Blitz Package podcast: Looking back on the Kansas City Chiefs season
After a roller coaster of a regular season, the Kansas City Chiefs are hoping they picked the right time to get hot again as they enter the postseason.
The 2017 regular season was an emotional roller coaster for Kansas City Chiefs fans as they started off hot, went through a pit of misery, and then came out hot at the end just in time for the playoffs. While some players exceeded their expectations going into the season, there were plenty others that didn’t live up to theirs.
Quarterback Alex Smith was expected to have the best season of his career when the Chiefs drafted Patrick Mahomes in the first round of the NFL Draft. Smith mentioned how he was going to play with a more aggressive approach before the season when asked about the young quarterback. The fifth-year Chief delivered as he threw for more than 4,000 yards in just 15 games and 26 touchdowns.
While playing more aggressive football and better teams, Smith boosted all of his stats from his conservative years before. Touchdowns went up and interceptions went down, he was one of the most effective quarterbacks throwing deep and stepped up to lead this team in multiple games. Usually, when a player plays more aggressive and makes throws with more risk there tends to be a decline in some stats like interceptions. That wasn’t the case with Smith.
Rookie running back Kareem Hunt led the league in rushing after his one carry on Sunday afternoon against the Denver Broncos. The Toledo running back also exceeded most people’s expectations breaking records right out of the gate. It’s going to be special to watch this young back grow and hopefully be the next great Chiefs running back.
Wide receiver Tyreek Hill killed all discussion of being just a gadget player as he dominated the number one receiver role. Ending the season with the seventh most yards among receivers, Hill showed much improvement from last year in his route tree. The two-year receiver has become one of the biggest weapons in all of football.
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