Kansas City Chiefs have one fatal flaw that could cost them the Super Bowl against the San Francisco 49ers
The Kansas City Chiefs have been to six straight AFC Championship games and four out of the last five Super Bowls. Once Tom Brady left the New England Patriots they were the heir apparent to potential NFL dynasty status with Patrick Mahomes at the helm. So saying that they have any one "fatal flaw" may […]
The Kansas City Chiefs have been to six straight AFC Championship games and four out of the last five Super Bowls. Once Tom Brady left the New England Patriots they were the heir apparent to potential NFL dynasty status with Patrick Mahomes at the helm. So saying that they have any one "fatal flaw" may sound a bit dramatic. However at the same time, the educated reader likely knows exactly where this is going.
The Chiefs Fatal Flaw
The Chiefs have had a wide receiver problem for two years, and it was a miracle they pulled off the Super Bowl win last year without fixing it.
Yes, Travis Kelce is obviously still (not just Taylor Swift's boyfriend) quite good and will likely go down as the greatest tight end to ever play the game. And yes, Rashee Rice posted an incredible hot streak from Thanksgiving to Super Wild Card Weekend converting 68 targets into 648 yards and four touchdowns in that seven-game span.
The Chiefs may finally have one decent wide receiver on their hands. But they also have three players constantly competing for the "worst Chiefs wide receiver" as a running joke across social media as you can see from the results in this fun tweet here.
And it's more than just a joke online. Over the last four years Patrick Mahomes has thrown 41% more interceptions and 12% fewer touchdowns in games where he does not have Tyreek Hill. And despite the Chiefs making it back to the Super Bowl this year, Mahomes had his worst statistical season thanks much in part to a league leading 37 drops from his receivers in 2023.
How did we get here?
How does an NFL franchise with a quarterback on GOAT trajectory entering the prime of his career not have better wide receiver play?
Well for starters, we have to go back to 2019 when they egregiously reached for their Tyreek Hill replacement in Mecole Hardman by at least two full rounds on draft day. Back in 2019 the Chiefs didn't know how long they would be without Hill due to off-field issues and they panicked, selecting a wide receiver in the second round with a measly 60 career receptions in college who simply could not play the position at an NFL level.
Hardman has now played nearly five seasons with one of the best quarterbacks of all time and has not once eclipsed even 700 yards. This year he's been good for a whopping 129 yards on 17 receptions. And of course, we can't forget his elite playoff performances this year totaling zero yards from scrimmage and two fumbles on four touches. The Chiefs are better off willingly taking a safety than trying to get Hardman the ball.
Then in 2022 the Chiefs desperation to fix the receiver position hit it's peak when Hill was officially off the roster. They tried drafting Skyy Moore in round two of the NFL Draft as their shifty slot option with deep threat potential. They added Marquez Valdes-Scantling via free agency hoping he could be a patchwork deep threat as well. Moore has largely been a complete bust, and MVS still has drop issues, primarily just running wind sprints to clear space underneath for other Chiefs targets now.
When Moore and MVS clearly weren't cutting it the Chiefs made one more desperate move, trading a third-round and a sixth-round pick for Kadarius Toney. One might think that move actually panned out because he scored a touchdown in last year's Super Bowl, but it was the sneaky pre-snap motion that created that play, not Toney. And since that catch Toney has averaged just 4.4 yards per target, playing so poorly that he shouldn't even be active for the Super Bowl.
Why it's a problem against the San Francisco 49ers
The Baltimore Ravens exposed the wide receiver issue in the AFC Championship game and did two things extremely well. They committed to shutting down the Chiefs run game and took away Rashee Rice. Travis Kelce is impossible to stop completely, and ended up being the difference in the game, but the Ravens excellent duo of cover linebackers paired with their top five defensive secondary did limit the Chiefs to just 17 points.
The San Francisco 49ers have a pair of elite cover linebackers in Fred Warner and Dre Greenlaw (who are likely better than the Ravens tandem) to go with a top three secondary in the NFL. The 49ers have allowed over 260 passing yards or two passing touchdowns just one time in the last 11 games and it took 48 pass attempts from the Eagles to do eclipse that yardage mark.
If the 49ers defense attacks the Chiefs like the Ravens did two weeks ago then someone besides Kelce may need to step up. Who will that be? Rashee Rice? Justin Watson? MVS?
Regardless of the answer to those questions, why is it that the Chiefs best and only hope outside of Travis Kelce is a rookie wide receiver? It doesn't have to be this difficult, and frankly, Patrick Mahomes deserves better.
