The Chiefs receivers came through when the team needed them most this season.
Every year in the NFL, a victor is crowned. Only one out of 32 franchises will stand, holding the Lombardi Trophy as evidence of a rigorous task completed. For the 2022 NFL season, the Kansas City Chiefs are those victors, standing on the mountaintop with their efforts forever memorialized as champions.
But this team wasn’t supposed to be here, not after trading Tyreek Hill and replacing their receiving core, not after losing to the Bills and the Bengals in the regular season, and not after Patrick Mahomes suffered an ankle injury in the playoffs. The unit I believe that is most responsible for the success of this Chiefs’ team is that revamped receiving core. With only Mecole Hardman returning from a unit that was fourth in the NFL in receiving yards in 2021, it looked to be a tall order to replace the production lost with Hill’s departure.
Luckily, Brett Veach and Co. were up to the task, signing free agents JuJu Smith-Schuster and Marquez Valdes-Scantling as well as trading for former first round pick Kadarius Toney, the Chiefs’ receiving core was filled with younger, cheaper options that allowed for greater financial versatility across the team.
Now, of course, the moves were great, and set the team up for success, but those moves and additions ring hollow without production, and boy did this unit produce. Of course, with veteran tight end Travis Kelce leading the way, the Chiefs receiving core paced the NFL in receiving yardage, somehow doing better than the year before.
Kelce, JuJu and MVS accounted for nearly 3,000 of Mahomes’ 5,200-yard total, and their stellar production continued into the postseason. In three postseason games, this receiving core showed up when it mattered most, converting big third downs when others were out with injury, and keeping drives alive against the Jaguars, Bengals and Eagles.
However, this receiving core saved their best performance for the game’s biggest stage against the best defense in the NFL. Smith-Schuster came away with big catch after big catch to sustain drives in the second half of Super Bowl LVII. Kelce, Toney, and rookie Skyy Moore each came away with touchdowns that either tied the game or gave the Chiefs the lead.
Even in the return game these receivers showed up, with Toney rattling off the longest punt return in Super Bowl history to set up the aforementioned Skyy Moore touchdown to give the Chiefs an 8-point lead. Without this unlikely cast of pass-catchers, the Chiefs would not have won.
Before the season, many pundits and analysts wrote off this receiving core, and when they traded for Toney midway through the season, many didn’t understand what the front office saw, but now they do. They see the Super Bowl Champion Kansas City Chiefs.