They stood on the sidelines frozen, a vibrant crimson line of disbelief, their stadium all of a sudden nonetheless and silent. A 22-year-old Cincinnati Bengal named Evan McPherson swung his leg and booted the soccer clear, clear on by way of the yellow uprights at Arrowhead Stadium, clear on by way of the center of a flabbergasted soccer city known as Kansas Metropolis, Mo.
Clearing a pathway all the best way to Los Angeles. All the best way to Tremendous Bowl 2022.
Andy Reid tried some physique English, to no avail. Patrick Mahomes tried a thousand-yard demise stare. No luck. Travis Kelce clutched the entrance of his jersey with two arms, shook his head, took a last have a look at the scoreboard: Bengals 27, Chiefs 24.
After which they walked off the sphere, the silence of a damaged stadium interrupted by the gleeful shouts of Bengals sprinting onto the sphere. And as they did, the intense crimson line took greater than a surprising choke of a loss with them, greater than a season with them.
They might effectively have taken a brand-new title with them.
The Dynasty That By no means Was.
“That is so last,” Reid mentioned, the Chiefs’ coach’s voice quiet and solemn. “Congratulations to Cincinnati. They did a pleasant job. They did a greater job than what we did within the second half, that’s for certain.”
These final 4 years, there was no higher present in professional soccer than the Chiefs, ably guided by Reid’s imaginative and prescient and Mahomes’ proper arm and an infinite pile of expertise. They gained a Tremendous Bowl two years in the past, coming again towards the 49ers, however they've at all times hinted at extra, aspired to a larger place.
Now, after 4 straight AFC Championship video games performed in Arrowhead, possibly probably the most fearsome place to be a visiting workforce, they've however that one title to point out for it, alongside a thumping in final 12 months’s Tremendous Bowl, alongside two extra time losses within the AFC finals. The primary time could have been tolerable because it got here towards Tom Brady and the Patriots, who stood in the best way of a variety of bold groups by way of the years.
This one was not tolerable. It was not excusable. The Chiefs led 21-3 and the Bengals didn’t simply look cooked, it appeared they have been already pondering coaching camp. This wouldn’t simply be a celebration at Arrowhead however a coronation, particularly with them on the 1-yard line simply earlier than the half, about to go up 28-10, threatening to hold half 100 on the Bengals.
However a humorous factor occurred to the Chiefs on the best way to California. A humorous factor occurred on the best way to historical past. Perhaps it was an overdose of hubris that allowed Mahomes to assume he may get away with throwing the ball to Tyreek Hill wanting the objective line there, out of timeouts.
Perhaps it was the soccer gods reminding us all of Reid’s inglorious historical past of game-management; the rationale he was out of timeouts is as a result of he botched a profitable overview name early within the sport, inadvertently burning one.
“A number of performs right here and there,” Mahomes mentioned, “and we may have possibly gained 4 Tremendous Bowls.”
Or possibly it’s simply an acceptable reminder, on the weekend when Brady could or will not be retiring, that dynasties are exhausting — rattling close to unattainable — to construct. That’s why once they occur they really feel like sporting unicorns.
“This isn’t our customary,” Mahomes mentioned. “Everytime you style successful a Tremendous Bowl, nothing much less is appropriate.”
Perhaps the Chiefs can shake this off, make all of it means again once more subsequent 12 months, and in years after that. Any workforce with Mahomes on it's going to like its possibilities. However it's important to imagine the Seahawks felt that means a number of years again, once they gagged away a shot at back-to-back titles, figuring Russell Wilson would carry them again loads; they haven’t been again since.
And the AFC, as now we have seen all 12 months, is now affected by booby traps for the Chiefs that weren’t there initially of their run. The Bengals have gone from two wins in 2019-20 to the Tremendous Bowl due to Joe Burrow. Josh Allen has individuals in Buffalo eager to hit the fast-forward button to subsequent September. One among these years goes to belong to Justin Herbert of the Chargers. Lamar Jackson will probably be wholesome subsequent 12 months in Baltimore. On and on.
“It’s deflating,” Chiefs security Tyrann Mathieu mentioned. “It’s not yearly you have got an opportunity to play for Tremendous Bowls, play for a banner, make a metropolis proud.”
For the Chiefs, it has develop into an annual quest. 4 straight journeys to the AFC Championship sport is a nice accomplishment. They've been probably the most enjoyable present in professional soccer. They needed extra. They needed to be a dynasty. A humorous factor occurred on the best way there.
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