Rafael ZamoranoOct 23, 2023, 01:01Reading: 4 min.
Who can seriously challenge Kansas City for the right to represent the AFC in the Super Bowl?
Paraphrasing the Mark Twainthe news of the fall of the Kansas City Chiefs have been seriously exaggerated.
At least, as far as the divisional race is concerned.
Surely, in this season, the Chiefs They have not been the offensive Leviathan of other years… until now. The Week 7 delivered the best game so far of the quarterback’s campaign Patrick Mahomesand tight end Travis Kelce, and as long as that pair works as we are accustomed to, the rest of the attack – and its effectiveness – takes a backseat; the Chiefs They become practically unbeatable.
Kansas City remains the top dog in the American Conference, in part, thanks to its rivals.ESPN
Kansas City started the defense of his title Super Bowl LVII with a defeat against the Detroit Lions on the opening day, an unexpected result for the champions. But in retrospect, it wasn’t that bad either, was it? The defeat was by only one point, and it came against one of the teams that had been playing the best in the NFCdespite the beating they received this Sunday from the Baltimore Ravens.
Then came some lackluster performances: Kansas City surpassed by just eight points the Jacksonville Jaguars in a game in which they did not score even 20 in Week 2, and in Week 4 they suffered to subjugate some New York Jets by just 23-20. A week later, a more convincing victory was expected than just a touchdown away from the Minnesota Vikingswith a 1-3 record at the time, and certainly something more convincing than just 19-8 over the Denver Broncossecond game this year without achieving at least 20 points.
From 2018 to date — time in which Mahomes took over the position of full-time starting quarterback–, the 25.4 offensive points scored per game that they average in the current campaign are the lowest, and far from the 33.1 with which they led the league in ’18. However, they are not far from what they have done in other recent campaigns, especially the average of 26.3 offensive points per game in 2019, and 26.6 in 2021.
Of course, there are other signs that point to a lower performance, even slightly, than in other seasons. Until before this Sunday, Mahomes He had his lowest percentage of touchdown passes, his lowest average yards per pass attempt, and his highest percentage of interception passes in his career, discounting his rookie campaign in 2017, when he only started one game.
There are explanations. For the first time in his time as owner, Eric Bujemy He is not the offensive coordinator in Kansas City. As if that were not enough, the wide receiver group underwent possibly its most important reconfiguration in all that time, with some renowned veterans such as Marquez Valdes-Scantling y Kadarius Toney not meeting expectations, and the rookie Rashee Rice little by little acquiring greater prominence. Additionally, Mahomes adjusts to a new right tackle in Jawan Taylorwho has been frequently penalized, and even benched, in his first year with the Chiefs.
So what does all this mean? It’s simple: While Andy Reid be in charge of the offensive plays, Mahomes be on the trigger, and Kelce is running routes in the center of the field, it is impossible to rule out the Chiefs as the team to beat in the AFC West. That was fully proven this Sunday, after Kansas City decisively defeated Los Angeles Chargersa team that is eternally expected to take the next step to fight for the crown of the West from Americana a Kansas City.
The reality, however, is different. Justin Herbert will be above Patrick Mahomes in terms of average annual salary, when talking about contracts, but the Oregon product is still light years away from performing the same on the field of play, after a second day in a row with a disappointing ending for the Angelenos.
After the Chargersthere is little to chat with Las Vegas Raiders y Broncosteams closer to the first overall pick in the draft than to a division title.
Just a little over a year ago, it was presumed AFC West as the closest division, potentially, in the NFL. Back in 2023, practically nothing has changed: they are the Chiefs, and the rest. The mirage vanished.
Does that apply to the rest of the American Conference? We do not know it yet. The Jags have improved since they stumbled before the Chiefs, but it seems that there is still distance between the two franchises. The Miami Dolphins They look like a potential contender, although they have fallen in two of their last four outings, including tonight’s against the Philadelphia Eagles. They have an electric offense capable of moving the numbers on the scoreboard quickly. Everything could depend, perhaps, on how the individual pairings are formed for both teams when they meet face to face. Lastly, there are the Ravens who today humiliated the Lionsin one of the games in which they do not suffer during the second half, as has been their custom in the young campaign.
Los Buffalo Bills y Cincinnati Bengals They should still be considered dangerous, although they have not exhibited the level of recent years, either. Unlike Kansas CityHowever, it is not clear when they will rise again.
So, yes, it is true that Chiefs They do not seem, at first glance, to be the same high-octane offensive team that delighted us in recent seasons. But, it doesn’t seem to matter too much, in any case, because no other team in the Conference –certainly in the Westno one– has taken the necessary steps to take advantage of it.
2023-10-23 04:16:04
#Chiefs #team #beat #AFC
