5 takeaways from the Chiefs' Super Bowl LV loss

The Chiefs lost the Super Bowl. Those words hurt to write out. No matter what happens after this, this Super Bowl will always loom large over Mahomes and the Chiefs for how poorly they played and how differently it could have gone. On top of that this was Tom Brady, someone who had terrorized the Chiefs for years and the Chiefs still had no answer for him when they badly needed one. I don't want this to be all doom and gloom, though. The Chiefs still made it all the way to the Super Bowl in the end despite some challenges and this won't be the last time they're there. So before I get into anything further, let's just jump in to the 5 biggest takeaways from the loss.

That was one of Andy Reid's worst called games ever

I get it, The Chiefs offensive line made it hard to do anything in the game, but Reid did not call a good game. First of all, why was Hardman getting so many targets? That wasn't a good idea. Secondly, the Chiefs just could not do anything with the Bucs playing two high safeties and the Chiefs never adjusted. I question how much the Britt Reid situation had to do with Andy's mentality but it certainly couldn't have helped. One of the defining moments in the game was when Reid tried using Kansas City's timeouts towards the end of the first half to try and get the ball back and it ended up backfiring by giving Brady and the Bucs offense more time to drive down the field especially considering the defense showed absolutely nothing. Bad decision by Reid that made it a 21-6 game instead of a 14-6 game at half. The play-calling was just so lackluster and Reid never really considered using Sherman as an extra blocker or adding an extra lineman. Very vanilla and little to no adjustments. really disappointing game plan from Reid.

This team can't bank on coming back after starting slow anymore

We always gave the Chiefs a pass for starting slow and not playing a great game and still winning. This time it caught up to them. I saw a lot of fans saying at halftime "not worried", "We have Mahomes", "we came back from 24-0". Yeah, well this was different. This was the Buccaneers, not the Texans. Eventually, the Chiefs are going to have to stop pulling the starting slow thing or else more games will end up like this.

Now that the Chiefs didn't win a Super Bowl, we can now start criticizing Brett Veach's moves

I've never been a huge fan of Frank Clark's contract but always said that as long as we're winning the Super Bowl it wouldn't matter in the end. Welp, we didn't win the Super Bowl. And Frank Clark's contract is an albatross considering the Chiefs defensive line wasn't even in the top half of the league in sacks or against the run this year. Playoff Clark was a disappointment and he hasn't been worth his contract. That needs to be addressed and the team should consider restructuring his contract to allocate the funds better. Secondly, how about the Clyde Edwards-Helaire pick? That looked pretty dumb last night when you saw all of the other weaknesses on the field. Yes, I know the Chiefs drafted Lucas Niang, but they need more than that and besides Fisher, the offensive line was constructed of retreads and UDFA's. Maybe the Chiefs should have went offensive line in round one. Some might argue offensive line might have been a reach there but guess what? So was Clyde. Brett Veach will need to have a good offseason if the Chiefs want to get back.

The Offensive Line needs addressing

This seems obvious, right? The offensive line was one of, if not, the biggest reason the Chiefs lost the game. I knew it would be a problem but not that bad. Mahomes was pressured 38 times and ran 497 yards in scramble yards last night according to ESPN Next Gen. stats which is the most of any quarterback since 2009. Pretty bad. We may see an entirely different offensive line next year. Schwartz and Fisher won't be there most likely and the Chiefs will need to spend significant draft resources on the offensive line but I'd also recommend they sign some veterans too just so you don't have nearly am all-rookie offensive line.

I'm over the Sammy Watkins experience

We all have given Sammy Watkins grief at one point or another for constantly being injured but this postseason was the last straw. It's one thing when you're missing games but performing in the postseason, but it's another when you're now missing postseason games and laying an egg in the Super Bowl. Watkins had a good run in Kansas City but it's time to find someone more dependable. I'm thinking Marvin Jones or Kadarius Toney.