The Kansas City Chiefs are Super Bowl champions. And the Chiefs did it in one of the most remarkable ways possible: by coming back from double digit deficits in all three games.
Kansas City trailed 24-0 early in the 2nd quarter of the Division Round playoff game with the Texans. The Chiefs responded with four touchdown drives to somehow grab a 28-24 lead heading into the locker room.
In the AFC Championship Game, the Titans jumped out to a 10-0 lead 10 minutes into the game, and held a 17-7 lead with 5 minutes left in the half. Once again, Kansas City score two quick touchdowns to take a lead into the locker room, 21-17.
Then, last night in the Super Bowl, the 49ers took a 20-10 lead into the 4th quarter. The low point was probably with 7:13 left in the game, as the Chiefs trailed 20-10 and faced a 3rd-and-15 from the Kansas City 35-yard line.
This was the game changing moment. 3rd and 15 and the Chiefs NEED a play. Mahomes has enough time waits for Hill to work the safety and then gets it out. Watch Hill, he works the safety and forces him to turn his hips then rotates back around to open field. Game Changing. pic.twitter.com/ZEU0hR4M38
— Daniel Harms (inharmsway19) (@D_Harms19) February 3, 2020
Kansas City scored three more touchdowns to emerge victorious, 31-20, on the biggest stage in pro sports. And the Chiefs did it by becoming the first team in NFL history to win three playoff games with three double-digit comebacks.
2009 Saints had been the only Super Bowl champion to trail by at least a touchdown in every playoff game. On the first play from scrimmage in the Division Round, the Cardinals rushed for a 70-yard touchdown. That 7-0 lead didn’t hold for very long: New Orleans responded with a touchdown drive of its own, and held a 14-7 lead with 7 minutes left in the first quarter and never trailed again. In the NFC Championship Game, the Saints trailed the Vikings 7-0 and 14-7 in the first quarter. While the game would go to overtime, New Orleans never trailed again after the first 20 minutes of the game. In the Super Bowl, the Saints trailed 10-0 after the first quarter, and 17-16 with 6 minutes left in the 4th quarter.
Below is every Super Bowl champion and the largest deficit they faced in each playoff game. For the Chiefs, it’s -24, -10, and -10. The minimum deficit column shows the largest deficit faced by that team in every single game in the postseason. Only five teams — the ’19 Chiefs, the ’09 Saints, and the ’17 Eagles, ’07 Giants, and ’92 Cowboys — faced a deficit in every postseason game. Finally, the total deficit column shows the sum of the largest deficit in each postseason game.
Fun trivia note: The 1991 Washington Redskins are the last Super Bowl champion that never trailed in the playoffs. There are only four other teams that can make that claim: the ’71 and ’77 Cowboys and the ’73 Dolphins, along with the ’66 Packers (who only played two playoff games).
Congrats to all Chiefs fans on a magnificent season!