The Kansas City Chiefs are Super Bowl contenders

Sometimes teams become Super Bowl contenders because they are talented all around and have very few weaknesses. Other teams are contenders because they have one side of the ball that is so dominant that its enough to carry the team. That appears to be the 2018 Chiefs. Patrick Mahomes has elevated an offense that was already good last season under Alex Smith to what is without question the best offense in the NFL so far this season. He is re-writing the record books every week in terms of touchdown passes this early in the season and his all around numbers so far are just flat out absurd.

• 66.7% completions
• 9.6 yards per attempt
• 298.7 yards per game
• 13 touchdowns
• 0 interceptions

You can make a pretty strong argument that this last game was his worst game of the season so far and he still threw for 314 yards and three touchdowns—one of which was another absolutely jaw dropping play where he rolled way back behind the line of scrimmage, changed course away from rushers until he finally threw a perfect strike to Chris Conley in the corner of the end zone. It was a play that would be the highlight of most quarterbacks’ season so far, but three games in its just one of numerous “WOW” plays that Mahomes has made.

This past week leading up to the 49ers game, there were already countless national pieces about just how good the Chiefs offense under Patrick Mahomes has looked. While Mahomes certainly is the most talked about, its not just him.

The Chiefs offensive weapons should be the envy of every team in the league. Tyreek Hill, Travis Kelce, Sammy Watkins, and Kareem Hunt are all guys that would start and star on most teams in the NFL. Then you add complementary pieces like Demarcus Robinson, De’Anthony Thomas, Chris Conley, Spencer Ware, Damian Williams, Anthony Sherman, and even (sigh) Demetrius Harris and its an embarrassment of riches.

This is backed up by the fact that the Chiefs already have nine players that have caught touchdown passes through just three games. The offensive line deserves some credit as well. While they haven’t exactly been mauling people in the run game, they have been really good in pass protection having allowed just four sacks in three games despite all the passing attempts.

While the players are the ones executing the plays you have to also tip your cap to Andy Reid. The Chiefs are not only the most talented offense in the league, they may be the most innovative as well. The use of countless formations, player groupings, motions, and college spread concepts mixed with traditional West Coast offense concepts has kept NFL defenses guessing so far this season.

If you want to read a really excellent piece on what Reid is doing with this offense under Mahomes and how it could lead to a league wide shift on offense, I highly recommend THIS PIECE by Mark Schofield of Pro Football Weekly. It’s a fascinating read and I don’t think we should undersell just how much of a roll the mind of Andy Reid has had in constructing this offensive juggernaut.

That takes us to the defense.