Heading into this 2024 NFL season, all eyes were on the Kansas City Chiefs.
Winners of back-to-back Super Bowls. Stars bigger than the game itself on the list. Most importantly, NFL history is on the line as the potential first team to ever win three consecutive Super Bowls.
The pressure was immense for this Kansas City team, but when the regular season ended, the Chiefs came out as the No. 1 seed in the AFC and shared the best record in the NFL at 15-2.
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Kansas City Chiefs center Creed Humphrey celebrates after scoring against the New Orleans Saints at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. (Denny Medley-Imagn Photos)
But over the course of the season, there was a large contingent of fans who scoffed as the wins piled up, minimized the team’s success because of how close the wins were, and the old “refs were on their side” conspiracy theory was used liberally.
So, as the Chiefs prepare for their divisional opener this week against the Houston Texans, Pakinomist Digital wondered what the players themselves thought about their regular season amid this massive pressure and scrutiny, even with the record ultimately speaking for itself .
What is being overlooked about this team?
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“I would say this team is resilient,” three-time Pro Bowl center Creed Humphrey told Pakinomist Digital while also discussing his role with teammates Chris Jones and Xaviery Worthy in Doritos’ “Crash the Super Bowl”- advertising campaign. “Fighting close games, one-score games, two-minute drives to win games. Defensive stops to win games. All those situations where we’ve shown up and played our best ball. It comes with the work you put in during the season, through training camp, all that stuff.
“The resilience you build through those dog days of camp and stuff. It’s probably week in and week out for us and it’s something we practice a lot – the critical situations. I’m glad we were able to move up.”
Jones, the Chiefs’ defensive captain and game-ruining defensive tackle, wholeheartedly agreed with Humphrey, especially given the injury bug that forced so many to step up during the season.
“We had a lot of players go down, a lot of key players go down during the season,” Jones explained, joining the offense with Rashee Rice, Marquise “Hollywood” Brown and Isiah Pacheco all suffering serious injuries.
“We’ve been able to adjust and continue to build on that, and that’s not an easy task. When your best wide receiver goes down, your starting running back goes down. There are a lot of factors that can play within that. We’ve been able to continue to build and we’ve faced a lot of adversity this season.”
Kansas City Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones leaves the field after the game against the New Orleans Saints at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. (Denny Medley-Imagn Photos)
One of those players is Worthy, the Chiefs’ first-round draft pick who set a new NFL Scouting Combine record in the 40-yard dash. Worthy’s speed has been a weapon for head coach Andy Reid in his offense, and while it took some time to adjust to the NFL, his chemistry with star quarterback Patrick Mahomes has improved in the week leading up to this latest playoff game.
Battling adversity in the NFL, especially when a key player goes down, means the next man up has to step up. It has been Worthy, who is ready to continue building off a successful regular season.
“I’m just looking to be myself,” Worthy said of his first playoff trip. “Continue to build and grow as a player in this league. I feel like that’s the biggest thing where guys get into trouble with that is [when] they look at the end goal versus their own journey. I’m just going to take it week by week and do what I do.”
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Worthy is a prime example of what Jones pointed out about this group of Chiefs: Strong character.
The character has been built by winning 15 straight one-score games, just like the Chiefs had, dating back to last season. When the naysayers viewed Kansas City’s games in a negative light, the team was the complete opposite.
The blocked field goal against the Denver Broncos to remain undefeated was no fluke. Nick Bolton rushing down on fourth-and-short against the Atlanta Falcons to ice a win wasn’t because he knew what play was coming.
Of course, luck has come the Chiefs’ way this season. Isaiah Likely’s toe out-of-bounds in Week 1 on a game-tying touchdown on the final play of the game? Yes, it was a bit of luck that rolled the Chiefs way, but sometimes that’s just what happens in this crazy game.
Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Xavier Worthy gains yardage against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Acrisure Stadium. (Barry Reeger-Imagn Photos)
The pressure, the naysayers and anything else that could cast the Chiefs in a negative light will only increase as they chase history.
But those Chiefs players will continue to see past what has become a villain role at the New England Patriots level.
“I think it gives us a competitive edge, knowing that everybody is against us. Knowing that nobody wants us to win,” Jones said. “… To me personally, it feels like it gives us an edge against everyone else because it feels like us against the world.”
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While Super Bowl commercials are always a highlight of the “Big Game,” Jones, Humphrey and Worthy can all agree they don’t want to see them until they’ve aired. That means they were playing for the Vince Lombardi Trophy.
But these Chiefs got to see some fan-made ads that are part of Doritos’ iconic Crash the Super Bowl campaign, which is a contest that challenges the fans to do better commercials than the advertisers because millions think they can .
These Chiefs previewed the semifinalists, including the three ads selected as finalists for this $1 million contest.
Kansas City Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones is introduced prior to a game against the New Orleans Saints at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. (Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Photos)
“There were several ads that I actually thoroughly enjoyed… I think they all had their own particular uniqueness,” Jones said. “It was a fun environment to be able to pick them out as a team, laugh about it, critique each one of them. But also feel heavily involved in the process.”
Humphrey added, “Each person in the room likes different parts of each commercial. So that’s the cool part about it. The fans did a great job this year making these commercials.”
