This is probably an injury-risk/value assessment by Chiefs management/medical. Chiefs will plug the holes, but wonder how well.
I really enjoyed being wrong and watching the Chiefs get pasted. I wonder if the Niners were able to feast on cruddy tackles like the Bucs, would it have been enough - possibly - but uncertain. Clearly the Bucs had better offense than the 49ers superbowl. More to the point though, much of the Chiefs loss this February goes to the Chiefs defense melting down. They bent against the Niners offense in the 3rd, but stiffened out in the 4th.. Contrast that to the 10-17 pts they gifted through penalties against the Bucs and it was a laugher. Had the Chiefs defense showed up, they probably still actually lose, but it'd be 20-9 instead of 31-9.
Teams are gonna be blueprinting 2021 Superbowl for the Chiefs - but I think the Chiefs will still be a high-level team, and maybe again the favorite. Their mythology has been popped - good riddance.. Raiders and Chargers will do their best to give the Chiefs a few losses next year. They're still public enemy 2 behind Seahawks.
