Dominate the Super Bowl-Chapter 732 - : 731 Coronation of the New King

Chapter 732: 731 Coronation of the New King

Reflecting on last year’s NFL Draft, Veach of the Kansas City Chiefs worked his magic bewilderingly, picking Li Wei at the third spot and grabbing Mahomes at the tenth, sparking scalp-numbing gasps and stealing the show for the entire first day of the draft.

At that time, the season hadn’t started yet, and the performance of Li Wei and Mahomes was still an unknown. However, Veach’s magical moves remained the benchmark for the entire league, fueling discussions for a long time as every move of the two rookies was constantly under the spotlight.

The aftermath continued, from Li Wei’s explosive debut last season to this season, with Mahomes taking over the starting position, high expectations and scrutiny persisted, shadowing both players, putting the Kansas City Chiefs in the line of fire.

However,

As the regular season came to an end, people finally realized what Veach’s moves last year meant for the Kansas City Chiefs and for the league.

Quarterback passing yards, Mahomes ranked second in the league, breaking through five thousand yards in his first career starting season.

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Quarterback touchdown passes, Mahomes led the league with fifty, significantly ahead

On the touchdown pass leaderboard, the second-ranked Andrew Luck had only thirty-nine, showing a clear gap.

Of course, was Mahomes perfect?

No.

The young man was still growing, still somewhat raw, with room for improvement; he threw twelve interceptions during the season, ranking sixth among all quarterbacks. Despite other impressive stats, this error impacted his quarterback rating.

Ultimately, Mahomes’s season quarterback rating was 113.8, trailing the evergreen Brees and ranked second in the league.

Amazing, even insane.

Mahomes emerged spectacularly, reminiscent of Li Wei, keeping the Kansas City Chiefs in the center of attention for the second consecutive season.

Looking back at Veach’s actions in the 2017 Draft now—

A stroke of genius!

The admiration cannot stop.

But… overall, the quarterbacks were still chaotic this year:

Rothlisberger, Ryan, Luck, Goff, and others had their moments, but no significant breakthroughs.

Rivers, Little Manning, Rodgers, Cousins, and other veterans performed solidly, bringing unexpected surprises.

Watson, Dak Prescott stood out among the young.

It is for this reason that Mahomes’s dramatic emergence has made him the focus of all discussions.

“Regular season MVP.”

Immediately, the media started shouting, impatiently ready to crown the new king.

Looking at the numbers, at Kansas City Chiefs’ record, there’s no doubt that including Mahomes in the discussion for the regular season MVP is correct.

Although only a sophomore, although only in his first season starting, Mahomes delivered a perfect score with his unrivaled performance, plus the critical nature of the quarterback position, it’s unsurprising that Mahomes was the center of attention.

However, differing opinions do exist—

Was last season’s controversy fully resolved yet?

In a season where quarterbacks overall showed mediocre performances while other positions exploded, is it normal to still blindly vote for quarterbacks for regular season MVP?

Indeed, the quarterback is the brain of football and the most scrutinized key position; however, let’s not forget that football is a team sport. Football is defined by its unique round-based structure that brings unprecedented attention to the collective strength of a team. While praising the quarterback, one should not overlook players at other positions.

Take last season’s Li Wei and Donald, for example.

In every aspect, Li Wei and Donald deserved the Regular Season MVP title just as much as Brady did.

Now, this season has again presented a similar situation.

Mahomes performed exceedingly well, but he wasn’t perfect; meanwhile, there are other players who were just as outstanding as Mahomes, if not more so. Should the voting for the regular season MVP again narrowly focus on the quarterback and continue to ignore contributions from players at other positions?

Particularly considering the core controversy that persisted throughout this season, the running back.

More precisely, Le’Veon Bell. How did his strike affect the Pittsburgh Steelers, are running backs truly expendable replacements, and does the impact of a top-tier running back on a team really exist?

All of this, aligned with the Pittsburgh Steelers missing the playoffs, pushed the issue to a new climax, seeing Roethlisberger pull off such a fierce passing offense season, yet the quarterback still failed to be the key to reversing the Steelers’ season.

Of course, there lies the controversy, it cannot be simply attributed to Bell’s absence, nor can it be solely blamed on Roethlisberger’s top-notch performance without being able to turn the tide. There are more complex reasons behind the Steelers’ missing the playoffs.

But it’s precisely such disputes that lead to conclusions such as “one shouldn’t overlook positions other than the quarterback,” “other players also need attention,” “football isn’t just about the quarterback’s game.”

Arguments and debates, opposition and divergences always exist, but the core ideas resonate with each other and spread out from here.

Moreover, the most crucial point is that other players performed exceptionally well and proved through their actions that they are no less inferior to the quarterback.

Leading the charge, the running back.

In the 2018 season, the leaderboard for rushing yards was announced.

First, Li Wei, Kansas City Chiefs, 1667 yards.

Second, Elliott, Dallas Cowboys, 1434 yards.

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Third, Barkley, New York Giants, 1307 yards.

Fourth, Gurley, Los Angeles Rams, 1251 yards.

Fifth, McCaffrey, Carolina Panthers, 1168 yards.

Beyond that, five more running backs surpassed one thousand rushing yards, bringing the league’s single-season count to ten running backs.

The data, pleasing.

Among them are newcomers like Barkley, sophomores like Li Wei and McCaffrey, and seasoned players like Gurley and Elliott who have been in the league for several years.

Additionally, there are veterans.

Tennessee Titan’s Henry achieved a thousand-yard season for the second consecutive year, and Adrian Peterson, having healed from injuries and transferred to Washington Redskins, also secured a thousand-yard season.

There is no doubt that Peterson is an inspiring story, like the racehorse named Seabiscuit.

The entire league almost believed that Peterson’s career had come to an end, that the veteran could no longer return to his peak, and that recurring injuries are a severe blow to any professional player, especially destructive for running backs; yet Peterson demonstrated once again, strongly returning to his peak.

Last season, Peterson had brief stints with the Arizona Cardinals and the New Orleans Saints, yet failed to receive adequate recognition. Finally, this season at the Washington Redskins, after achieving his eighth thousand-yard season, he re-focused the league’s attention back onto this veteran.

In a post-game interview, Peterson stated, “Thank you, Li Wei.”