Undisciplined play, lack of composure cost KC title
Offsides. Unnecessary roughness. Unsportsmanlike conduct. Pass interference. And holding. Lots of holding.
The Kansas City Chiefs put on a textbook display of how to stop the Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl on Sunday. They did it to themselves.
By halftime, they had amassed more penalties (8) than points (6) — and more frustration than hope. It was an undisciplined and uncharacteristic loss of composure that set the stage for the 31-9 drubbing at the hands of Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Kansas City’s 95 penalty yards in the first half were the most by any team in any of the 269 regularseason and playoff games this season. They were one more yard than Kansas
City had racked up in any single game all year. The Chiefs only committed three penalties in the second half to finish the game with 11 for 120 yards. It hardly counted as progress.
The team that ran like a classy, unstoppable machine through one championship season and over 16 more wins en route to its second straight title game imploded. The
Chiefs got too grabby in a vain attempt to cover Tampa Bay’s receivers, too jumpy on the line of scrimmage, too chippy when things didn’t go their way.
Each one of the eight first-half penalties hurt in its own way, none more than the two pass interference calls over the span of three plays that led to a
touchdown and a 21-6 Bucs lead before halftime. The drive started at the Tampa 29 with 1:01 left. Kansas City coach Andy Reid burned two timeouts, after two short Bucs gains,
thinking the Chiefs might get the ball back.
They didn't.
The face of all this Kansas City frustration: Defensive back Tyrann Mathieu, who, one play after a 34yard pass interference call that put the Bucs in business, got hit with an interference call of his own that gave Tampa Bay the ball at the KC 1. After the touchdown on the next play, Mathieu got an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for wagging a finger in Brady’s face.
A few minutes earlier, Mathieu also sparred with Brady after his interception off a deflected ball was nullified by — what else — a defensive holding call. It was a marginal call that went against Charvarius Ward — lots of jockeying, and the sort of hand-tohand combat that went unflagged through much of the playoffs.
It was only 7-3 at the time. And so, Mathieu said something to Brady. Brady didn’t back down. Brady came into the game with six Super Bowl titles, in part because he wins most of those mind games.
Patrick Mahomes, flustered and hurried by a
Bucs defense that apparently didn't get the message about KC, completed 26 of 49 passes for 270 yards and two interceptions. At least a half-dozen passes hit receivers in the hands but got dropped.
They weren't the only ones with butterfingers.
With the Chiefs trailing 7-3 in the second quarter, lightly used punter Tommy Townsend dropped a perfect snap and had to scoop up the ball and rush the kick. It was a beauty that pinned Tampa back on its 30. But it was nullified by a holding call — a protector had to yank down an oncoming rusher to keep the late-off-the-foot kick from being blocked.