The moments that have been covered from last year is the Week Two matchup against the Oakland Raiders with the second-quarter explosion of 28 unanswered points. Then the game against the Minnesota Vikings where the Chiefs realized they have the capability of winning with the odds stacked against them. The looked adversity straight in the face without quarterback Patrick Mahomes, left tackle Eric Fisher, and defensive end Frank Clark and still came out with a comeback win.
Earlier in our “Moments” series we covered the team’s Week 2 second-quarter explosion against the Oakland Raiders and the Week 9 victory over the Minnesota Vikings that galvanized the team and proved they could win against all odds. But the lasting memory of the 2019 Kansas City Chiefs will be the team’s improbable playoff run from the No. 2 seed to a Super Bowl win.
Chapter 1 of this story starts in Arrowhead Stadium.
The Houston Texans and Deshaun Watson were coming back to town after beating the Chiefs at home earlier in the year. Now Bill O’Brien’s team was set on doing it again.
Anything that could go wrong for the Chiefs in the 1st Quarter did.
There was a defensive miscommunication that led to a quick score by the Texans. Travis Kelce dropped a catch on third-down, then the punt was blocked on the ensuing play. The Texans were quickly up 14-0 with the Chiefs wide receivers battling drops throughout the first-quarter as Demarcus Robinson, Damien Williams, and Tyreek Hill all dropped passes they normally catch. The Chiefs’ defense finally got a stop and forced the Texans to punt. but Hill muffed the catch, Houston recovered and scored again immediately after.
Heading into the second quarter the Texans marched down the field once again but settled with a field goal to build a 24-0 lead with only 10 minutes left in the half. But things were about to change as the Texans would never score again in the 2019 season.
Houston kicked off to Mecole Hardman who changed the game and the season with a huge return into Texans’ territory. The crowd woke up and lit the spark that the offense desperately needed.
The Chiefs had been in a similar situation in Week Two against the Raiders in a game that proved they had the firepower to score quickly. In a moment that would define the season, that’s exactly what happened as Mahomes led the offense and Tyrann Mathieu led the defense the rest of the way.
The Chiefs would score so many points—51 to be exact—that the grounds crew ran out of fireworks to shoot off after each score.
The Chiefs would roll into the AFC Championship game with all the confidence in the world—even against a Tennessee Titans team they had lost to in the regular season. But battling the frigid cold, the defense found a way to stop Derrick Henry in the second half and the offense tore apart the Titans’ secondary to keep the Lamar Hunt in Kansas City for the first time in 50 years.
But the season wasn’t over yet. The Super Bowl loomed with the vaunted San Francisco 49ers’ defense waiting in Miami.