Super Bowl Domination

Chapter 732: Crowning the New King
Recalling last year's draft, Kansas City Chiefs' Veach performed a magic trick with a dazzling operation, selecting Levi at the third pick and Mahomes at the tenth pick, which caused a lot of exclamations and stole all the focus and heated discussions on the first draft day.

At that time, the season had not yet started, and the performance of Levi and Mahomes was still an unknown, but Veach's magical operation became a benchmark for the entire league. The bustling discussion lasted for a long time, and the two rookies' every move was always under the spotlight.

The aftermath has been continuing, from Levi's sudden emergence last season to Mahomes taking over the starting position this season. The high expectations and high attention have always brought high doubts, surrounding the two players Levi and Mahomes like a shadow, which also puts the Kansas City Chiefs at the forefront.

however.

With the end of the regular season, people are finally realizing what Veach's actions last year meant to the Kansas City Chiefs and the league.

In terms of passing yards, Mahomes ranks second in the league, and he passed for over 5,000 yards in his first starting season in his career.

In terms of quarterback passing touchdowns, Mahomes ranks first in the league, leading by a record of 50 passing touchdowns.

In the passing touchdowns rankings, Andrew Luck, who ranks second, has only 39, which is a clear gap.

Of course, is Mahomes perfect?

No.

This young man is still growing and still a little green, with room for improvement. He has 12 interceptions this season, ranking sixth among all quarterbacks. Although his other statistics are very impressive, this one error statistic still affects the quarterback's rating.

In the end, Mahomes' season quarterback rating was 113.8, ranking second in the league behind the aging Brees.

Amazing, even crazy.

Mahomes emerged as Levi, putting the Kansas City Chiefs in the spotlight for the second consecutive season and making them the focus of everyone's attention.

At this moment, let’s look back at Veach’s actions in the 2017 draft:

A stroke of genius!

I can't stop admiring it.

But… overall, the quarterbacks are still a mess this year:

Players like Roethlisberger, Ryan, Luck, Goff, etc. all have their own highlights, but it is hard to say they have made breakthroughs.

Veterans such as Rivers, Manning Jr., Rogers, Cousins ​​and others performed strongly and brought unexpected surprises.

Watson and Dak-Prescott have become the bright spots among the young people.

It is precisely because of this that Mahomes' sudden emergence became more prominent, and for a while, all the bustling discussions focused on Mahomes.

"Regular season MVP".

At the first moment, the media shouted loudly and couldn't wait to crown the new king.

Judging from the data and the record of the Kansas City Chiefs, there is no doubt that Mahomes is correct in the discussion of regular season MVP.

Although he is only a sophomore and this is only his first starting season in his career, Mahomes has delivered a perfect answer with his unparalleled performance. Coupled with the characteristics of the quarterback position, Mahomes has been in the spotlight and attracted everyone's attention, which is also an expected result.

However, different voices exist objectively——

The controversy from last season hasn’t completely cooled down yet?
In a season where the quarterback's overall performance was mediocre but other positions were experiencing an overall explosion, the votes for the regular season MVP were still blindly cast for the quarterback. Is this normal?

Indeed, the quarterback is the brain of football and the key position that receives the most attention; but don't forget that football is a team sport. The reason why football is football is because of the unique round-based structure. The collective strength of the team has received unprecedented attention. When people praise the quarterback, they should not forget the players in other positions, such as Levi and Donald last season.

In all aspects, Levi and Donald deserve the regular season MVP title, and they deserve the MVP award just as Brady.

Now, this season is facing a similar situation again.

Mahomes' performance is indeed outstanding, but he is not perfect; at the same time, there are other players who are as good as Mahomes, or even better. Is the voting for the regular season MVP going to be boringly focused on the quarterback and continue to ignore the efforts of players in other positions?
Especially the core controversy throughout this season, running back.

To be more precise, Le'Veon Bell, how does his strike affect the Pittsburgh Steelers, are running backs really dispensable substitutes, and does the influence of top running backs on the team really exist?
All of this, along with the Pittsburgh Steelers' failure to make the playoffs, reached a new peak. Even though Roethlisberger had such a tough passing offense season, the quarterback still failed to become the key to turning around the Pittsburgh Steelers' season.

Of course, there is controversy here. It cannot be simply attributed to Bell's absence, nor can it be simply attributed to Roethlisberger's top performance but failure to turn the tide. There are more complex reasons behind the Pittsburgh Steelers' failure to make the playoffs.

But it is precisely this kind of controversy that leads to the conclusion that "the unexpected position of the quarterback cannot be ignored", "other players also need attention", and "football is not just a quarterback sport."

Disputes and debates, oppositions and differences always exist, but the core ideas have parts that echo each other and radiate from here.

And, most importantly, the other players performed really well and proved with their actions that they are no less capable than the quarterback.

The first to be affected is the running back.

The 2018 season's rushing yardage rankings were also announced.

First, Levi, Kansas City Chiefs, 1667 yards.

Second, Elliott, Dallas Cowboys, 1434 yards.

Third, Barkley, New York Giants, 1307 yards.

Fourth, Gurley, Los Angeles Rams, 1251 yards.

Fifth, McCaffrey, Carolina Panthers, 1168 yards.

In addition, there are five running backs whose running yards have exceeded 1,000, which brings the number of running backs in the league who have rushed for 1,000 yards in a single season to ten.

The data is encouraging.

Among them, there are rookies like Barkley, sophomores like Levi and McCaffrey, and veteran players who have been in the league for several years like Gurley and Elliott.

In addition, there are veterans.

Tennessee Titans' Henry ran for 1,000 yards for the second consecutive season, and Adrian Peterson, who transferred to the Washington Redskins after returning from injury, also had a 1,000-yard season.

Peterson is undoubtedly an inspirational story, just like the racehorse named Seabiscuit.

Almost the entire league believed that Peterson's career was over and the veteran would never be able to return to his peak. Repeated injuries were a heavy blow to professional players and even more devastating to running backs; but Peterson proved himself once again and returned to the top in a strong way.

Last season, Peterson spent some time in the Arizona Cardinals and the New Orleans Saints, but did not receive corresponding attention. This season, after he finally won his eighth 1,000-yard season with the Washington Redskins, the league's attention was once again focused on this veteran.

In the post-match interview, Peterson said, "Thanks Levi."

(End of this chapter)