The Kansas City Chiefs weren’t generally expected to win another Super Bowl championship two years ago when they traded away star wide receiver Tyreek Hill. However, they have since won the last two Vince Lombardi Trophies, giving them three rings in five years with quarterback Patrick Mahomes and head coach Andy Reid leading the way.
Right now, with just a few weeks to go before the start of training camp, the Chiefs are considered either the favorites or the co-favorites to win it all once again this coming season. If they do win another championship, they will become the first team to win three straight Super Bowl titles, which would elevate them onto a higher pantheon when it comes to sports’ greatest teams.
However, technically speaking, the odds are against Kansas City doing so. If one wants to be more specific, there are three big things that could result in the team ending the 2024 NFL Playoffs empty-handed.
Uncertainty at wide receiver
Ever since Hill left, the Chiefs have gotten the job done with a makeshift group of wide receivers. They deserve praise for reinventing themselves last season as more of a dink-and-dunk team that won with defense as opposed to the offensive juggernaut they had been in the past.
They have a young and somewhat unproven group of wideouts right now, and of them, Rashee Rice seems to be the most promising one. As a rookie last year, he caught 79 passes for 938 yards and seven touchdowns, and some feel he can become a bona fide star.
However, he is in some hot water these days. Earlier this year, he was involved in a car crash, and as a result, he is facing a number of serious legal charges. Even if he is found not guilty of all of those charges, he faces a possible suspension by the NFL, which would put a dent in the Chiefs’ chances of winning the Super Bowl.
Other than Rice, they have rookie Xavier Worthy, who is incredibly fast but may or may not have the tools to succeed at the next level, Marquise Brown, who has reached 1,000 yards just once in five years, and several other bit players such as Mecole Hardman, Skyy Moore and Kadarius Toney.
The rest of the NFL has gotten better
When a team such as the Chiefs becomes dominant, the rest of the league looks to load up and topple that team. That is certainly what seems to be taking place right now.
The San Francisco 49ers, the team the Chiefs beat in both Super Bowl LVIII and Super Bowl LIV, have added defensive end Leonard Floyd, who had 10.5 sacks in 2023, to a defensive line that already included Javon Hargrave and 2022 Defensive Player of the Year Nick Bosa. The Green Bay Packers are on the rise, the Chicago Bears have made sweeping improvements and the Detroit Lions are coming off a 12-5 finish and could be even better this fall.
In the AFC, the Baltimore Ravens, who Kansas City defeated in the conference championship game in January, now have future Hall of Fame running back Derrick Henry. meanwhile, after a lost 2023 season, the Cincinnati Bengals, the only team to prevent Kansas City from reaching the Super Bowl in the last five years, are healthy and motivated, and the Houston Texans and New York Jets could always put it together and become legitimate forces.
When a team wins a world championship, it has to get hungrier and call on an increased level of intensity to hold off improved teams elsewhere in the league. Which leads us to the third reason the Chiefs may not three-peat.
Complacency
It is human nature to lose motivation and hunger after accomplishing a lifelong goal, such as winning a world championship. Regaining that motivation and hunger when training camp starts for the new season isn’t easy to do.
We’re about to see just how greedy Mahomes and Reid really are. Mahomes is just 28 years of age and already owns three Super Bowl rings, so there is always the chance he lacks that extra urgency to get another one this coming season.
There are legitimate reasons why no team has ever won three straight Super Bowl titles, and perhaps the Chiefs will show us why over the next seven months or so.
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The post 3 Reasons The Kansas City Chiefs Won’t Three-Peat In 2024 appeared first on NFL Analysis Network .
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