Someplace, Eugene “Mercury” Morris is laughing with a glass of Champagne in his hand.
The operating again, who died September 21 at age 77, was all the time one to have a good time when the final undefeated crew within the NFL suffered their first lack of the season.
That meant Morris’ 1972 Miami Dolphins would stay the final to have an ideal marketing campaign—14-0 within the common season and three playoff wins on their strategy to the Tremendous Bowl VII championship.
The Kansas Metropolis Chiefs’ bid for perfection ended with a 30-21 loss to Buffalo on Sunday in Orchard Park, N.Y.
“The undefeated factor was cool,” Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes mentioned. “However that is not our final purpose.”
The last word, after all, could be to develop into the primary crew to win three consecutive Tremendous Bowls. Pittsburgh’s “Metal Curtain” groups of the Seventies by no means did it, nor did Joe Montana’s 49ers within the Nineteen Eighties, the Cowboys of the early Nineties or Tom Brady’s Patriots within the 2000s.
The Chiefs (9-1 total) had gained 15 video games in a row, together with playoffs, since a December 25 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders.
However Kansas Metropolis had been flirting with catastrophe. Mahomes led 4 fourth-quarter comebacks this fall, and the Chiefs needed to block a last-second subject purpose as time expired to beat visiting Denver 16-14 per week earlier.
Mahomes most well-liked to look on the brilliant aspect, that this loss may take a number of the strain off his crew and let the Chiefs attain their full potential.
“I am hoping that it’s a profit,” Mahomes mentioned. “I really feel like we have been simply coming away with these wins on the finish of video games. And I feel it may spark us to have extra urgency, particularly within the begin of soccer video games, particularly with the offense.”
Kansas Metropolis coach Andy Reid pointed to final season’s Christmas Day defeat, which sparked the Chiefs to their third title in 4 years.
“That is completely what we’d like this to be,” Reid mentioned. “It must be one thing that we construct off of. That is one thing that we’d like. A actuality test for us.”
On Sunday, Buffalo quarterback Josh Allen ran for a 26-yard landing on fourth and two with 2:17 left to offer the ultimate margin. He was serenaded by chants of “M-V-P” from the Payments Mafia.
“Any time you give the ball again to Pat (Mahomes), that offense, down six with the sport on the road, I like their odds in that state of affairs,” Allen mentioned of going for it on fourth down as an alternative of settling for a subject purpose. “So wanting six or seven (factors) to attempt to make it a two-score sport.”
Allen evened his all-time file towards Mahomes to 4-4. However all 4 of these wins—and one loss—have come throughout the common season. Within the playoffs, Mahomes has a 3-0 edge.
Which, within the case of the Chiefs, is all that actually issues.
“It is going to take your greatest soccer to beat nice soccer groups. And we did not play our greatest soccer in the present day,” Mahomes mentioned. “All of the respect to them. That is going to be a very good soccer crew that we’ll most likely see once more.”
Morris’ Dolphins reached three straight Tremendous Bowls from 1972 to 1974 however misplaced the primary of them earlier than profitable two straight.
Mahomes and the Chiefs are nonetheless smiling, understanding they’re nonetheless able to having the final chortle for the third consecutive season.
