Someplace, Eugene “Mercury” Morris is laughing with a glass of Champagne in his hand.
The working again, who died September 21 at age 77, was all the time one to have a good time when the final undefeated group within the NFL suffered their first lack of the season.
That meant Morris’ 1972 Miami Dolphins would stay the final to have an ideal marketing campaign—14-0 within the common season and three playoff wins on their technique to the Tremendous Bowl VII championship.
The Kansas Metropolis Chiefs’ bid for perfection ended with a 30-21 loss to Buffalo on Sunday in Orchard Park, N.Y.
“The undefeated factor was cool,” Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes stated. “However that is not our final purpose.”
The final word, after all, could be to change into the primary group to win three consecutive Tremendous Bowls. Pittsburgh’s “Metal Curtain” groups of the Seventies by no means did it, nor did Joe Montana’s 49ers within the Nineteen Eighties, the Cowboys of the early Nineties or Tom Brady’s Patriots within the 2000s.
The Chiefs (9-1 total) had gained 15 video games in a row, together with playoffs, since a December 25 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders.
However Kansas Metropolis had been flirting with catastrophe. Mahomes led 4 fourth-quarter comebacks this fall, and the Chiefs needed to block a last-second discipline purpose as time expired to beat visiting Denver 16-14 per week earlier.
Mahomes most well-liked to look on the brilliant facet, that this loss might take a few of the stress off his group and let the Chiefs attain their full potential.
“I am hoping that it’s a profit,” Mahomes stated. “I really feel like we had been simply coming away with these wins on the finish of video games. And I believe it’ll spark us to have extra urgency, particularly within the begin of soccer video games, particularly with the offense.”
Kansas Metropolis coach Andy Reid pointed to final season’s Christmas Day defeat, which sparked the Chiefs to their third title in 4 years.
“That is completely what we’d like this to be,” Reid stated. “It must be one thing that we construct off of. That is one thing that we’d like. A actuality verify for us.”
On Sunday, Buffalo quarterback Josh Allen ran for a 26-yard landing on fourth and two with 2:17 left to supply the ultimate margin. He was serenaded by chants of “M-V-P” from the Payments Mafia.
“Any time you give the ball again to Pat (Mahomes), that offense, down six with the sport on the road, I like their odds in that scenario,” Allen stated of going for it on fourth down as an alternative of settling for a discipline purpose. “So wanting six or seven (factors) to attempt to make it a two-score sport.”
Allen evened his all-time document in opposition to Mahomes to 4-4. However all 4 of these wins—and one loss—have come in the course of the common season. Within the playoffs, Mahomes has a 3-0 edge.
Which, within the case of the Chiefs, is all that basically issues.
“It is going to take your greatest soccer to beat nice soccer groups. And we did not play our greatest soccer at the moment,” Mahomes stated. “All of the respect to them. That is going to be a very good soccer group that we’ll in all probability see once more.”
Morris’ Dolphins reached three straight Tremendous Bowls from 1972 to 1974 however misplaced the primary of them earlier than profitable two straight.
Mahomes and the Chiefs are nonetheless smiling, understanding they’re nonetheless able to having the final snicker for the third consecutive season.
