Win as if Mahomes and Allen were Trent Dilfer

The New England Patriots of Tom Brady and Bill Belichick They had two decades of relevance in the NFL. Six Super Bowl titles won between 2002 and 2019 comprise the greatest dynasty of the 21st century in American sports in a period in which their ability to adapt and survive explain their success even more than the enormous greatness they showed.

Those Patriots did it in every way, first based on defense, running game and a functional Brady plus, in the middle reinventing the position and use of the tight ends, for example, and finishing a little as they had started, with the defensive marking the differences in the superbowl of 2019.

Along the way they adapted better than anyone to rule changes, mutations in patterns regarding the offensive game and an evolution of the sport that they always stayed ahead of. The Patriots dynasty emerged during the pocket passer sublimation period (Peyton Manning) and ended up surviving in a last dance at the dawn of the Mahomes of life.

In a quarterback-centric league, Brady won rings by throwing 4 touchdown passes in the final and 0 touchdown passes in the final. Brady lifted Lombardi, throwing for 466 yards and passing for 145.

Last week, Josh Allen and Mahomes They combined for 304 passing yards, one throwing touchdown, and 34 rushing yards (and two rushing touchdowns). Numbers that, if they had been signed by either of the two alone, would not be in the top 10 of best performances by both in the playoffs.

This says a lot more about the teams that train Andy Reid and Sean McDermott that of the two quarterbacks, who in addition to their historical talent, have now mastered the craft of winning football games no matter how, always knowing what the team needs. Mahomes has been at it for two seasons. Allen, with the best support of his career, has understood it this season.

The Chiefs and the Bills played two games as perfect as we can imagine in terms of the NFL It is known as situational football. The two AFC finalists had 0 turnovers and only five penalties between them for 39 yards.

The Chiefs have gone 8 consecutive games without a turnover, an all-time NFL record. buffalo It is the team with the best average turnover ratio in the league (+1.4). Kansas is in the top 10 and also with a positive ratio.

In the last eight games, the Chiefs They have caused 11 turnovers and have not committed any. Bill Belichick, the best coach in history, always used to repeat that the first step to winning a game in the NFL is not losing it.

All in all, McDermott and Spagnoulo’s (defensive coordinator) game plans for Sunday night will begin and almost end with containing the Chiefs’ No. 15 and the Chiefs’ No. 17. Bills. At this point in life, confusing them with extracurricular coverage is practically impossible.

His level of anticipation, reading and composure even surpasses his physical ability. Both Allen and Mahomes are two of the quarterbacks who penalize the blitz the most. Their ability to execute quickly is incredible and so is the escapism they display. But both defensive playcallers will have to do it and take the risks.

The Chiefs are the fourth team that has launched the most blitzes this season in the NFL (31.7%) and are the fifth team that has achieved the highest percentage of successful pressures (26.1%). In the divisional round they recorded eight sacks and more than half of the dropbacks put pressure on CJ Stround. On 12 of 17 blitzes, they were successful in generating pressure.

Buffalo also took its chances against Lamar Jackson despite being one of the teams that least sends extra men to bother the passer. The sixth-fewest team in 2024 (19.1%) went for Lamar on 48% of pass plays, the fifth-most in the NBA era. McDermott as a coach, and the most since November 2021.

The success in these calculated risk actions was key, since they had a 60% success rate in generating pressure, well above the 25% they achieved when they only sent the four men on the defensive line.

On Sunday night all the focus will be on Mahomes and Allen. For the first time in their careers, their teams can surely win a game if these two men, who have already secured their presence in the Hall of Famethey sign a stat line from a random Trent Dilfer.

Or they can even win with the line Tom Brady had in his first and last Super Bowl. It’s cool that these guys can be Superman, but it’s still unfair to always ask for it. Even Patrick.