LAS VEGAS – The end of the NFL's week dedicated to its most prolific and successful teams is almost here and there is an overriding lesson to be learned:
To be a winner, don't do loser things.
And, no, that may not be deep Greek philosophical stuff. But it applies to the NFL, and it especially applies to what we're seeing from the AFC champion Kansas City Chiefs, the NFC champion San Francisco 49ers.
It also applies to many of the other teams that aspire to reach the heights these two have reached.
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - FEBRUARY 01: An exterior view shows an image of the Lombardi Trophy, team logos and signage for Super Bowl LVIII at Allegiant Stadium on February 01, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The game will be played on February 11, 2024, between the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
Losing Decisions By Losing Teams
To begin, let's establish that losing and doing loser things is not the way to ever get to the Super Bowl. And, yet, a surprising number of the league's teams do loser things almost habitually.
That's the reason they have no real chance to be Super Bowl contenders.
Proof?
During this past head coach hiring cycle two coaches who have won a lot of games and seven combined Super Bowls were available for hire. Pete Carroll and Bill Belichick both wanted jobs, but both remain unemployed.
So two Super Bowl winning coaches, one of them a six-time Super Bowl winning coach, were available to help teams looking to win and all those teams went in a different direction.
Shocking? It shouldn't be.
Because losers doing loser things is not new.
Brady, Once Unwanted, Surprised Belichick Is Without A Job
In the 2020 offseason, Tom Brady became an unrestricted free agent for the first time in his career. The guy was then and remains arguably the greatest quarterback of all time.
So, in a quarterback-driven league there was a mad scramble to sign a six-time Super Bowl winner.
Except, no, there wasn't.
"When I was a free agent, there was a lot of teams that didn't want me," Brady said on his Let's Go podcast this week.
Brady said he is surprised Belichick "doesn't have a job, absolutely."
And it should be stunning that a coach that fashioned the NFL's most enduring dynasty ever draw huge interest in an open market.
Except for the fact loser teams make loser decisions.
KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI - FEBRUARY 15: Patrick Mahomes #15 of the Kansas City Chiefs holds up the MVP trophy while celebrating with teammates during the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl LVII victory parade on February 15, 2023 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Jay Biggerstaff/Getty Images)
Chiefs Have Dominated NFL
Now, turn your attention to the two current Super Bowl teams. They have been among the league's premier teams for years.
The Chiefs have played in six consecutive AFC championships. This is their fourth Super Bowl in five years. And they have a chance to win their third world championship in five years.
The 49ers are playing in their second Super Bowl in five years. They've played in the NFC championship game four times in five years.
The Chiefs and 49ers know how to win.
But, you see, they also know how to take advantage of teams that make losing something of a habit.
Take the 49ers:
HENDERSON, NEVADA - FEBRUARY 07: Christian McCaffrey #23 speaks to the media during San Francisco 49ers media availability ahead of Super Bowl LVIII at Hilton Lake Las Vegas Resort and Spa on February 07, 2024 in Henderson, Nevada. (Photo by Chris Unger/Getty Images)
McCaffrey Trade A Win For 49ers
They have not one but two players who were MVP finalists this past season – running back Christian McCaffrey and quarterback Brock Purdy.
What if I told you both those players should be on the Carolina Panthers instead of with the 49ers?
Obviously, the Panthers traded McCaffrey to the 49ers last season because they believed he was injury-prone, and they wanted to get better and whatever other narrative they fabricated.
The Panthers got a second-, third-, and fourth-round pick in the 2023 draft for McCaffrey. They finished the 2022 season with a 7-10 record and fired their coach. And they finished the 2023 season with a 2-15 record and fired their coach.
McCaffrey, got off the sinking vessel and grabbed a Super Bowl team life preserver. He's rushed for 2,205 yards, added 1,028 receiving yards and scored 31 touchdowns in 27 games for the 49ers.
That trade was a winning team doing what winners do. And a losing team doing what losing teams do.
LAS VEGAS, NV - FEBRUARY 5: Brock Purdy #13 of the San Francisco 49ers and Patrick Mahomes #15 of the Kansas City Chiefs shake hands during Super Bowl LVIII Opening Night at Allegiant Stadium on February 5, 2024 in Las Vegas, NV. (Photo by Perry Knotts/Getty Images)
Panthers Ignored Brock Purdy
It doesn't stop there with the 49ers and Panthers.
Brock Purdy was selected with the last pick of the 2022 draft by the 49ers. It was a move no one thought would move the needle.
Except, perhaps, former Panthers coach Matt Rhule. His Baylor teams played against Purdy before Rhule joined the Panthers. And the coach respected Purdy's abilities.
So he said so before the 2022 draft.
"When I was in the draft room at Carolina, I brought his name up," Rhule said. "I said he should be on the draft board. I got vetoed on that one."
The Panthers, needing quarterback help, declined to put the name of a future starting Super Bowl quarterback on their draft board.
And it's not just perpetual losers that do things to help other teams win. Solid teams also sometimes beat themselves with some questionable moves.
Elite athletes like Patrick Mahomes have mental toughness in addition to their physical talent. (Photo by Kevin Sabitus/Getty Images)
Bills QB Patrick Mahomes?
The Chiefs, you may recall, drafted Patrick Mahomes with the No. 10 selection in the 2017 draft.
But the Chiefs didn't hold the No. 10 pick of that fateful draft when the first-round began. That pick belonged to the Buffalo Bills.
The Bills, in the first-year of a rebuilding process, agreed to trade back to Kansas City's 27th overall selection, add a pick that eventually turned into wide receiver Zay Jones, and also get a 2018 first-round selection.
The Bills ultimately used that extra first-rounder from K.C. to move up in the 2018 draft and select linebacker Tremaine Edmunds. They also traded up that draft to select Josh Allen.
But consider what would have happened if they had simply had Mahomes in their sights and stuck with that No. 10 pick?
History might be different because Mahomes and the Chiefs eliminated the Bills from the playoffs in January 2021. Mahomes and the Chiefs eliminated the Bills from the playoffs in January 2022. And Mahomes and the Chiefs eliminated the Bills from the playoffs in January 2024.
The Chiefs are winners because they made that trade with the Bills and have a better quarterback in Patrick Mahomes.
