The Kansas City Chiefs were finally knocked off in Super Bowl LIX.
On the brink of a historic three-peat, Patrick Mahomes and Co. were dismantled by the Philadelphia Eagles in a game that was never all that close.
The Chiefs don’t lose playoff games often, especially not in blowout fashion. But that’s what happened in the Super Bowl — an outcome that Chiefs legend Jamaal Charles was stunned by, which he explained to NBC in an interview while promoting Bush’s Beans and the new Bush’s BeanBQ Boots.
Bush’s
Bush’s Jamaal Charles showing off the new Bush’s BeanBQ Boots.
Andy Reid-coached teams don’t often get caught off guard — that’s what made the Super Bowl result such a surprise to Charles.
“One thing about coach Andy Reid is that he does a great job of trying to figure out where our weakness is and how we can correct that,” Charles said. “It surprised me in the Super Bowl that we couldn’t get that done. Normally, he’s always on point about fixing the weakness and trying to get the ball out of Patrick Mahomes’ hands quickly so he won’t hold on to the ball.”
The weakness was addressed in the offseason as Kansas City reshaped its offensive line. Joe Thuney was traded to the Chicago Bears, while the team signed Jaylon Moore from the San Francisco 49ers and drafted Josh Simmons from Ohio State in the first round.
Charles believes the next-look unit will surprise people this season, largely because of the coaching staff — which he played for four seasons from 2013 to 2016.
“That’s something they always diagnose in the year before,” he explained, “they’ll go back and see what we did wrong, then try to correct it going into the (next) year.
“With getting (beat) that way from the Super Bowl, a lot of people will think (O-line) is our weakness. It might be surprising this year that we might be on top of that, from the trenches in the line. I think we’ll get that corrected.”
Charles was a standout for the Chiefs from 2008 to 2016, amassing more than 1,000 rushing yards in five different seasons with two First-Team All-Pro selections. He left Kansas City just before Mahomes got to town, but Charles has been present in the area and expects the dynasty to remain on track after the Super Bowl loss.
“I think they’re going to respond back (well),” Charles said. “They have some things they need to fix. Our (offensive) linemen weren’t that good last year, so I think we have a lot of stuff we had to get fixed. … So, once we fix those things, I think we have a chance to basically get the ball to our playmakers, get the ball to the outside.
“(Xavier) Worthy, coming off his rookie year. (Hollywood) Brown, coming off missing like half the season. And then (Rashee) Rice, we’ll see what he’s able to do hopefully getting him back off (a potential) suspension.”
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Charles has also seen a new star running back taking over his former spot in the backfield.
Isiah Pacheco, like Charles, was a later draft pick with little expectations coming into the NFL — only to burst onto the scene.
What makes Pacheco so special, according to Charles?
“I think his passion for the game, his energy,” Charles explained. “Just being around other great players like Travis (Kelce) and (Patrick Mahomes), that builds his confidence. I can see he’s stepping up little by little in how to be a leader, how to speak out, how to get on people and make people make mistakes, correcting people.
“I think that’s how you become a great running back in Chiefs history, by doing the little things that make your game grow. That’s what’s going to make Pacheco become one of the greatest Chiefs running backs in history.”
Charles certainly knows what it takes to be an all-time great running back in Kansas City. He’s the franchise leading rusher (7,260 yards), ahead of Priest Holmes (6,070) and Larry Johnson (6,015). Pacheco is 19th on the list (2,075) after just three seasons.
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