Chiefs: The Buzzards are Circling

Phillip Maxwell

There is no way to say this delicately, so I will just spit it out… the Chiefs look beatable. Whether Kansas City Chiefs fans would agree with that statement or not, the rest of the league does and that is all that matters. The worst thing you can give an opponent is hope… and the mere sight of this anemic Chiefs offense, or the lack there of, has the rest of the NFL licking their collective chops.

With the trade deadline come and gone, this has become the reality —> a world champion caliber defense paired with an offense that couldn’t score at a brothel, and that is what Chiefs Kingdom is stuck with for the remainder of this season.

Even QB Patrick Mahomes, who is arguably the best signal caller playing in the game today has looked fallible due to being surrounded by scrubs. There is not a receiver on the Chiefs current roster that would get a single second of playing time if they were on any other NFL contending team. The truth hurts, but there it is. To put it bluntly, these guys stink. NFL stats will show that the Chiefs receiving game is comparable to the rest of the league, and Chiefs fans love to argue that, but that isn’t the issue. The issue is, there is not a single pressure player in the bunch.

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Monday night’s loss to the Philadelphia Eagles saw a 55% completion rate from the Chiefs offense. It was wet, at night, with the lights on, so some slack given… but the Eagles offense, who were playing in the same conditions, all the while playing against a very, very, good Chiefs defense had a 67% completion rate. Oh, and they were on the road in a rabid environment.

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Marquez Valdez-Scantling (MVS)

MVS is the highest paid WR on the roster and is averaging 24.9 receiving yards per game. Stew on that for a minute. Their 10 million dollar a year man is making $23,623.90 a yard to be one of the most inept WRs on the field. Any field. He looks completely lost out there at times. I know he is fast and I know he is tall, but his route running looks confusing, and a year and a half into his career as a Chief, he still can’t find a rapport with Mahomes.

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Sky Moore

Moore, the Chiefs 2nd year wideout and 2nd round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft is averaging 20.1 receiving yards –> per game. I have been saying this for over a year….Moore is not a deep ball threat, and the sooner the Chiefs coaches figure that out the better. If the Chiefs aren’t interested in having another early round bust on their hands, they need to find a different role for Skyy, something similar to what Edelman did for the Patriots: Out routes, Slant routes and Hitch routes. These would be more suited for his body type and his natural abilities.

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Justin Watson

Watson’s role on the Chiefs last season was perfect, he finished the season with 15 receptions, 315 receiving yards and a pair of scores. Exactly what a championship caliber team should expect out of an affordable 4th or 5th option. The fact that Watson is the second most targeted WR on the Chiefs this season is absurd. No hate towards Watson, but he should never be the second most targeted WR on any NFL roster. That is asking too much of a receiver with his limited potential.

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Rashee Rice

The rookie has been the lone bright spot, and the most targeted WR for the Chiefs. His 42 receiving yards per game leads all receivers, but he has also had his moments of deficiency. The Chiefs lead the league in dropped passes and Rice has played a big part in that. He is certainly not without blame. In his defense… he is a rookie… and is being asked to take the lead for a Super Bowl winning team. I have to say, his juke on Darius Slay was pretty big time and showed off his potential.

This guy deserved to play his first season in the tutelage of a #1 receiver, being shown the ropes, not being tossed into the fire as he has.

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The Dilemma

Unless General Manager Brett Veach finds a WR — or 3 — to bring in for the stretch, these guys are the receiving corp. Some talking heads have thrown out a few FA names the Chiefs could try and sign, such as Sammy Watkins, Jarvis Landry or T.Y. Hilton, but I think all of those names are very unlikely. I’m pretty sure Veach has decided to ride or die with these current 3rd stringers.

Teams have already figured out how to limit TE Travis Kelce, who is the only real dependable target Mahomes genuinely trusts. Double team him and force Mahomes to throw to the Three Amigos… and… with every game that passes he trusts these guys less and less, putting even more pressure on an aging Kelce who hasn’t quite looked his self this season either. He also struggled with dropped passes along with a crucial fumble-turnover in the red zone.

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Raiders Week

I think I can speak for all Chiefs fans when I say, looking at the 2023 schedule prior to seasons start, we chalked a W next to this one right? Well… not so fast, we also chalked a W next to the Denver game at Empower Field at Mile High, and we all know how that turned out. Raiders interim coach Antonio Pierce has those guys playing with tons of passion since taking over for the fired Josh McDaniels. I promise you, the Raiders believe they are going to win Sunday in Vegas… they are quite aware of the Chiefs struggles and Antonio Pierce who is a player turned coach is feeding it into his players heads that the Chiefs are very much beatable. A team that has been shut out in the second half of 3 consecutive games doesn’t scream unbeatable. At the writing of this article, the Packers whipped the Lions 29-to-22, so I don’t expect the following week to be a breeze either. Teams who were once saying “Oh good grief, it’s Chiefs week” are now saying “Great, it’s Chiefs week!”

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The Bright Side

The Chiefs Defense will continue to ball out and keep them in games. Patrick Mahomes will continue to drop dimes, because he is the best in the business and if I recollect correctly, after Travis Kelce coughed up the ball last season against the Bengals — which is a game the Chiefs went on to lose — he went on to play near perfect football for the remainder of the season and into the playoffs. There is still an abundance of talent on this team… they just need to find their synergy.

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ArrowheadOne — Phillip Maxwell

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“You don’t have to swing hard to hit a home

run, if you got the timing, it’ll go”

-Yogi Berra

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