Kansas City Chiefs: Experts foresee doom in 2019

The Kansas City Chiefs looked like a team on the doorstep of winning a Super Bowl after their bitterly close loss to the Patriots last January.

It’s amazing how things can change in a matter of just a couple of months. In that time enthusiasm over this young football team appears to have evaporated. Sure there’s always excitement with Patrick Mahomes involved? It’s around him that things went from bad to worse. It started with the firing of defensive coordinator Bob Sutton.

The move itself wasn’t a huge surprise. There were rumblings it was coming for some time. What kickstarted things in a baffling direction was the decision to switch schemes. Andy Reid brought aboard his former assistant Steve Spagnuolo to take over the defense. Spagnuolo coaches a 4-3 system, which means the Chiefs would be switching from their traditional 3-4.

This led to the most controversial decision arguably of the Andy Reid era. The team cut star pass rusher Justin Houston and then traded Dee Ford, who had 13 sacks in 2018. Suddenly the Chiefs were without their two best edge rushers, leaving only Chris Jones as their best option up front. Given how porous the defense was with them, how much worse could it get without them?

One thing is for sure. The national buzz around them is hardly optimistic.

NFL analysts struggle to see Chiefs staying atop the AFC in 2019

More from NFL Mocks

Several analysts and experts on NFL.com were asked a simple question. Which team who made the playoffs last season is in the most dangerous of not doing so this year. Of the five polled, two of them picked the Chiefs. Former quarterback David Carr summed up his reservations like this.

"“There are so many questions surrounding the Chiefs. After exits by Dee Ford and Justin Houston, how are they going to rebuild the pass rush? How will they replace Kareem Hunt’s backfield production? What will Tyreek Hill’s status be come Week 1? I’m just not sure what the Chiefs will be.”"

That’s the long and short of it. In the space of a few months, the Chiefs have lost three of their best players and are in danger of losing a fourth in Hill over his reported child abuse investigation. No team can survive that magnitude of star power loss and expect to still remain competitive for a Super Bowl championship. Even with the reigning MVP at quarterback.

Andy Reid is a great coach, but even he has limits as to how many problems he can fix at once. It will be fascinating to see how he approaches it.

Home/NFL Hot Takes