Getty Image / Sean M. Haffey
The Kansas City Chiefs offense was downright awful in the team’s 20-14 Christmas Day loss to the Las Vegas Raiders. And, the team has no one to blame but itself.
Refusing to pay, and eventually trading, wide receiver Tyreek Hill, one of the best players in the entire league, was as a massive mistake.
Yes, the Kansas City Chiefs did win the Super Bowl last year after trading Tyreek Hill to the Miami Dolphins following the 2021 season. It’s not like it has destroyed the franchise, and even after the Christmas Day loss they’re 9-6 and almost certainly going to host a Wild Card Round playoff game.
But, when you’ve got a Super Bowl window with elite players like Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, Chris Jones, and Tyreek Hill, it makes more sense to maximize that window than worry about having cap flexibility going forward.
Ultimately, that’s not the choice they made. While they’ve been able to improve the defense with some of the picks and money freed up by trading Hill, that all-time great Chiefs’ offense has been relegated to average, at best.
Watching them play on Christmas Day was a chore. They had -18 yards of offense in the first quarter, and it never got much better. A touchdown drive put them up 7-3, only for a botched trick play that was returned for a touchdown and a pick-six on back-to-back offensive plays that put them behind 17-7. The offense rallied in the 4th quarter, but only converted one of their goal-to-go situations for points.
Too often, Patrick Mahomes was evading pressure after having to hold the ball due to lack of open targets down the field and in the intermediate areas. Want to know who gets open down the field, in the intermediate areas, and helps their teammates do the same? Tyreek Hill.
Hill is having one of the great seasons of any wide receiver in league history for the explosive Miami Dolphins offense. Despite missing a game, he has an astounding 106 catches for 1,641 yards and 12 touchdowns. If he’s not the best receiver in the NFL, he’s no worse than the second or third, and his ability to bend defenses due to his incredible speed and route running opens up so much for the rest of the offense.
Obviously, players like Tyreek Hill don’t grow on trees. But, the Chiefs have no one even remotely able to do the same things that Tyreek Hill did for them from 2016-2021, tallying over 6600 yards and over 60 touchdowns.
Rashee Rice, the team’s second-round draft pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, has shown flashes as a rookie, and is probably a pretty solid WR2-type player. But, the rest of the receiving corps, with guys like Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Skyy Moore, and Kadarius Toney, have massively disappointed.
The offense doesn’t have a lot of ways to create explosive plays, as evidenced by Mahomes only have 235 passing yards on 44 attempts on Monday. Needless to say, that’s Tyreek Hill’s specialty.
General Manager Brent Veach and Head Coach Andy Reid can fix it this offseason, as there is a great crop of college receivers that will be available in the NFL Draft. It’s unlikely that, even outside Marvin Harrison Jr., guys like Rome Odunze, Keon Coleman, and Malik Nabers will get to them, especially if they win a playoff game or two. But, they need to be aggressive in looking to trade up for one of those pass-catchers. With Travis Kelce aging and young defensive studs soon needing contract extensions, this particular Super Bowl window is closing sooner than they may think.