We all know that great sports teams must have an incredible mentality, something that puts the team on a different level, driving them over the line when teams that look just as strong on paper would falter. We talk about this mentality when teams find a way to win despite playing badly or scoring at crucial moments so often that it can no longer be called coincidence. For individual players, this is sometimes called being “clutch,” but for teams, we like the phrase coined by German soccer boss Jurgen Klopp, “mentality monsters.”
Klopp was referring to the Liverpool FC soccer team he managed from 2015 until last June. He used it to describe the team’s psychology, characterized by a never-say-die attitude that saw them regularly snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. Yet, the term can also be used to describe many different winning sports teams, and we might put the current Kansas City Chiefs in that bracket. The Chiefs are, of course, the reigning Super Bowl champions, and they are going for an unprecedented three Super Bowl wins this season. That in itself might be enough to earn the tag “mentality monsters,” but we are getting at something different here: namely, the Chiefs’ ability to win ugly.
The Chiefs Leave Little Margin for Error
To explain, you need to look at the Chiefs’ record this season and compare it historically.
They are 12-1 at the time of writing – that’s historically good and one of the reasons they remain favorites in the Super Bowl betting odds – yet they have not been blowing teams away. Ten of their 12 victories so far this season have been by less than a score, i.e., 7 points or fewer. It’s incredible efficiency. It’s also worrying for some Chiefs fans, which we will get to a bit later.
Nonetheless, you have this scenario where the Chiefs are winning but not winning well. Some have pointed to their performances as being lackluster – and with good reason – yet it is inescapable that they keep grinding out results.
Take, for example, their most recent victory over the Los Angeles Chargers, divisional rivals with their own Playoff hopes. In a tight game, the Chiefs relied on a late field goal from Matthew Wright to secure a 19-17 victory. The kick took a fortuitous bounce on the way over the crossbar. Some might say luck, as the Chiefs would have lost without the bounce. But these things keep happening to the Chiefs, and you can’t call it coincidence.
Can they Move up the Gears?
One of the big determining questions going into the NFL Playoffs is whether the Chiefs are simply coasting in second gear through the regular season and will eventually put their foot on the gas when they reach the Playoffs or whether they are simply finding a way to win despite not being on the same level they were in previous seasons. The question is a real conundrum for sports bettors.
Yet, the fact remains that head coach Andy Reid has created this team of mentality monsters that simply knows how to win. They have a kind of aura that other teams simply seem not to be able to break. The string of narrow victories they have recorded so far this season is unprecedented: no team in the history of the NFL has won more games by doing less. Yet, they keep winning, and that will be all that matters for Reid, his team, and the fans. It’ll be fascinating to see if they can keep it up all the way to February and that potential showdown for a third successive Super Bowl victory.