Despite being back-to-back Super Bowl champions, the Kansas City Chiefs enter training camp with plenty of unanswered questions ahead of the 2024 NFL season. Today, we analyze the five biggest ones facing the Chiefs as they look to win their third consecutive Super Bowl.
Unanswered Questions Ahead of Kansas City Chiefs Training Camp
Outside of the occasional free agent departure, the Chiefs are returning a majority of the roster that has helped them win back-to-back Super Bowls in the previous couple of seasons.
Despite being a favorite to be the first-ever three-peat champions, there are still some questions (both on and off the field) that Kansas City needs to solve once training camp begins.
Are the Chiefs Capable of a 3-Peat?
No NFL champion has been able to win three straight titles since the Vince Lombardi Green Bay Packers did it in the late ’60s. Can the Chiefs shrug off that reality and be the first team to win a third straight title in the Super Bowl era?
There are obstacles in Kansas City’s way, as there were for several other franchises during their quest for a third straight title. The Miami Dolphins and New England Patriots fell in the Divisional Rounds in their quests for a three-peat. The Pittsburgh Steelers, San Francisco 49ers, and Dallas Cowboys were all stunned in the conference title games as well.
Kansas City may have the best quarterback-coach duo in football, but nothing will guarantee them a spot in Super Bowl 59.
Will Secondary Face Drop-Off Without L’Jarius Sneed?
A big reason why the Chiefs’ defense has become their calling card to another Lombardi Trophy has been the dynamic play of shutdown corner L’Jarius Sneed.
Originally a fourth-round pick, Sneed has quickly become one of the best lockdown corners in the NFL today — so much so that Kansas City was able to package him in a trade to the Tennessee Titans that allowed them to recoup a third-round pick.
Sneed’s departure opens up a big hole in the Chiefs’ defense, though. How big that hole is could be determined early in camp as Kansas City tries to figure out how to replace a Pro Bowl-caliber player.
What Will Happen With Rashee Rice?
It hasn’t been the smoothest offseason for Patrick Mahomes’ top receiving target outside of Travis Kelce.
Rashee Rice was arrested and charged with one count of aggravated assault, one count of collision involving serious bodily injury, and six counts of collision involving injuries due to a crash he reportedly fled on March 30 in Dallas.
Rice also got into an altercation with a photographer and was under investigation for punching a man in a club just two months later. So what’s going to happen to him?
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Rice could be subject to punishment under the league’s personal conduct policy. James Palmer, an NFL reporter on the Steve Smith Sr. Agent 89 podcast, suggested that the former second-round pick could actually miss as much as half the season.
“He’s gonna be suspended, let’s just put it out there,” Palmer said. “They’re expecting half a season, at least.”
What happens to Rice will be extremely interesting to see throughout training camp. Andy Reid teams aren’t newcomers to controversy heading into training camp, but the Rice case could put much of their current philosophy to the test.
How Will Hollywood Brown and Xavier Worthy Mesh in Chiefs’ Offense?
After a limited receiving corps almost kept them out of the Super Bowl, the Chiefs invested in the position group once again thanks to a trade to acquire Hollywood Brown from the Arizona Cardinals and a trade-up for Texas product Xavier Worthy.
Both receivers bring a level of speed and consistency that few players were able to bring onto the roster last season — a scary sight as they join an offense led by Mahomes.
It may take some time for Brown and Worthy to mesh into the offense, but once they are, the Chiefs should have one of the best offenses in the NFL again. At the very least, the current duo should be enough to be an upgrade over last year’s group.
Will Aging Stars Receive an Alternate Practice Schedule?
Kelce is 34 years old. Chris Jones is 30. While most of Kansas City’s star power is under the age of 30, the older a team gets, the more banged up they can become.
In that regard, the Chiefs must take that into account and alter the practice schedule for some of their aging stars.
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When it comes to Kelce, he’s coming off a down year of sorts in catch percentage, yards, and even touchdowns. Jones may be coming off a 10.5-sack season on his own, but he’s in a position that has their prime cut down far sooner than others.
How Reid and the coaching staff handle the workload for both Kelce and Jones will be very telling to see how good the Chiefs start during their title defense.