The Kansas City Chiefs nearly completed a three-year run atop the NFL, but despite falling short their front office continues to operate like a well-oiled machine.

The Kansas City Chiefs were already on an incredible run before the last three seasons and their multiple return to the Super Bowl. A once budding dynasty has evolved into one of the most polarizing franchises in all of professional sports. 

Admittedly, that may have to do with Taylor Swift entering the fold two seasons ago and the evolving celebrity of Patrick Mahomes' and Travis Kelce's families. But strictly on the gridiron, the Chiefs have become a force that no other AFC team can get past when it matters most. 

Internet trolls and bitter rival fans make the case that their luck has won out. Even when entertaining a silly idea, any "luck" comes from competent and calculated leadership. 

Chiefs general manager Brett Veach has nailed both pieces down. In an ever-changing league, Veach and the Chiefs are resilient in their operation year after year. Head coach Andy Reid also has a hand in this excellence which is why NBC Sports' Patrick Daugherty ranked the two as the league's No. 2 general manger(s).

"The NFL’s salary cap system punishes greatness, and you either need to be ruthless like the Patriots of yore or ruthlessly opportunistic like Howie Roseman’s Eagles to sustain a sovereignty. Andy Reid and Brett Veach have mostly succeeded on both fronts."

Daugherty notes that this balancing act proved too difficult when they went up against the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LIX. However, just as they showed after losing Super Bowl LV, they are adept at learning from their mistakes. 

"They have played contract hardball when necessary ([Chris] Jones, Tyreek Hill) and kept churning on their problem spots until solutions presented themselves (Rashee Rice, Xavier Worthy)."

Some may still be sour on the Chiefs' prospects for 2025 after their lasting impression from February. But if the last decade of Kansas City football has proven anything, they will not be so easy to get rid of. 

And for that reason, both Veach and Reid as architects in their own way deserve a load of credit. However, they will be running things back with much of the same core from last season.

That barely beat their top AFC contender in the Buffalo Bills and, again, was no match for the Eagles. If the goal is just to make the postseason and win the division, Kansas City should be well equipped to repeat that feat. 

But everyone involved knows the ultimate goal is the Super Bowl. Anything less, fair or not, will be considered a failure.