We're only days away from Super Bowl LV, and the anticipation is thick enough to carve with a well-oiled chainsaw. It's the Tampa Bay Buccaneers versus the Kansas City Chiefs for all the marbles, a matchup that pits six-time Super Bowl winner Tom Brady against reigning Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes, with a tinge of potential revenge in the air for the latter and legacy on the line for both. While Brady's is already set in stone, he can continue adding to it if his special 2020 run ends with staving off the biggest star in the league -- for a second time in the postseason.
It's a repeat appearance for the Chiefs after a 14-2 finish, but their big moves aren't the only reason they're back in The Big Game. To that point, there are a handful in particular that must now be saluted in hindsight, given the fact it didn't feel at the time that they'd become what they did, and in short order.
So as you enjoy the game on Sunday, remember: it's the little things.
The Chiefs didn't have a ton of draft picks/capital going into the 2020 NFL Draft -- an organic aftereffect of appearing in the Super Bowl -- but they also didn't need it, having retained the large majority of their championship roster by way of free agency and entering April simply looking to patch a few leaks. They did far more than that when they landed Clyde Edwards-Helaire with the 32nd overall pick, a player who filled their top (lone) need offensively (from a skill-position standpoint) and did so in magnificent fashion. With offenses keyed in on trying to stop Mahomes and the high-flying offense, Edwards-Helaire burst out of the gate to a breakout year that could only be curbed by injury.
He was a sleeper pick that helped put many an NFL defense to bed in 2020.
There are other free agent mentions that also flew under the radar here, such as cornerback Bashaud Breeland -- who started 11 games and helped provide talented depth at cornerback -- but given what happened in the divisional round, I'd be remiss if I didn't speak on backup quarterback Chad Henne. Acquired by the Chiefs in 2018, Henne has mostly been relegated to witnessing the greatness of Mahomes, with limited opportunity to take the field. But when he was asked to step in and save the day against the surging Cleveland Browns, he quickly shrugged off his lone interception, changed in a phone booth and came to the rescue with his cape blowing in the wind. If not for Henne, it's likely it would've been the Browns preparing to meet the Bills in the AFC title game.
Signed to a two-year deal in March 2020, the Chiefs chose Henne over Matt Moore, and they might not be heading to Tampa this week if they hadn't.
Yet another glossed over pick last April that turned into something promising -- Gay was awarded eight regular-season starts and delivered 39 combined tackles and a sack in his rookie year. The team's second-round pick that followed the pick on Edwards-Helaire, Gay was set to join a linebacker rotation that was set at the top of the depth chart and with a need to enter and establish himself as a key rotational player and/or more. He did just that en route to being active in all 16 regular-season games before being lost for the postseason with injury, first with a high ankle injury suffered in Week 17 and then a torn meniscus in his knee as he attempted to return for the Super Bowl.
His inaugural NFL season ended short of him contributing to a postseason run, but he certainly helped the Chiefs reach the playoffs.
By now, you're sensing a theme, and that's the fact the Chiefs nailed it in the 2020 NFL Draft. You can add Sneed to the praise being heaped upon Edwards-Helaire and Gay. Sneed had a more steep hill to climb as a rookie fourth-round pick and in a situation wherein the Chiefs had also signed Breeland in free agency, but he made the most of his opportunities -- to say the least. The upstart NFL cornerback earned six starts in nine games and his three interceptions have him tied for second-most on the team (along with Daniel Sorensen) and behind only three-time All-Pro safety Tyrann Mathieu. Needless to say, that's great company to be associated with.
It's another hit for the Chiefs in the draft, and one few expected to help in a big way so immediately.
Honorable mention: Eric Bieniemy
This isn't exactly something the Chiefs are happy to see, but it's also something they're not exactly upset about -- if you catch my drift. Bieniemy is deserving of a role as someone's head coach and while he's been in the HC vacancy news the past two seasons, he's not achieved his mission yet. It's something that's infuriating Andy Reid, and even Mahomes has been lobbying for Bieniemy to get a shot in that capacity, but to no avail. It's unfathomable to see him passed over this offseason as well, but the result of that being the case in 2020 was another dominant campaign by the team's offense en route to a second consecutive Super Bowl appearance. With him sticking around for at least one more year, the Chiefs hope to make that three, a year from now.
But, they also hope he realizes his HC dream next offseason as well.
