Are The KC Chiefs A Dynasty Of One?

by Kevin Burton

   Some leftover morsels from two weeks of great, great NFL playoff football….

   We have not just Super Sunday, but also Super Monday in Cincinnati.  The Cincy Jungle podcast reports that the Cincinnati School District has cancelled school for Monday, Feb. 14. They also report there might be a Super Bowl watch party at Paul Brown Stadium on Super Sunday. 

   Bengals in the big game. Doesn’t happen often, so do it up right, right?……..

   Wow, I very nearly overlooked a glorious chance for self-promotion. Do you realize I predicted the Bengals’ Super Bowl run?  Last month on Page 7, before Cincy took on Tennessee I wrote about it (“In Cincinnati, Hungry For Victory And Chili,” Jan. 22).

   I wrote “Ok, so here’s a thought. How about Cincinnati chili as a Super Bowl meal in three weeks?”  See how I slipped in a playoff prediction under the guise of setting a menu? Bold I tell you. Super bold………

   Pardon the Interruption co-host Michael Wilbon has taken to deriding Kansas City as a “dynasty of one,” because of the outsized credit the team has gotten out of just the one Super Bowl win.  I thought that was a little harsh and still do.

   No, they haven’t won all the big games. But they have hosted four straight AFC title games and have become the standard by which AFC teams are measured.

    On the other hand, does anybody else remember that the Niners had Kansas City beaten in the 2020 Super Bowl until the fourth quarter?  They didn’t exactly dominate that game either.

   Also did you notice there was friction between players on the KC sideline in both the divisional and AFC championship games?  Not sure how serious it was. But it makes me wonder if they will be able to hold off the Bengals-Bills-Chargers in the AFC the next few years. Maybe Wilbon will end up being right?

   But the late interceptions against Cincinnati did not make me move Patrick Mahomes down on my fantasy football draft board…..

   We came within one failed 49ers drive in the NFC title game, of having the Super Bowl turn into the Cris Collinsworth bowl.

   Collinsworth will be the color analyst for NBC on the Super Bowl next weekend.  He was a wide receiver on the first two Cincinnati Super Bowl teams in 1982 and 1989. Both games were close losses to San Francisco.  He has occasionally talked about how “Joe Montana took two of my rings.” Having him call a third Niners-Bengals Super Bowl would have been crazy. I’m sure he’s surprised and happy to be calling a Bengals Super Bowl at all….

   Speaking of announcers, Tony Romo is fine as a color analyst for some random mid-season game. But it’s terrible having him on a game that truly matters, especially an all-time classic game like Chiefs-Bills.  He spew-talks over the drama and adds nothing to the story. In the Chiefs-Bengals game he proved he doesn’t even know some of the rules.  Now his voice is on the tape forever.

   I’m old enough to remember turning the radio up and turning the television sound down on Howard Cosell on ABC games.  I may get to that with Romo….

   Can’t remember now which team it was, but I think it was L.A. Rams cheerleaders I saw wearing masks.  I love that as a statement. That’s enough to make me root for them, but not against my Bengals of course…..

   The usually excitable color analyst Dave Lapham was relatively calm on the Bengals radio network call of the game winning field goal that sent Cincinnati to the Super Bowl.  He played offensive line on the Bengals first Super Bowl team.  I think the moment was surreal for everyone in Bengals nation, including him. 

   Good thing he was being paid to talk right then and not me. I could hardly speak…

   Last year the AFC Champion got crushed in the Super Bowl because of poor play by its offensive line.  Nobody will be surprised if the same thing happens again this year.  The Rams’ pass rush is perhaps the best, the Bengals O-line perhaps the worst. 

   That’s an easy, shallow analysis of the game and I won’t pretend to stand on it.  Two things I know for sure: turnovers will be the key, and you can ask Tennessee and Kansas City if it’s a good idea to underestimate the Bengals.