The Kansas City Chiefs don’t have Tyreek Hill or Tyrann Mathieu; they lost some starting-quality players in the offseason. But, it doesn’t matter because they are still one of the best teams in the National Football League. 

    Their record this season proves it but so do the stats. Patrick Mahomes is still statistically one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL and even after losing a game changer in Hill who averaged over 1200 receiving yards with Mahomes, he is first in passing yards and first in passing touchdowns, surpassing Josh Allen and Joe Burrow. 

    Travis Kelce was projected to start to slow down his production due to being the focus of defenses without Hill. Kelce is still top ten in receiving yards and tied for first in receiving touchdowns ahead of Mark Andrews and Kyle Pitts. The offense is still putting up incredible numbers, averaging over 400 yards per game.

    Critics argue this offensive potency is unsustainable and the teams the Chiefs played are below league average defensively. However, only two teams the Chiefs have played are below league average in pass yards allowed, the Cardinals and Raiders. 

    As for offensive consistency, they could very well keep up the pace. The only teams on the Chiefs’ remaining schedule, who have above average defenses are the Broncos, who have the best pass defense in the league and the Rams who are 11th in pass defense.

    The defensive rookies like George Karlaftis, Jaylen Watson, and Leo Chenal contribute nicely with Karlaftis registering some of the most pressures among rookies. They complement proven vets like Carlos Dunlap, Justin Reid. Chris Jones is still one of the best interior defenders in football with five sacks and two forced fumbles this season. Aside from Jones, no one else has played exceptionally well with the defense ranked at league average in pass defense and near the bottom of the league in run defense. 

    Most critics will point towards the defense as a weak part of the team, and this could be the reason the team falls short of Super Bowl LVII(57). 

    I agree; the defense looks very hit or miss at times, and I’m quite worried about how they’ll stack up against other elite offenses. They did a decent job against Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills without several key defenders like Rashad Fenton and Bryan Cook, but the Chiefs still allowed over 300 passing yards.          

    Even with these concerns, my hopes for this team are still extremely high, and I believe they can fulfill those expectations and bring home another Lombardi trophy. The Chiefs will face the Los Angeles Rams next on Nov 27 at Arrowhead stadium.