NFL
The Kansas City Chiefs May Have Just Identified the Missing Piece to Their Super Bowl Puzzle
Joe Kozlowski began his career as a sports journalist in 2013 and joined Sportscasting in 2019. He covers the NBA and soccer for Sportscasting, with specialties in legacy NBA players such as Michael Jordan and Premier League club Arsenal. Off the clock, he's a Kansas City Chiefs fan and a hockey goalie. Growing up loving Shaquille O'Neal and reading everything he could about the great big men throughout NBA history — likely because he was still tall enough, at least relative to his peers, to play center — he's continued to love learning about and exploring the historical and story-based sides of the basketball archives. As for Arsenal, Joe spent a year living in London and latched onto the local support of the club. He's barely missed a match since, loving Arsene Wenger, enduring the Banter Era, and following along through rebuilds. The Premier League interest developed into a passionate following of the Champions League, Europe's big five league, and international soccer as a whole when played at the highest level. Regardless of the sport, Joe is captivated by the stories of athletes beyond the box scores and how they push the envelope — both in terms of what we think a human is capable of accomplishing and how they find new competitive tactics to win.
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In February 2020, the Kansas City Chiefs lifted the Lombardi Trophy and claimed their first Super Bowl title in 50 years. Eight months later, though, that’s no longer relevant. While no one in KC will forget the Chiefs run to the championship, the 2020 season is now underway; the only thing that matters is trying to make it back to the big game and run it back for a second-straight time.
While the Chiefs have a pretty impressive offense with Patrick Mahomes and the Legion of Zoom, no NFL team, not even the defending champs, can afford to rest on their laurels. With that in mind, the club may have already identified the missing piece to their Super Bowl puzzle.
The Kansas City Chiefs are 4-1 but haven’t looked their best
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After their run to the Super Bowl title, the Kansas City Chiefs had an impressive offseason, retaining virtually all of their top-tier talent. Those front-office efforts, however, haven’t helped the team get off to a dominant start.
While the Chiefs have gotten off to a hot start, sitting 4-1 through the first five weeks of play, the team hasn’t dominated the competition. Barring a comfortable win over the Baltimore Ravens, KC hasn’t exactly cruised to victory in the rest of their games.
Their meeting with the Chargers, for example, required some Patrick Mahomes heroics and an impressive performance from kicker Harrison Butker to escape with the win; similarly, the New England Patriots probably should have claimed victory during Week 4 but repeatedly shot themselves in the foot.
There are, of course, some mitigating factors. The 2020 NFL season began without any preseason games, meaning that every team, even an experienced one like the Chiefs, needed some extra time to work out the kinks. It’s also worth noting strength of schedule, as Kansas City faced the Texans, Ravens, Patriots in three of the first four weeks.
While it’s hard to take too much issue with a 4-1 start, it’s understandable for some Kansas City Chiefs fans to be a bit concerned. Coming off a Super Bowl title, the offense is still talented but doesn’t seem to be clicking on all cylinders.
Chris Jones and Patrick Mahomes may have identified Le’Veon Bell as the missing piece
On Tuesday night, news broke that Le’Veon Bell and the New York Jets were parting ways. Once that happened, it was only a matter of time before the running back was linked to the Kansas City Chiefs.
In March 2019, Chris Jones tweeted a video of himself and Le’Veon Bell; at the time, Bell was a free agent, and the pair wondered what would happen if he joined the Kansas City Chiefs. On Tuesday night, it seems like the defensive lineman resumed the charm offensive, at least on social media.
Shortly after news broke that the Jets were releasing the running back, Jones simply tweeted “@LeVeonBell….” On Wednesday, the lineman retweeted an old video of himself and Bell together, adding the caption, “Life is crazy!!”
If you want to read even further into the social media tea leaves, Andrew Holleran of The Spun also pointed out that Patrick Mahomes recently followed Le’Veon Bell on Twitter. Is that a coincidence? You can be the judge of that.
Le’Veon Bell seems like he could fit perfectly on the Kansas City Chiefs
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All of that social media speculation is, at the end of the day, speculation; sports fans seen plenty of clues and implications that didn’t amount to anything. Le’Veon Bell, however, does seem like he’d fit with the Kansas City Chiefs.
According to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, the running back is “prioritizing role in offense and chances to win among part of his free agency evaluation. Many people around league believe Chiefs will have interest because of fit.” From a stylistic purpose, the match would also make sense. While Clyde Edwards-Helaire has shown plenty of talent, he’s not exactly a between-the-tackles running back; Bell can handle that more physical role, plus catch passes out of the backfield, which is essential in Andy Reid’s offense.
Despite their uneven start to the season, we know that Patrick Mahomes’ offense can outscore any opponent; adding Le’Veon Bell would potentially give them a little more steel and take the stress out of short-yardage situations. Who knows, a fourth-and-inches or a goal-line run could be the difference between making it back to the Super Bowl and watching the big game on TV.
During the offseason, general manager Brett Veach was hailed as a bit of a wizard, signing contract after contract with limited cap space. Over the next few days, we’ll see if he can pull another rabbit out of his hat.
UPDATE: According to an Adam Schefter tweet, Bell will be signing a one-year contract with the Kansas City Chiefs.
