The Chiefs are slated to be dominant on paper and have proven they can live up to the hype. The bottom of this roster does not look like it did three years ago. Let's dive into just how deep they are.
Great article. I think the defense is due a regression, both because of the volatility of defense in general and because they have weaknesses compared to the roster last year at all three levels. Omenihu will likely be out for a significant chunk of the season. Hopefully, FAU takes a step forward, but that is a hope and not a sure thing. They have not replaced Gay. Tranquill will start there, of course, but it means one injury at the position and we are into depth pieces that haven't seen huge numbers of snaps on defense. We lost not only Sneed but Edwards, and Cook for that matter is coming off a significant injury. Again, we hope Williams and Watson (and maybe Johnson) are in line for an increase in snaps at corner, but they have massive shoes to fill. I like the draft pick at safety, but he is a rookie.
I don't want to seem a downer, but it is by no means a sure thing that the defense can repeat its 2023 performance, and if it falls to 2022 level, then the offense will have to improve significantly to compensate. I don't think it will be the best team of the Mahomes era - 2020 is still the best for me even though we lost that Super Bowl. The offense should be better (is Kelce on a decline/can Worthy contribute/how long is Rice's suspension are the key questions) and the defense likely worse. We'll definitely be a contender, but I don't think anything is a given at this point.
I quite disagree Curtis. If you look at a worse case scenario I presume you have a point. The same worse case scenario is true for all the top tier teams. The Chiefs have been quite good over the last few years with their depth pieces and will hopefully keep the injury and recovery issues to a normal season of issues with these.
I don't deny that other teams have the same problems. But the article argued that this could be the most talented team of the Mahomes era. I don't think the team is more talented than they were last year, for the reasons outlined above.
They are a more balanced team - weird to say, but the Chiefense was much better than the Choffense. Investing in the offense makes sense. But it is not clear to me that the Chiefs are as good at any level of the defense. The best hope is that the step back that the defense takes is smaller than the step forward from the offense.
I would be more than happy to be wrong, and even if I am right, they are still a top contender to three-peat.
Great article. I think the defense is due a regression, both because of the volatility of defense in general and because they have weaknesses compared to the roster last year at all three levels. Omenihu will likely be out for a significant chunk of the season. Hopefully, FAU takes a step forward, but that is a hope and not a sure thing. They have not replaced Gay. Tranquill will start there, of course, but it means one injury at the position and we are into depth pieces that haven't seen huge numbers of snaps on defense. We lost not only Sneed but Edwards, and Cook for that matter is coming off a significant injury. Again, we hope Williams and Watson (and maybe Johnson) are in line for an increase in snaps at corner, but they have massive shoes to fill. I like the draft pick at safety, but he is a rookie.
I don't want to seem a downer, but it is by no means a sure thing that the defense can repeat its 2023 performance, and if it falls to 2022 level, then the offense will have to improve significantly to compensate. I don't think it will be the best team of the Mahomes era - 2020 is still the best for me even though we lost that Super Bowl. The offense should be better (is Kelce on a decline/can Worthy contribute/how long is Rice's suspension are the key questions) and the defense likely worse. We'll definitely be a contender, but I don't think anything is a given at this point.
I quite disagree Curtis. If you look at a worse case scenario I presume you have a point. The same worse case scenario is true for all the top tier teams. The Chiefs have been quite good over the last few years with their depth pieces and will hopefully keep the injury and recovery issues to a normal season of issues with these.
I don't deny that other teams have the same problems. But the article argued that this could be the most talented team of the Mahomes era. I don't think the team is more talented than they were last year, for the reasons outlined above.
They are a more balanced team - weird to say, but the Chiefense was much better than the Choffense. Investing in the offense makes sense. But it is not clear to me that the Chiefs are as good at any level of the defense. The best hope is that the step back that the defense takes is smaller than the step forward from the offense.
I would be more than happy to be wrong, and even if I am right, they are still a top contender to three-peat.