Kansas City Chiefs vs Jacksonville Jaguars: Four takeaways from week 1
Takeaway #2: The Chiefs are built to survive without Tyreek Hill
As I’m writing this late Sunday afternoon, the official word is that Tyreek Hill suffered a “sternal clavicular joint injury” which as far as I can understand means that his collar bone was jammed into his sternum but didn’t break. It sounds really painful to me but reports are that he won’t need surgery. I’ve heard whispers of everything from a couple of weeks to a couple of months in terms of recovery time. Hopefully, by the time you are reading this a more accurate timetable for his return has been laid out.
Obviously, it would be much better for the Chiefs if Hill was only out for a couple of weeks but the Chiefs are better suited to survive without their elite wide receiver than any other NFL team. There is no denying that the Chiefs are more dangerous and difficult to defend with Hill’s unique speed and all around skill set. That said, Watkins showed on Sunday that he is capable of being a number one wide receiver. Then there’s Kelce who is the most proven and dangerous pass catching tight end in the NFL. That’s two big time targets that Mahomes can work with while Hill is recovering.
Then there’s Mecole Hardman, who may not quite have Tyreek Hill’s speed but showed in both training camp and the preseason that he is capable of being a NFL-caliber deep threat. The Chiefs drafted him when Hill’s status for this season was still up in the air so they clearly believed that he could help fill the void left by Hill should he have been suspended.
Then there are other players like Demarcus Robinson and running backs Damien Williams, LeSean McCoy, and Darwin Thompson who can all play a role in the passing attack moving forward. McCoy was especially promising on Sunday as he proved to anyone thinking he was washed up wrong on his way to 11 touches for 93 yards and an 8.1 yards per carry average. We haven’t even had to touch on guys like D’Anthony Thomas or Byron Pringle who the Chiefs can bring off the bench.
Finally, I believe Mahomes is proving to be one of those quarterbacks that will find some amount of success with whatever players you surround him with. That’s not to say he isn’t better with elite weapons, but guys like Tom Brady and Peyton Manning have had numerous seasons where they carried their offense and Mahomes looks like he’s on that same path.
My third takeaway is a slight concern moving forward.