The Chiefs are back in the Super Bowl because they have the memory of a goldfish

The Ravens gave Kansas City reason to back off their game plan early. The Chiefs held true, and now they’re going to the Super Bowl.

This was not the Kansas City Chiefs we’re used to. Patrick Mahomes’ receiving corps was whittled down to one trustable wideout who happened to be a rookie. Travis Kelce was another year into his 30s. Their opponent, the Baltimore Ravens, had the presumptive NFL MVP behind center and few weaknesses to exploit.

Yet here they are, coming off their sixth straight AFC title game. Headed to their fourth Super Bowl in six years thanks to a 17-10 victory in Baltimore Sunday.

This was a team that knew it could get torched by Lamar Jackson because it *was* torched by Lamar Jackson. The first quarter of this game looked like a preview into a shootout thanks in large part to one brilliant play that took Kansas City’s defensive aggression and turned it upside down via impossible athleticism:

Overreacting would have meant easing off the gas. One week earlier, defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo’s aggression dialed up 10 blitzes on 39 Josh Allen dropbacks, which the similarly slippery quarterback escaped en route to zero sacks, 72 rushing yards and a pair of touchdowns and nearly cost Kansas City the game. It would have been a reasonable adjustment.

And as Sunday’s game proved, an unnecessary one. Spagnuolo’s aggression kept Jackson wading through crowded pockets all afternoon, sacking him four times in 41 dropbacks. Half those sacks came on key third downs in the second half as Baltimore tried to battle back from a 17-7 deficit.

It wasn’t just Spagnuolo’s aggression that paid off. The Chiefs’ defense played with the discipline needed to erase Jackson’s off-the-cuff improvisations before they could get too dangerous. That group was table to take a situation where the likely MVP had more than 11 seconds to throw the ball or take off with it and run on third down and turned it into a loss of two:

But the most impactful play hinged on star cornerback L’Jarius Sneed’s ability to brush off one awful snap and trade it in for an incredible one. With 32 seconds to play in the third quarter, his secondary blanked Zay Flowers for what would be a 54-yard gain into Kansas City’s red zone. But it net just 39 yards after Flowers got dinged for a well-deserved taunting flag.

This could have rattled Sneed or pushed him to retaliate in a truly stupid way. Instead, he got perfect, beautiful revenge.

This didn’t just take a touchdown off the board — a play worth -5.2 expected points added, per RBSDM.com. It also sent a frustrated Flowers to the bench, where he cut his hand either slamming down his helmet or punching something inanimate, depending on the sideline report. His inability to shake off a bad decision meant Baltimore had to mount its comeback without him; the Ravens’ WR1 didn’t have a single target after this.

This limited an offense that ranked third in points per play in 2023 to a single touchdown Sunday and just three points after the first quarter. That wasn’t the only place where a short memory came in handy.