Turn on the dynasty.
Oh, wait - I almost forgot the Covid 19 season, which is the NFL season we are going to get, like it or not. Therefore any discussion about 2020 is immediately suspect. We just don't know what kind of season it's going to be.
One thing we do know is Saint Patrick is signed up as a Chief for as long as they want him. Pro football talk, courtesy of Misters Florio and Sims, have already decided that Mahomes is GOAT. For anyone else this might be the kiss of death. I fervently hope they are right. If they are then talk of a dynasty is not out of order. Add in the return of 22 of the Super Bowl starters and dynasty talk doesn't seem so far-fetched at all.
Let's look at the 53 man roster assembled by Reid and Veitch. At QB we have Mahomes and Chad Henne. Talk about all your eggs in one basket! Don't forget Mahomes had an injury last year. On the plus side the Chiefs will look to put one, maybe two QB on the expanded Covid practice squad including last year's star Matt Moore.
The running backs are Clyde Edwards-Hellaire, Darrel Williams and Darwin Thompson. If CEH is the real deal then fans are in for a treat. Hopefully as good as Kareem Hunt was if not better. If he's a bust then all bets are off. My fingers are crossed. Adrian Petersen, a future hall of famer is available. Watch this space.
Anthony Sherman is the full back. An ace on special teams he is integral to the Chief's success and an indispensable member of the Super Bowl team.
The wide outs are: Tyreek Hill, Sammy Watkins, Mecole Hardman, Demarcus Robinson, Byron Pringle and Marcus Kemp. Hardman returns kicks - Pringle and Kemp have special teams roles. The others should scare opponents senseless and will.
There are four tight ends rostered : Kelce and Yelder are familiar to fans with Nick Keizer and Ricky Seals-Jones vying for playing time. I hope they get some. Kelce should get more time off. Let's see some two blocking tight ends sets with Kelce watching and CEH running.
The offensive line men are : Eric Fisher, Kelechi Osemele, Austin Reiter, Andrew Wylie and Mitchell Swartz (starters) backed up by Mike Remmers, Daniel Kilgore, Nick Allegretti and Yasir Durant (the only undrafted free agent on offence).
The Defense
Tackles : Chris Jones, Derrick Nnadi, Kahlen Saunders and Tershawn Wharton. Wharton makes the team as an undrafted free agent and will start with Mike Pennels two game suspension at the start of the season. The Chiefs also use my favourite Tanoh Kpassagnon as a tackle on occasion.
Defensive ends : Frank Clark, Alex Okafor, Kapassagnon, Taco Charlton, Michael Danna and Demone Harris. Breeland Speaks is gone but will surely be picked up on Waivers. I hope he doesn't come back to haunt us.
Line backers : Anthony Hitchens, Damien Wilson, Willie Gay, Ben Neimann and Dorian O'Daniel. Gay is the rookie in to bolster a perceived Chief's weakness whilst Neimann and O'Daniel play special teams and must start getting on the field. It's long past time they stepped up.
Corner backs : Charvarious Ward, L'Jarius Sneed, Antonio Hamilton, Rashad Fenton and BoPete Keynes. Another weakness in the roster but perhaps better than often reckoned. We'll see.
Safeties : Tyrann Mathieu, Juan Thornhill, Daniel Sorensen, Tedric Thompson and Armani Watts. Looks a very strong group. Sorensen was an unlikely star of the play off run and an annual candidate of the pundits to be cut. He makes the team again. Watts is in the last chance saloon. Thornhill returns from injury. If he's 100%, then this is a super bowl repeating crew.
Specialists : the Butt kicker handles the place kicks, Winchester is the long snapper and Tommy Townshend is the punter. (like so many other players on the roster he has benefitted from the lack of a pre-season and the 80 member squad limit. He gets the job by default. The good news is that punters are a dime a dozen, so if he doesn't feel any pressure he should, for he replaces a Chief's legend, Dustin Colquitt.
Loop
So, where does this roster leave the quest for a repeat?
On the face of it only a catastrophic injury to Mahomes and two or three others could derail the steamroller. Oh, if only it was that simple. People tend to forget that the tribe was down double figures three times in the playoffs. Therefore a strong case can be made that they were very lucky. In order to repeat they must ride the luck again.
The opening match versus the Texans should tell us a lot. From their perspective they was robbed last year. Beating the Chiefs could well have seen them lifting the Lombardi. If I was their coach I'd be telling them exactly that most every day. Contrastingly, Andy Reid will marshal the troops to produce an offensive avalanche. We'll see.
The bad news first, before we all get carried away. Looks like the starting secondary may feature two rookies. This was a Chiefs weakness last season. It just seems unlikely we can spot Texans a 24 point lead again and score 7 straight touchdowns. Lest we forget, it was the defence that won the Super Bowl with two quality stops in quarter 4. Also, a lot of praise has been heaped on Edwards-Hillaire and Willie Gay - two rookies who fans believe are sure things. Such confidence is often over-stated. If the Chiefs lose the opener, things may not look so rosy.
31 of 33 pundits are picking the tribe to repeat as Super Bowl champs - and not a ball has been kicked or thrown. If the players have spent their time reading their press clippings, a fall from grace is not far away.
At worst we make the play-offs. At best it's party time again.
I'm hoping for the best but fearing the worst.
****I should have gotten (note the US usage) this posted today, but I played golf instead : therefore I'm behind time and waiting for kick off and not at the computer. I'm reminded of two facts: one Andy Reid is usually a genius with time to prepare a game plan, two the Texans won at Arrowhead last year. So, perhaps expecting either or both teams to be in top condition or form is unreasonable. I expect that the skill players will be ahead of the curve and defences may have to catch up. ****
