The Chiefs ended last season with a heartbreaking overtime loss to eventual Super Bowl champion Patriots in a shootout at a frigid Arrowhead. This crushing loss set up the most exciting offseason in Chiefs history.
The Chiefs’ Super Bowl dreams rest with their quarterback, league MVP Patrick Mahomes. Chiefs fans grimace anytime Mahomes does anything that could injure him. In February, Mahomes played a game of pickup basketball. The GM promptly banned him from hoops. Some chided the team for trying to wrap Mahomes in bubble wrap. A month later, Mahomes was seen doing the tomahawk chop while riding a mechanical bull in the Power & Light District.
The Chiefs offense wasn’t the same after cutting running back Kareem Hunt in November, when a video showed him shoving and kicking a woman who called him a racial slur. In the Patriots loss, the Chiefs had an anemic 41 yards of rushing. In February, Hunt was signed by the Cleveland Browns, whose GM drafted Hunt in KC.
The Chiefs’ defense was their weak link last season. So coach Andy Reid fired his defensive coordinator and blew up the squad. The defense has five new starters including the “Honey Badger,” safety Tyrann Mathieu. Things are looking up.
Just as the Chiefs were moving on from Hunt and getting excited about their new defense, allegations of domestic violence emerged about star wide receiver Tyreek Hill. The initial investigation into the injury of Hill’s son ended with Hill not being charged. Then troubling audio recordings emerged. Hill is banned from team activities while the league investigates.
With training camp looming, Mahomes believes he’s ready to take on the new season full-force. On a podcast, Mahomes claims that he can throw a football 100 yards at the high altitude of Mexico City’s Azteca Stadium, where the team will face the Chargers in November. If Mahomes can throw 100-yard passes, does anything else matter?