.

Reed chose the ground attack.

A choice partly passive, partly active; Charles's injury disrupted the Chiefs' plans, forcing them to confront this issue; but from another perspective, since the 2015 season, their ground attack had already shown signs of a slow decline.

Perhaps this was the opportunity, a complete overhaul, hoping for a fresh start.

The question was, was it rational? Was it right?

Reed could have picked Hunter in the third round, then traded for two cost-effective blue-collar running backs, and invested more in wide receivers and the offensive line, where the input was immediately visible.

Moreover, these positions all offered better value for money than running backs.

Moreover, Reed did not just randomly pick a running back; he chose Li Wei.

The subject that already had potential for controversy and scrutiny exploded into more discussion when mixed with an anomaly like Li Wei, and Veach's aggressive actions in the draft provided professionals with daggers to ruthlessly dissect the Chiefs' weaknesses and deliver heavy blows.

Honestly, people were waiting, waiting to see Li Wei perform on the field, since never before had such a character entered the world of football, similar to when Sun Wukong first entered the heavenly palace, with all the attention bustling around, but no one knew what would happen.

Even though there was still some time before the season, the long wait finally ended because—

The preseason had arrived.