Chiefs: 2024 Mid-seaon Awards

Laddie Morse

Playoff Picture

We’ve technically reached the half way point of the 2024 NFL season, and the Kansas City Chiefs are sitting alone in first place in the AFC Conference with an 8-0 record. On Monday Night Football we saw the 6-and-3 Baltimore Ravens beat the the 4-and-5 Cincinnati Bengals, 35-to-34, in Baltimore. After the Ravens win, it leaves them at 7-and-3 and the Bengals at 4-and-6. The Bengals would have to go perfect the rest of the way to make the Playoffs. Here’s the Bengals schedule the rest of this season:

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@ = Aways Games – H = Homes Games

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With the Pittsburgh Steelers leading the AFC North division with a 6-and-2 record, and the Bengals having to play them twice… it doesn’t seem likely that they’d be able to run the table. I pay extra attention to the Bengals because it is a team that’s given K.C. troubles in the recent past. In a piece for NFL.com called: “The Playoff Picture” it says that the Bengals have a 27% chance of making the playoffs. That same article says, “These teams would be on the outside looking in if the season ended today” while listing the Bengals as a 9th bubble team to possibly make the playoffs, although there are only 7 spots to be had.

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My MVP Award goes to the player most responsible for keeping the Chiefs afloat… while Isiah Pacheco recovers. When Pop — his nickname — returns, the Chiefs will have one of the most dynamic backfield in the whole league. For now, it’s Kareem Hunts Award.

I never want to laugh at, or boast that I’m glad when a player gets hurt. That being said, if Isiah Pacheco had not gotten hurt, the Chiefs would never have reached out to Kareem Hunt in the first place. Hunt was just sitting at home waiting for someone to call and it just so happened to be his old team: the Chiefs.

Many may not understand why Hunt was let go in the first place, but when you can’t count on what someone is saying, then trust breaks down. That’s what happened with Kareem Hunt. He said one thing to his coaches, then a video tape of his kicking his girlfriend became public and revealed another version of the incident in question.

Now, Andy Reid said he was satisfied that Hunt had gotten the help he need and VIOLA! he’s a Chief again! I hope that when Pop returns he and Hunt can share to load and make the recovery process from week to week, much more tolerable.

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For the first time in the Patrick Mahomes era, this award hasn’t been as clear cut as it was since before he arrived as the starter. If not for the last game against the Bucs, Mahomes may not have been the best player on offense. IOW, there were other choices and they all would have been good. However, the bottom line is, that the Chiefs have an 8-and-0 record, and that’s possible in large part because of Patrick Mahomes. Some have said that they think Mahomes has lost his magic. I beg to differ (1:36):

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Here are some more of his highlights (4:34):

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Chris Jones was voted on by his NFL peers after last season and they said he was the 6th best player in the NFL. Here’s the video of his top 100:

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(3:40)

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So far this season, CJ has 3.0 sacks, one forced fumble and has been in on 17 tackles. I don’t know if he’ll win the DPOY award for the NFL, but he makes every defender’s job for K.C. easier. So, he’s usually double-teamed. He’s also dynamic, aggressive and sheds blockers. He wins the hand fighting battle easily. He’s fast, strong and flexible. IOW, he’s a freak of nature… and that’s a very good thing!

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DeAndre Hopkins has only been with the Kansas City Chiefs for two games. That’s it. Yet, in the most recent game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers he caught a ball, and it was one of the best catches I’ve ever seen. In fact, his catch made me re-think these awards and I just had to add a category for this purpose. Here’s that catch:

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(0:46)

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I remember when I was watching the game and thinking, “Uh-oh, Mahomes should not have thrown that ball, it’s going to be intercepted.” I’ve never been so happy to be wrong.

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Does Andy Reid deserve a Coach of the Year award? Does Brett Veach deserve a General Manager of the Year award? Does Steve Spagnuolo deserve a Defensive Coordinator of the year award? I’d say yes to all of these questions. I just hope we can still think they are deserving when the year is finished.

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Are there any other players, or team officials, on the Chiefs, who deserve notice? Let us know.

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Laddie Morse — ArrowheadOne

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