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2016-2017 Kansas City Chiefs Team Preview
Key Additions: WR Rod Streater, OT Mitchell Schwartz, S Stevie Brown
Key Subtractions: G Jeff Allen, CB Sean Smith, S Husain Abdullah, QB Chase Daniel
Strengths
The Chiefs are a perennial top-10 team when is comes to the ground game, and last season’s output (sixth in the NFL in rushing yards per game) is made all the more impressive when you consider that they got contributions from unheralded backs Charcandrick West and Spencer Ware after Jamaal Charles tore his ACL in Week 5.
West and Ware combined for 1,037 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns last year, and both of them will play the crucial role of filling in for feature back Charles this year to have their main man in tip-top shape come playoff time.
Furthermore, Kansas City also had a stingy defense last year, finishing sixth in the NFL in total defense for the second-straight season. The core of the team’s D remains intact this year, so you can expect the likes of prolific edge-rushers Tamba Hali and Justin Houston (who combined for 13 sacks in 2015), and lock-down secondary members Marcus Peters (league-best eight interceptions) and Eric Berry to have monstrous campaigns once more.
Weaknesses
After 10 seasons in the NFL, Alex Smith has yet to shake off his “game manager” label as a quarterback who does not take risks downfield, as he’s never thrown for over 3,500 yards in a single season. However, the former first-overall draft pick actually threw for a career-high 3,486 yards last season to go with 20 touchdowns, which was also just the second time in his career that he’s had 20 or more passing TDs in the regular season.
Smith could not have had a relatively sound campaign last year if it wasn’t for the addition of wideout Jeremy Maclin (Kansas City’s first 1,000-yard receiver in four years), and the continued improvement of tight end Travis Kelce (875 receiving yards, five TDs). Both Maclin and Kelce are still on the roster, but the team also didn’t bother to further enhance their weapons in the passing game in the offseason. That means Smith and the Chiefs’ performance in the passing game this 2016 remains as important as ever.
Key Player – Jamaal Charles
Could you imagine how far Kansas City would’ve gone in the playoffs last year if only Jamaal Charles was healthy all season long?
Sure, West and Ware had an amazing collective effort taking over Charles’ role in the backfield, but the Chiefs have had the most success when No. 25 was literally running the team’s offense. Save for his rookie campaign, Charles has had 1,000-rushing-yard outings in each of the seasons that he has played at least 15 regular-season games. He was even on pace to reach that mark last year (364 yards through five games) before getting injured, and his mind-boggling 5.5 yards-per-carry average is still the NFL’s all-time best for players with a minimum of 1,000 carries.
Forget turning Alex Smith and the passing game into a league juggernaut, because all the Chiefs really need is to continue riding the Charles freight train of doom all the way into the postseason and, hopefully, into Super Bowl LI.
Key Game – at Oakland (October 16)
The AFC West appears to be the most stacked division in the NFL this season. In turn, the Chiefs have little to no room for error when they face their daunting division rivals in the defending Super Bowl champion Denver Broncos, as well as the much-improved Oakland Raiders and San Diego Chargers (to an extent), two times over in the regular season.
Perhaps the most frightening of the three teams this year are the Raiders, who splurged in free agency this offseason to complement their rising stars on offense (Derek Carr, Amari Cooper) and defense (Khalil Mack) alike. Kansas City will have no excuses for a loss to the Silver and Black when they first square off in Week 6, which happens to be scheduled right after the team’s bye week.
For the Chiefs, this is an early test as to whether or not they can finally end their role as the bridesmaids of the division, whereas the Raiders would want to prove that all their wheeling and dealing in free agency has indeed paid off. Either way, this divisional clash in Oakland will be as exhilarating for the fans as it is crucial for the two playoff hopefuls involved.
2015 Team Stats:
| Category | Stat (Rank) |
|---|---|
| Points per game | 25.3 (#9) |
| Passing yards per game | 203.4 (#30) |
| Rushing Yards per game | 127.8 (#6) |
| Scoring Defense | 17.9 (#3) |
Writer’s Prediction
The Chiefs, who are currently priced at +195 to win the crowded AFC West this season, finish second in the division for the fourth-straight season and manage to secure another Wild Card berth for the playoffs.
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