Chiefs overreactions: Hot takes from Week 1 vs. the Cardinals

Travis Kelce cannot be stopped

Death, taxes, and Travis Kelce demolishing NFL defenses.

You would have thought with the athletic linebackers and safeties that the Cardinals have that 87 would have had a tougher time than usual getting open and making an impact in this game. Nope.

What’s scary is that 8 catches for 121 yards and a touchdown just feels like what we should expect out of Kelce at this point in his career. And it’s not like he’s only been doing this for a few years. This is year 9 of Kelce in Kansas City, and it appears he is truly like a fine wine – just getting better with age. He’s gone over 90 catches and 1,000 yards receiving in each of the last 6 seasons, and the 7th consecutive such campaign got off to a great start yesterday with another ho-hum best-in-class performance. We need to appreciate this greatness while we have it, Travis Kelce will soon be heralded as the greatest to ever play the position.

The Chiefs are better without Tyreek Hill

I couldn’t go without saying this, even though we’ve already pointed out that Tyreek is going to miss Mahomes more than Mahomes will miss him.

Did you see the receivers yesterday? Did you see how Mahomes was working through his progressions? The Chiefs offense finally looks like a unit that can burn you in 9-10 different ways. That was not the case in the Hill/Kelce combo era. Kelce can still do Kelce things, but the fact that the Chiefs operated in 3, 4, and 5 wide sets as well as 3 TE sets, under center, out of the shotgun, in the pistol. Oh boy.

With a player like Tyreek Hill, you have to gameplan around getting him the ball. It’s a must. His game-changing speed and ability to take the top off of a defense can’t be ignored as an offensive staff. But with that, Andy Reid and company could never truly unlock all of the possibilities that lie in combining Mahomes’ unparalleled abilities with all of the unpredictable folds of their offensive scheme. Nine different receivers caught passes yesterday and Mahomes put up the sixth 5 TD performance of his career. He’s done that in 64 career starts.

For comparison, here is how the rest of the QBs that have tossed multiple 5 TD games stack up:

A deep offense is a dangerous offense, and if the Chiefs can clean up drops and fumbles (looking at you, JuJu), this offensive unit is one that could not just be the best in the league. It could be one of the best offenses that the NFL has ever seen.

After yesterday, I’m not quite to a 5 on the aforementioned scale just yet, but I wouldn’t blame anyone who finds themselves there already.