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5 Things to Watch For During The Chiefs 2024 Season

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5 Things to Watch For During The Chiefs 2024 Season
This special edition guide was written by Luke Gromer of KC Football Fix.
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#1: The Quest for the Three-Peat
The Chiefs are the defending back-to-back Super Bowl champions and will attempt to become the first team in NFL history to three-peat.
Three other franchises have appeared in three consecutive Super Bowls but none achieved a three-peat.
Dolphins, 1971-73 — went 2-1
Bills, 1990-93 — went 0-3
Patriots, 2016-18 — went 2-1
In fact, the Dolphins and Patriots didn’t even have the opportunity to achieve a three-peat. The Dolphins lost their first appearance, and the Patriots lost their second appearance.
The Chiefs not only have the chance to be the first team in NFL history to three-peat, but they can also tie the Pittsburgh Steelers for arguably the most dominant six-year stretch in NFL history.
If the Chiefs win the Super Bowl this year, they will have four titles in six years, tying the mark the 1974-1979 Steelers set.
From the moment the Chiefs won Super Bowl 58 last February, the team began talking about the quest for a three-peat. As soon as offseason activities began, Coach Reid and Patrick Mahomes made it clear that it was a new season, and the team had turned the page.
Expectations couldn’t be higher.
In many ways, the pressure was off the Chiefs heading into the playoffs last season despite being the defending champions. They struggled through the 2023 regular season and by Mahomes’ admission, the regular season wasn’t much fun last year. As the #3 seed, they had to go on the road in the divisional round and AFC Championship and many counted them out of Super Bowl contention.
But Mahomes and company proved everybody wrong. I don’t think anyone will overlook the Chiefs this season as they attempt to three-peat.
How will the team handle the sky-high expectations and the pressure of pursuing history?
#2: The Return of an Explosive Offense
Last year the Chiefs offense sputtered during the regular season.
Mahomes was last in the NFL among starting quarterbacks in average depth of target. Translation: the Chiefs struggled to complete down-the-field passes.
A huge part of that was the amount of drops by wide receivers.
The Chiefs wide receivers led the NFL in dropped passes during the 2023 regular season with 44 drops (you’re probably having flash-backs to drops by Toney and MVS as you’re reading this).
The Chiefs lacked legitimate deep threats in the passing game last year, which forced Mahomes to dink-and-dunk the ball down the field all season long.
But this year, the offense is looking to return to the explosive form they’re used to.
The Chiefs traded up in the draft to select WR Xavier Worthy in the first round, and they signed WR Hollywood Brown in free agency to a one-year deal.
Worthy and Brown are both known for one thing: speed.
The expectations are high for both receivers.
Brown was injured on the first play of the preseason but is expected back 2-3 weeks into the regular season. Worthy showed flashes of brilliance in the Chiefs’ second preseason game against the Lions. He connected with Mahomes on a 39-yard completion, then later caught a 22-yard TD from backup QB Carson Wentz.
With the addition of two legitimate deep threats to the offense, defenses will again have to respect Mahomes’ ability to throw the deep ball, which should open up even more space on intermediate routes for players like Travis Kelce and Rashee Rice.
The Chiefs made it a priority this offseason to give Mahomes more weapons on offense, and they’ve been vocal during training camp about their desire to push the ball downfield this season.
Will these new weapons help re-create the explosive Chiefs offense we’re used to seeing under Mahomes?
#3: A New Look in the Secondary
The Chiefs lost a key member of their 2023 defense in free agency: CB L’Jarius Sneed. Sneed signed a 4-year, $76M contract with the Titans in the offseason.
Sneed was one of the most dominant corners in the NFL last season, routinely holding opponents #1 wide receivers to poor statistical performances.
He was so dominant that Chiefs Defensive Coordinator Steve Spagnuolo let him shadow the opposing team’s best receiver all season. Sneed’s ability to win one-on-one against the best receivers in the league gave Spagnuolo a schematic advantage and was a key factor in the Chiefs’ dominant defense during the 2023 season.
But now Sneed is gone, and it’s a whole new season.
The Chiefs’ secondary will be anchored by third-year All-Pro CB Trent McDuffie, the Chiefs’ first-round draft pick in the 2022 draft.
Before this season, McDuffie has played in the slot for the Chiefs but with Sneed’s departure, he will likely be relied on heavily on the outside against opponent’s top receivers.
At safety, Justin Reid, a vocal leader for the unit, is back and will be a key member in the secondary. Additionally, third-year safety Bryan Cook, who was injured in Week 13 last season, is healthy going into the season. The Chiefs also added versatile rookie S Jaden Hicks in the draft, and he has shown promise in the preseason and received praise from the coaching staff.
However, despite the return of some key members in the secondary, the Chiefs coaching staff has been clear throughout training camp that they are still looking for defensive backs to step up behind Trent McDuffie and take on the #2 CB role.
Joshua Williams, Jaylen Watson, and Nazeeh Johnson have all been contending for the spot, but according to the coaches, none have separated from the pack and claimed the role.
Which young players will step up this season to bolster the secondary after the departure of L’Jarius Sneed?
#4: Travis Kelce
Watch Travis Kelce play football and appreciate every moment of it!
And no, it’s not because he’s dating Taylor Swift (though if that’s why you watch the Chiefs now, we welcome you with open arms), or because he and his brother recently signed a $100M podcast deal.
We should all be watching Travis Kelce because he’s a first-ballot Hall of Famer who is about to turn 35. As sad as it is to say, he is on the downhill slope of his football career.
And what a career it has already been!
Kelce is fourth all-time among TEs with 907 receptions, only 48 behind Antonio Gates. He’s fourth all-time among TEs in receiving yards, trailing Gates by less than 600 yards.
Kelce is also tied for 5th all-time with Jason Witten in TD receptions among TEs with 74.
Most importantly, Kelce is pursuing his 4th Super Bowl title, which would move him into a tie for 2nd among TEs with Rob Gronkowski and Randy Grossman, and one behind Marv Fleming with 5.
Last season, Kelce missed the first game of the regular season due to an injury, and according to coaches and himself, the injury lingered throughout the regular season.
It was the first season in seven years that Kelce failed to eclipse 1,000 receiving yards. It is worth noting however that he could have hit the mark if he had chosen to play in the Chiefs final regular season game, but he chose not to because the team was already locked into their playoff seed and he didn’t want to make it about himself.
Despite a regular season that was slower than years past, Kelce exploded in the playoffs after the extra rest and the opportunity to heal up at the end of the regular season.
He accumulated 32 receptions, 355 receiving yards, and 3 TDs on the Chiefs road to a Super Bowl 58 victory. He looked like vintage Travis Kelce in all four playoff games.
Kelce is entering his 12th NFL season, a mark that few players hit, and he will go down as an NFL legend. But sadly, he won’t be on the field with Mahomes forever, so make sure you soak in every moment of this dynamic duo. Who knows, maybe they’ll break out a behind-the-back pass in the regular season.
Will Travis Kelce’s age begin to show in his 12th season, or can he keep the form that he showed during the Chiefs Super Bowl 58 playoff run?
#5: Patrick Mahomes
Patrick. Mahomes.
Anytime Patrick Mahomes is playing football, it’s must-watch TV.
Mahomes is already tied for third all-time among QBs with 3 Super Bowl titles. With one more, he would tie Terry Bradshaw and Joe Montana for third on the list.
Mahomes has only been in the NFL for seven seasons, and he has only been the Chiefs starter for six seasons.
In those six seasons, the Chiefs’ worst finish was two AFC Championship losses in overtime, once to the Tom Brady-led Patriots and the other to the Bengals.
In the other four seasons, Mahomes has led the Chiefs to the Super Bowl and won it three times.
Mahomes is on a historic trajectory as a QB. The only QB in the same conversation for accomplishing as much as Mahomes has to this point in his career is Tom Brady. Brady finished his 23-year NFL career with seven Super Bowls.
If Mahomes can play for as long as Brady did, he’s pacing to pass Brady in Super Bowl titles, and Mahomes would blow Brady out of the water in every major statistical passing category.
But going into the 2024 season, Mahomes is focused on one thing: the three-peat.
From the time the Chiefs won back-to-back Super Bowls in February, Mahomes made it clear that they were on a mission to do something no team has ever done.
The list of Mahomes’ heroics is already too long to list here, and I’m sure that he will add to that list during the 2024 season.
Can Mahomes lead the Chiefs to a third consecutive Super Bowl title, lay claim to the greatest six-year run in NFL history, and inch closer to the conversation of being the greatest QB of all time?