Unheralded group of Chiefs get redemption in Super Bowl hunt
By DAVE SKRETTA AP Sportswriter
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – The Kansas City Chiefs are home to some of the biggest names in the NFL, from Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce to Chris Jones and JuJu Smith-Schuster, but they are playing in their third Super Bowl in four years largely because they refused to let go of the players only their most passionate fans know.
There’s the quartet of rookie defensive backs who’ve been picked all season but largely stopped Ja’Marr Chase and the Bengals’ other talented wide receivers while twice knocking out Joe Burrow in the championship game. of the AFC.
There’s Skyy Moore, their fumble-prone rookie punt returner whose fumble cost them a victory at Indianapolis in Week 3, but whose big comeback in the final seconds on Sunday night helped set up the basket winner in the 23-20 win.
And there’s their kicker, Harrison Butker, whose sprained ankle in the regular season opener in Arizona led to the most inaccurate season of his career, but who drilled for 45 yards with 3 seconds to go that ultimately sent the Chiefs back to the desert.
“Really, it’s the redemption stories you get into,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said. “It was quite a deal to watch.”
Indeed, Reid has been around long enough to understand the cutthroat nature of the NFL, where players’ careers are often measured in weeks rather than years. He’s seen hundreds with promises dying out, their chances of succeeding through fumble issues, blown blocking assignments, missed tackles or other seemingly minor errors.
He likes to say that the line between success and failure is so small it’s almost imperceptible.
His players understand that too.
“With such high circumstances,” admitted Chiefs offensive tackle Orlando Brown Jr., “the margin for error is so slim.”
So no one would have batted an eyelid if the Chiefs had relegated Moore to mothballs earlier in the season when the freshman wide receiver couldn’t even make a good catch. To be fair, Moore had never really been put in that position, but that didn’t stop fans from moaning every time he fumbled for a punt.
The Chiefs eventually removed him from his returning duties, at least during games. But Moore kept working in practice, and it paid off in the end. Their new comeback, Kadarius Toney, injured his ankle against the Bengals, and his replacement Justin Watson was already out of action due to illness. Thus, the Chiefs fired Moore to collect the biggest punt of the season.
Not only did he field it cleanly, but he ran down the sideline to give Kansas City a shot at the AFC title in regulation time.
“I just had to remember who I was and why I was here,” Moore said. “I was doing something new and going to take my bumps and bruises. I just kept working on it. I didn’t think I would get a punt return this season. But I kept catching punts. I was ready for this moment and it paid off.
So did the Chiefs’ decision to continue putting rookie cornerbacks Trent McDuffie, Jaylen Watson and Josh Williams on the field together, often with rookie safety Bryan Cook, even as crafty wide receivers continued to beat them and the flags kept flying for pass interference. Much like Moore, they picked up their bits early in the season to be ready later.
In the AFC title match, both Watson and Williams had assists, one of them after Cook kicked the ball in the air.
“They told us we were going to be a big part of that defense. They threw us into the fire,” Williams said. “They definitely gave us all the information and details to prepare us to play well in difficult situations. They didn’t just tell us to go play. They gave us a game plan and showed us how to execute. We did and we joined.
Butker was a slightly different case. His ankle injury in the opener at Arizona not only caused him to miss three weeks, but also forced him to change his approach to kickoffs and field goals. The result was a shaky season in which the big-legged veteran kicker missed six career-worst field goal attempts and lost three more points.
Yet when Moore’s punt return gave the ball to Patrick Mahomes and Co., and the All-Pro quarterback rushed into the end zone on his own sprained ankle, the Chiefs trusted Butker enough to send him trotting down the field.
It was freezing. The wind was swirling. The ball probably looked like a rock. And yet Butker managed to pack just enough punch on the 45-yard run to squeal over the crossbar and give the Chiefs their third AFC title in four years.
“You dream of big kicks. That’s what people remember,” Butker pointed out in the jubilant Kansas City locker room afterwards. “They don’t remember your field goal percentage during the year.”
Nor do people remember the adversity players like Moore, Butker and the Chiefs’ rookie defensive back faced when they suddenly found themselves playing in the Super Bowl.
“Everyone pulled it off and made it work,” Reid said, “so I’m really proud for our guys.”
___
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl and https://twitter.com/AP_NFL