Can the Kansas City Chiefs Overcome the Loss of Tyreek Hill and Still Dominate the AFC Conference?

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They say that behind every great man there’s a great woman, and in American football there’s no doubt that in front of – and to the side of – a great quarterback lurks a great wide receiver.

And so, in the 2022-23 NFL season, we’ll finally get a chance to see how great Patrick Mahomes truly is now that his Kansas City Chiefs running partner, Tyreek Hill, has departed for pastures new.

Mahomes, of course, is a Super Bowl champion who has won the MVP award from the big game, as well as being named regular season MVP and Offensive Player of the Year in 2018. His skillset is beyond question.

But there’s no doubt that a quality wide receiver can make a quarterback appear all the more extraordinary, and Tyreek Hill – who averages over 1,000 yards per campaign with Mahomes feeding him the ball, and who has reached double figures for touchdowns in the regular season twice in Kansas – very much fits that bill.

The Chiefs’ loss is very much the Miami Dolphins’ gain, and while many will argue that Mahomes can overcome the absence of his friend – wide receivers are dispensable, in the minds of some – there’s no doubt that head coach Andy Reid will need to find a suitable replacement at WR and pronto.

The sportsbooks make Kansas a +1200 shot to go all the way and win the Super Bowl – as they did in 2019, and Chiefs’ fans will be placing their bets on that very eventuality. With sports wagering legal in the state since May, there’s no stopping them either… with no shortage of betting firms looking to get involved. One site ran a recent rating update to determine which is the best option for bettors in the Sunflower state, with NFL odds very much at the top of that agenda.

The loyalty of Chiefs fanatics cannot be questioned, but will their optimism ahead of the 2022-23 season be matched by performances on the field?

The Sum of Its Parts

Of course, NFL championships aren’t won and lost by one man.

The importance of a deep roster, and quality in all departments, has never been more apparent, although a Kansas City Chiefs squad in a state of flux perhaps offers more questions than it delivers answers.

Despite the loss of Hill, this is an offensive unit that ran in 108 points in just three postseason games last term, and so there is clearly plenty of strength here. However, can a guy like Byron Pringle replace the output of a six-time Pro Bowler like Hill? And can a raw rookie such as Mecole Hardman up his game and take a step up to the next level?

The starting running backs, Clyde Edwards-Helaire and Ronald Jones, perhaps aren’t the strongest pair amongst the NFL’s top franchises either, and so there may be times this season when Mahomes is left scratching his head and wondering where to throw the pigskin next.

He will have other elite talents at his behest, including the ever-excellent Travis Kelce, but are the Kansas City Chiefs really Super Bowl material right now? Not even Mahomes can silence the doubters on that front.