The Kansas City Chiefs are quarterbacked by Patrick Mahomes. They are coached by Andy Reid. Over the last five seasons, this has been the best QB-head coach combo in the NFL.
So, there is that. Without them, the Chiefs wouldn’t be playing in the Super Bowl.
Meanwhile, Philadelphia is led — on the field — by a burgeoning MVP QB in Jalen Hurts and by a potential coach-of-the-year on the sidelines: Nick Sirianni.
Sirianni is one of the best young coaches in football. Just as Hurts is one of the best young quarterbacks. And, as with the Chiefs, the Eagles are not playing in the Super Bowl without the pairing.
But the QB-head coach combos are not the only reason why either team is playing in the last game of the season.
The Chiefs’ first appearance in the AFC title game with Mahomes and Reid was the 2018 season. Only seven players on that squad, aside from Mahomes, remain on the roster.
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Also, Mahomes made $1.2 million in 2018. He was on a rookie deal. He makes $30 million now and will eventually make north of $40 million a season; he signed a 10-year, $450 million contract in the summer of 2020.
Those numbers mean Kansas City had to replace 45 players on its roster over the past five seasons, and they’ve had to do it around Mahomes’ contract. All of which means the Chiefs are not in the Super Bowl without the guidance of general manager Brett Veach.
Kansas City started four rookies against the Bengals in last week’s AFC title game. Another, Jaylen Watson, made a one-handed, game-saving interception against Jacksonville in the divisional round the week before.
Watson was drafted in the seventh round last spring. Sound familiar?
It should. But before we get to Brad Holmes and his late-round finds for the Detroit Lions, let’s mention the job Howie Roseman did in building the Eagles.
Not only did he and his scouting staff see star potential in Hurts, whom they selected in the second round in 2020, but Roseman has hit on Dallas Goedert (2018 second round), DeVonta Smith (2021 first round) and Jordan Davis (2022 first round), among many others.
It’s natural to look at both teams, particularly Kansas City, and focus on the quarterback play and the level of coaching. And, again, neither team is where it’s at without those things.
Yet the Eagles have arguably the best overall roster in the league. And while the Chiefs aren’t as deep, or deeply talented in as many places, they’ve rebuilt their offensive and defensive lines and found players in all sorts of spots to keep a reasonable talent level around Mahomes.
When Veach and his front-office staff decided it was time to move on from Tyreek Hill, they decided not to go for a single high pick in the first round, or even another star player. They wanted multiple picks for Hill. And got them.
In exchange for Hill, the Miami Dolphins gave Kansas City its first-, second- and fourth-round picks last year and its fourth- and sixth-round picks this year. Those picks helped the Chiefs win a conference championship.
The Lions may not have had Hill to dangle, but they did have Matthew Stafford, who got even more in return than Hill. Holmes got two first-rounders and a third-rounder for Stafford.
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Oh, and he got Jared Goff.
The Rams won the Super Bowl. Good for them. The trade worked.
It’s also working for the Lions, as Goff looks like an above-average starter and Jameson Williams, taken in last year’s draft after a trade using that Rams first-round pick, looks like a potential star. In two months, Holmes will get to use the other first-round pick from Los Angeles.
The faith in Holmes’ ability isn’t just tied to the Stafford trade though. It’s there because of what he’s done outside the first round, too.
This is Holmes’ time of the year. Goff felt the love late in the season. Dan Campbell has gotten his kudos — not that he cares — as well, and deservedly so.
It’s natural to focus on the quarterback-head coach combo when considering a team’s prospects, and it’s natural to think of the pairing when watching some of the game’s best do it this time of year.
So yes, Mahomes and Reid and Hurts and Sirianni are the faces of these franchises and have earned the praise and awards and trophies that may be coming their way. None of this happens, though, without the folks watching from above.
Veach and Roseman deserve a good chunk of the credit for overseeing two of the best rosters in the game. And for managing the draft — in Kansas City’s case — and free agency — in Philadelphia’s case — as well as anyone else in the league.
The Lions appear to have a coach capable of making his own mark on a budding team; heck, he is a big reason the team is budding. And they appear to have a quarterback capable of leading the way.
They also have the person in the shadows orchestrating the build out, and that is as critical as anything else when teams make postseason runs.
Next Sunday night, either Hurts or Mahomes will hoist the trophy and stand next to their coach when they do it.
Eventually, the emcee of the postgame ceremony will call the front office man in charge over to the center of the confetti and honor them as well. Their role will have been essential.
And if Holmes turns out to be as essential as either Veach or Roseman, he may be standing near confetti one day, too.
Contact Shawn Windsor: 313-222-6487 or swindsor@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @shawnwindsor.