Analysis: Dynasty or not, there’s no end in sight to Chiefs’ current reign

By Case Keefer (contact)

Monday, Feb. 13, 2023 | 2 a.m.

Crammed onto a small podium as red and gold confetti rained down onto them, three out of the top four faces of the Chiefs’ budding maybe, sort-of dynasty acted exactly as expected after winning a second Super Bowl.

Coach Andy Reid joked about chowing down on a victory cheeseburger after beating the Eagles 38-35. Tight end Travis Kelce screamed Beastie Boys lyrics and got the fans left at State Farm Stadium to join in for a singalong. Defensive tackle Chris Jones danced.

Two-time NFL and now two-time Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes was the one relatively straight-faced.

“We’re not done yet,” the 27-year-old quarterback vowed after leading his team to a second-half comeback on a bum ankle.

Scarier words have rarely been spoken in the NFL. Mahomes chose to end his latest historic night with a threat, one that has virtually no chance of winding up empty.

If the Chiefs won the ultimate prize this year, then they can do it any year Mahomes is healthy — and it’s even more probable as long as the likes of Reid, Kelce and Jones are around.

The indefinite hurdle they present was already evident for the Las Vegas Raiders and their other two AFC West rivals. But the rest of the NFL needs to take notice of just how far they’re going to need to leap to clear Kansas City after the Chiefs won their second Super Bowl in four seasons on Sunday.

There’s a case to be made that this was the worst of the five Chiefs’ teams since Mahomes became their starter, especially considering the state they were in at halftime against the Eagles. Mahomes, having “re-kind of-aggravated” the high ankle sprain he suffered in a divisional-round win over the Jaguars, could barely walk.

The Kansas City offense around him wasn’t helping much, sputtering ever since an opening-drive touchdown where Kelce beat the defense on the first of the Mahomes touchdown passes on the night. And the defense looked totally outmatched, making Philadelphia quarterback Jalen Hurts — who finished with 374 combined passing and rushing yards and four touchdowns — look more like Mahomes than the overlord of “Chiefs Kingdom” himself.

The only reason the Chiefs were within striking range at 24-14 was because of an ultra-fortunate Hurts fumble that bounced right into the hands of linebacker Nick Bolton, who returned it for a 36-yard touchdown.  

“You’ve just got to hang with each other and good things will happen,” Reid said he told his team in the locker room. “That’s all I had to say in there. Listen, these guys are all-in. They did a heck of a job.”

The Chiefs took control out of halftime, outscoring the Eagles 21-3 through the first five possessions of the second half. The way they maintained their composure is fairly remarkable given the makeup of their team.

This wasn’t the grizzled group that had played in two of the last three Super Bowls and ran roughshod over the league. Far from it, only 12 players remained from the Chiefs’ team that beat the 49ers in Super Bowl 54 by Mahomes’ count.

The quarterback reminisced about how the first step in this championship process started a year ago when he hosted “basically a whole new group of receivers” near his hometown in Northeast Texas for an unofficial offseason throwing session. And at least one, if not both, of the players who caught Mahomes' final two touchdown passes against the Eagles weren’t even there.

Kansas City took its first lead when Mahomes threw a five-yard touchdown pass to Kadarius Toney, who came over midseason via trade with the New York Giants, to go up 28-27 with 12 minutes to play. Then Toney had the longest punt return in Super Bowl history, 65 yards down to the 4-yard line, to set up a similarly wide-open pass from Mahomes to rookie second-round pick Skyy Moore.

“These are all new faces,” Reid said of the makeup of his team. “And they just stepped up all year.”

The Chiefs’ roster continuity is going to be much stronger going into next year, especially on defense where no fewer than five rookies played major roles in the Super Bowl. First-round edge rusher George Karlaftis forced Hurts out of the pocket on a couple occasions, while third-round pick Leo Chenal had one of only two sacks in the game.

A trio of cornerbacks — first-rounder Trent McDuffie, fourth-rounder Joshua Williams and cornerback Jaylen Watson — all drew praise from Reid for stepping up when it mattered.

Hurts did lead the Eagles on a defiant 75-yard, game-tying drive in four minutes after Moore put the Chiefs up 35-27 and became the first player in Super Bowl history both score a touchdown and two-point conversion back-to-back. But that was the only time Philadelphia found the end zone in the second half.

Yet another Chiefs rookie, seventh-round running back Isiah Pacheco, was so sharp on the ground in picking up 76 yards on 15 carries that he kept the clock running and the Eagles off the field.

“Me as a rookie, it means everything just to prove myself and get the job done,” Pacheco said. “I looked my teammates in the eyes and let them know I was all-in.”

Credit Reid for fully relying on the 23-year-old running back after he seemed hesitant to do so in the regular season. And that might have been one of the smallest parts of his coaching masterclass in the second half.

He schemed Moore and Toney wide open on their respective third-and-goal scores, but a controversial late holding call on the Eagles can also be chalked up to play design. Philadelphia cornerback James Bradberry wasn’t anticipating a cut by Kansas City receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster on the second play after the two-minute warning and grabbed his jersey.

What appeared to be an Eagles stop on third-and-8 from the 15-yard line turned into a first-down from the 11-yard line. Bradberry admitted his move was a penalty after the game, despite Eagles fans exploding in boos on the play and social media erupting in criticism.

“It was holding,” Bradberry said. “I tugged his jersey. I was hoping they would let it slide.”

That gave the Chiefs time to run the clock and set up kicker Harrison Butker’s game-winning 27-yard field goal with eight seconds to play — only after one more astute maneuver. The Eagles were going to wisely allow Chiefs running back Jerrick McKinnon to score on the play after Bradberry's hold, but he slid down at the 2-yard line to keep the clock running.

Mahomes confirmed after the game that he had mentioned sliding down in the huddle, with the move having been bashed into his brain from repeated mentions by Reid and offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy throughout the year.

“In that big of a moment, you want to run in and score the touchdown, but we work with that stuff every single day to prepare ourselves for these moments,” Mahomes said.

The Eagles arguably outplayed the Chiefs — racking up a 417 to 340 yardage edge — but the latter had the surrender, the punt return and the turnover. That’s the type of winning-on-the-margins philosophy that great coaches preach and implement.

Despite rumors to the contrary, the 64-year-old Reid said he had no plans to retire after the game. Mahomes said his legendary coach’s “job’s not finished,” despite winning a second Super Bowl.  

“I’m not going to say ‘dynasty’ yet,” Mahomes said.

His more celebratory teammates may have disagreed.

“You can call it a dynasty,” Kelce said. “Call it whatever you want. All I know is we’re coming back with the right heart and the right mindset trying to get another one. I can tell you that right now.”

Mahomes is planning to let loose in the coming days. He fulfilled a childhood dream by going to Disney World after his first Super Bowl, so this time around, it’s off to Disneyland.

But beneath the fantasy world of his upcoming destination is a horror-filled thought for the rest of the NFL: Mahomes isn’t anywhere close to done working his magic yet.

“I have Disney World and Disneyland crossed off,” Mahomes said.  “I’d love for them to make some more parks so I can go around everywhere and do a world tour.”

Case Keefer can be reached at 702-948-2790 or [email protected]. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.Case Keefer can be reached at 702-948-2790 or