Quarterbacks were not orchestrating the offense - and manipulating defenses - with run-pass option plays in 2004 quite like they do now. In recent years, most of the elite defenses in the league have been built through strong pass rushers and stars in the secondary rather than with middle linebackers. With the safety of the players in mind, the league has attempted to eliminate the most egregious hits from defenders, such as using the crown of the helmet and targeting defenseless receivers. Many of the changes to the league’s rulebook have favored the offense, giving teams the ability to pass the ball more often and with better efficiency. Players are faster, stronger and more skilled than in 2004. In several ways, the league has changed in the past 15 years. The last repeat champion was the 2003-2004 is the longest the NFL has gone without a repeat champion. There have been 8 Super Bowl winners to successfully defend their title the following season. The are looking to defend their Super Bowl title in 2020. The Patriots’ Super Bowl victory to end the 2004 season was their third championship in four years, the league’s final dynasty. The Patriots, one of the Chiefs’ biggest rivals in the past five years, were the last team to win back-to-back titles. “But I feel like we have a good chance of at least preparing ourselves to be ready to do that.” “It’s such a hard league and there’s so much turnover that it’s hard to get that same spark and make that same run,” superstar quarterback Patrick Mahomes said last month. The Chiefs, though, are supremely confident they can accomplish such a rare feat. Not to mention, after the league adjusted the structure of the postseason, they could have to win three playoff games to reach the Super Bowl. During that span, just two teams, the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots, have been able to return to the league’s grandest game after winning the Vince Lombardi Trophy the previous season.Ĭonsidered the betting favorite to win the title next season, the Chiefs should still be expected to encounter plenty of challenges - improved divisional rivals, a projected schedule that appears difficult, the injuries they’ll sustain and the potential of a condensed training camp amid the coronavirus pandemic affecting their preparation for the season. And in a league in which parity is a major priority, the NFL is in a 15-year drought without a repeat champion, the longest such stretch in its history. Just eight teams have been able to win consecutive Super Bowl titles. “It’s an opportunity for him to make our football team, and that’s how he has to look at it.But in its 100-year history, the NFL has often been cruel to its defending champions.
They will be vying for a spot on the defending Super Bowl champions’ roster - like Patterson.
They also signed former first-round pick Taco Charlton, who played defensive end at Michigan from 2013 to 2016, to a one-year, $825,000 deal. Kansas City drafted Patterson’s teammate, defensive end Mike Danna, in the fifth round of the 2020 NFL Draft. He’s also part of a distinctive Michigan flavor that the Chiefs’ offseason has taken on. He was only solid, not spectacular, completing 60.1 % of his passes for 5,661 yards, 45 touchdowns and 15 interceptions during his two years at Michigan while leading the Wolverines to records of 10-3 and 9-4 in 20, respectively. The athletic, run/pass threat also excelled in the short-lived XFL, completing 72% of his passes for 1,050 yards, an XFL-best 12 touchdowns and just two interceptions while rushing for 217 yards in just five games.ĭespite being the likely fourth man on the quarterback depth chart right now, Patterson represents an intriguing option for the Chiefs.Ī ballyhooed five-star prospect, Patterson was supposed to be the missing piece at Michigan, the player who would push Jim Harbaugh’s Wolverines from a good team to a College Football Playoff team.īut he didn’t quite deliver on those lofty expectations.
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