Every year the Kansas City Chiefs have Patrick Mahomes, they will be one of the Super Bowl favorites. Just as the New England Patriots were expected to win every single season they had Tom Brady under center, the bar is as high as possible for Kansas City as the defending champions.
No quarterback, as brilliant as they may be, can win a Super Bowl ring without a strong supporting cast. Juxtapose Brady's consistent winning in Foxboro with Aaron Rodgers' annual near-misses in Green Bay, and you can see how important it is for a franchise quarterback to receive great help and coaching. Because "just good enough" doesn't quite cut it when it comes to winning a Super Bowl; a franchise quarterback needs their franchise to exude that same greatness.
This season, the Chiefs have shown that they are capable of winning it all in 2024, starting the season with a 5-1 record that tops anyone else in the AFC. However, the NFC boasts two undefeated juggernauts in the San Francisco 49ers and Philadelphia Eagles, meaning the Chiefs' margin for error once they get to the Super Bowl could be asymptotically zero. Indeed, that was the case last season when Kansas City survived Andy Reid's former team, the Eagles, in a 38-35 instant classic.
Although the Chiefs have been impressive to start the season, they haven't been perfect. Let's take a look at three players on the Kansas City roster who could step up a bit more to help support Mahomes and the team, answering lingering question marks regarding the Chiefs' status as the unquestioned best team in the NFL.
3. WR Kadarius Toney
The 20th overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, Kadarius Toney earned a reputation at Florida as one of the most dynamic offensive threats in the country, capable of turning any ordinary two-yard dump-off into a SportsCenter highlight. Toney wasn't much of a factor in his first season in the NFL with the New York Giants, and he didn't play much of a role in Kansas City after the Chiefs traded for him at the beginning of the 2022 season.
However, Toney showed his game-changing qualities in the Super Bowl. The Chiefs wouldn't have won the game without him. Not only did he break a Super Bowl record by taking a punt 65 yards to the house, but he also caught a touchdown pass in the fourth quarter to pull his team ahead of Philadelphia, giving them their first lead of the night -- a lead they would not relinquish.
Despite his importance in that game, Toney is, once again, being met with criticism for not making enough of an impact in 2023. The statistics are alarmingly poor. Toney is averaging a meager 5.4 yards per reception. With a catch rate of 68 percent, his average of 3.7 yards per target means that the Chiefs would be better off running the ball on a per-play average than throwing it in his direction. Only 40 percent of passes in his direction end up being a "successful" play for the offense, indicating he may even be a liability to the team if even half of the targets involving him are unsuccessful.
Nobody can argue against Toney's talent or his potential to be a star player for the Chiefs. But now that he is in his third season in the NFL, which is usually a breakout campaign for developing wide receivers, there will be less room for patience. Perhaps Andy Reid can get more out of Toney by using him on more aggressive passing routes, but the draw with Toney was his ability to turn simple, get-out-of-trouble passes into big gains that keep defenses honest. On that front, it is Toney himself who needs to step up.
2. CB Jaylen Watson
Great wide receivers tend to help quarterbacks the most, but often, the impact of a great secondary is neglected when discussing a signal-caller's supporting cast.
Going back to Brady, many of his best teams boasted star players at the back end of the defense, such as Ty Law and Devin McCourty. For a contrary example, Tony Romo was often made to answer for losses or inevitable late-game mistakes in shootouts because his defense forced him to be perfect.
The Chiefs actually have one of the best defenses in the league this season. They are fifth in the league in yards allowed per game, and only the San Francisco 49ers allow fewer points per contest. Furthermore, they surrendered fewer than five net yards per pass attempt, which also ranks them in the NFL's top five.
For the Chiefs, however, the comparison point isn't the league average, because this team aspires for so much more. When it comes to pushing for the Super Bowl, the target is to always be No. 1 in every aspect, and since the 49ers occupy that top spot in points per game allowed, that is the benchmark they are gunning for.
Super Bowl contenders have another aspiration defensively, too. That is to create turnovers and score points directly as a defense. Through six games, Kansas City have just three interceptions and one touchdown from a fumble or interception return. They need to make more plays.
Since this defense has been excellent, it feels like splitting hairs to criticize them or single out one individual. But since the goal is to always do better, a little constructive criticism for cornerback Jaylen Watson couldn't hurt. Watson deserves to be praised for becoming a regular in the secondary after only being a seventh-round pick last season, but defenses have viewed him as a weak link, picking on him in certain matches.
As such, Watson's 122.7 QB Rating allowed is the highest on the team, and it includes three touchdowns surrendered. Watson isn't a regular starter, but he has played in five games with only two passes defended juxtaposed with the three touchdowns allowed.
As the season goes on and injuries inevitably strike in the secondary, Watson could become an even bigger target for opposing offenses if he doesn't improve. The bright side? Although he allowed another touchdown in the recent win over the Denver Broncos, he recorded both his pass break-ups in that game, including a key one on 3rd-and-long.
1. WR Marquez Valdes-Scantling
Back to the offense and players directly working with Patrick Mahomes, Marques Valdes-Scantling has previous experience working with an elite quarterback. As a member of the Green Bay Packers, "MVS" never quite put it together as a clear-cut starter, but he did put his speed to use, leading the league with 20.9 yards per reception in 2020.
Valdes-Scantling has talent. Otherwise, the Kansas City Chiefs wouldn't have bothered signing him in 2022 on a contract worth $10 million per year. He averaged about 40 yards per game in his first season in Kansas City, putting together a couple of highlight-reel receptions. However, he wasn't exactly a star receiver for Mahomes, showing the same boom-or-bust nature that prevented him from becoming a truly key target for Rodgers in Green Bay.
Last season, Valdes-Scantling was useful even if he wasn't highly impressive. This season, he's been downright subpar. In six games, Valdes-Scantling has caught just seven passes. Those receptions do go a long way, more than 16 yards on average, and he can help clear the field as a deep threat. But when you break down the numbers, Valdes-Scantling isn't even one of the top five targets on the Chiefs.
Deep threat or not, an average of about one catch per game is nowhere near what an NFL team expects from a 29-year-old receiver making $10 million. Valdes-Scantling has to do more. Mahomes and the other receivers need him to do a better job of getting open more consistently.
He needs to find signature moves at the top of his stem to get that little bit of separation necessary, he needs to be more aggressive at the catch point in the red zone, and he needs to work with Mahomes on some option routes so that the two of them can take advantage of soft spots in the coverage downfield as the play develops.
There is no reason to give up on a player with Valdes-Scantling's physical tools and experience, but the Chiefs have every reason to demand more from him. Surely, they also believe he is capable of more, since they chose to invest in him last year.
