Drafting Patrick Mahomes was critical, but adding depth around the roster is what put Kansas City over the top. Plus, the makeup of the other conference championship teams.
They say football is a game of inches and, in the Chiefs’ divisional playoff win over the Jaguars, there’s real proof of that going back more than 16 months before the ball was snapped at Arrowhead.
It was late August 2021. The Chiefs, with a reworked offensive line room, had a surplus at tackle. Tackles are always valuable on the end-of-camp trade market, and the Patriots had a need at the position and were in talks to acquire Yasir Durant, who Kansas City had developed as an undrafted free agent over the year prior.