Former Buffalo Bills assistant coach Phoebe Schecter is an NFL pundit and plays for Great Britain’s flag football team.
The Kansas City Chiefs come into the new NFL season looking to make history, by becoming the first team to win three straight Super Bowls.
It’s so hard to get there every year. Nothing is guaranteed. That’s the beauty of the NFL, the parity that it creates, but it creates a lot of challenges as well.
The Chiefs understand what it takes to get there, they’ve felt the expectation. That’s the standard when you walk in that building, yet it never seems too big for them.
For a lot of teams, getting to the Super Bowl would take every inch of them, but these guys are able to get there year after year.
Super Bowl week is madness, there are so many more stresses on you, yet the Chiefs find a way to treat it like it’s any other game and play their own way. It’s like they have their own cheat code.
Last year, they were not good the first half of the year, they led the league in dropped passes. Yet they still managed to make it to the Super Bowl and still managed to win in overtime.
Quarterback Patrick Mahomes is still only 28 years old (29 on 17 September). It’s crazy, his athleticism and his understanding of the game. Even when he was injured two seasons ago, at the Arizona Super Bowl, no-one thought he would finish the game.
He was pretty much hobbling off the field at half-time. Yet he comes back and runs for a key first down and they go on to win it. He’s just not your normal human.
I know people throw around this word but the Chiefs really are creating a dynasty. To have a dynasty you need to have an incredible quarterback and an incredible head coach. The Chiefs tick both those boxes.
Andy Reid is a great guy to play for. He’s not just a wonderful coach, he’s also a great mentor to his other coaches – look at his coaching tree.
And you can never ignore the relationship Mahomes has with star tight end Travis Kelce, the understanding they have. We saw it in pre-season, when Mahomes made that unbelievable behind-the-back pass. He was mad at Kelce for running the wrong route yet still found a way to find him.
What I really enjoy about the Chiefs is that they traded Tyreek Hill (in 2022) and everybody thought that would be a negative thing but actually, it’s almost made it more challenging for opponents because you no longer have a key receiver to really focus on.
All of their receivers and tight ends could be potential threats so you have to adjust your defensive scheme to almost defend everywhere, as opposed to doubling up on one athlete. That’s what Reid ultimately wants – a team full of dudes who are able to do whatever you need them to do.
Last year was Rashee Rice‘s rookie year and he became almost their number one receiver. This year they’ve drafted another receiver, Xavier Worthy. Some people call him a ‘poor man’s Tyreek Hill’, but that’s just because he’s being paid far less and has the same speed and skillset that Tyreek offers.
The Chiefs have also brought in Marquise ‘Hollywood’ Brown (receiver), they’ve still got Isiah Pacheco (running back), and they’ve got continuity on defence.
Reid has built a team who show up every day, believe in the culture and do the hard yards. As a player, you know what the standard is, you know that the veterans like Mahomes and Kelce are going to get you in line. You know that they’ve been there and done it, so you’re going to listen to whatever they say and do whatever they do.
That’s why I think it’s a no-brainer to compare them to Tom Brady‘s New England Patriots of the 2000s and 2010s. Their legacy was built on everyone buying into the programme’s culture, beliefs and actions. It’s really the same thing now with the Chiefs.
You had the Patriots Way. Well, we’ve now got the Chiefs Way. It’s a bit more fun, a bit more creative, but it’s the same concept.
A lot of that starts from your quarterback, that leadership on and off the field, so as long as the Chiefs have Mahomes, they can be successful.
I think this is the year that another team can give them a run for their money, though. I’ve predicted the Bengals to win the Super Bowl, but honestly, I think it’s a coin flip.
The AFC Conference is so stacked, it’s difficult to pick between the Bengals, Chiefs, Jets and Texans.
However, I was a bit surprised the Chiefs didn’t keep Louis Rees-Zammit. It seemed like they had some positive experiences with him, but hey, I guess you’re not an NFL player until you get fired from somewhere.
Louis just needs time, and perhaps the Jacksonville Jaguars are in a better position to give him that time and attention. If you’re letting a guy go, coaches do talk about players and are open about them.
I think the Chiefs would have recommended him to the Jags – and hopefully we’ll see him again soon as the Jags are again playing two games in London in October.
Phoebe Schecter was speaking to BBC Sport’s Ben Collins
