KANSAS CITY — Kansas City Chiefs (17-3)
Expectations
Super Bowl or bust. Really, that is the only expectation in Kansas City these days, especially after the Chiefs came up short in their quest for an unprecedented three-peat. And the Chiefs didn’t just lose to the Eagles in the Super Bowl in February, they were dominated on both sides of the ball in a 40-22 defeat. The lopsided nature of the loss fueled Patrick Mahomes through one of his best offseasons, inspired Travis Kelce to get in better shape, and led general manager Brett Veach and coach Andy Reid to aggressively plug their biggest problem areas through free agency and the draft. If rookie left tackle Josh Simmons can live up to expectations, and the Chiefs can avoid the injury issues that decimated their wide receiver corps a year ago, Kansas City could have its most electrifying offense since Tyreek Hill was making defenses look foolish years ago.
New faces
LT Josh Simmons, WR Tyquan Thornton, RB Elijah Mitchell, WR Jalen Royals, QB Gardner Minshew, CB Kristian Fulton, DT Omarr Norman-Lott, DL Jerry Tillery, DE Ashton Gillotte, CB Nohl Williams.
Key losses
LG Joe Thuney, SS Justin Reid, QB Carson Wentz, WR DeAndre Hopkins, WR Mecole Hardman, RB Samaje Perine, WR Justin Watson.
Strengths
The Chiefs could have their best passing attack in years now that Marquise Brown and Rashee Rice are healthy and Xavier Worthy has a year of experience under him. Patrick Mahomes has made it clear that Kansas City wants to take more deep shots this seasons after defenses have forced him to constantly check down the past few years. For that to work, the Chiefs need a running back group led by Isiah Pacheco and Kareem Hunt to pick up consistent yardage on first and second down. And for that to work, the rebuilt offensive line with Josh Simmons at left tackle and Kingsley Suamataia at left guard needs to open holes, which that side of the line struggled to accomplish for most of last season.