TEAM OVERVIEW
Strengths: The offense will be the Chiefs’ strength so long as Patrick Mahomes (right) is under center. He’s coming off another big season that ended with an AFC title game loss to Cincinnati. His supporting cast changed dramatically when the Chiefs traded WR Tyreek Hill to the Dolphins for a package of draft picks, but the change could serve to make Kansas City even tougher to defend. No longer can defenses hone in on Hill and TE Travis Kelce because WRs JuJu SmithSchuster, Marquez Valdes-Scantling and Skyy Moore give the Chiefs more depth and versatility than at any point under coach Andy Reid.
Weaknesses: While the Chiefs offense went haywire in the second half of the
AFC title game, their defense is what plagued them throughout the stretch run. More specifically, their inability to pressure the passer — the Chiefs were better than just three other teams in the league at sacking the quarterback. They lost DE Melvin Ingram and struck out early in free agency, so they brought back DE Frank Clark on a restructured contract and drafted DE George Karlaftis in the first round. Then they finally added some veteran help midway through training camp with the addition of DE Carlos Dunlap, a two-time Pro Bowl pick who is coming off an up-and-down season in Seattle.
Expectations: The minimum is a seventh consecutive AFC West title, a job that hasn’t gotten any easier with the Broncos adding QB Russell Wilson, the Raiders loading up with WR Davante Adams and the Chargers’ emergence behind QB Justin Herbert. Throw in the out-of-division slate and the Chiefs have a brutally difficult path to hosting a fifth consecutive AFC championship game, let alone reach the Super Bowl in Glendale, Arizona.