As training camp looms just around the corner, the Kansas City Chiefs are anxious to avenge their defeat in last season’s AFC Championship game. For the first time since hosting the franchise’s first Lombardi trophy in five decades, the Chiefs have something to prove going into the 2022 NFL season.
While the team aims to prove their back-to-back Super Bowl seasons weren’t flukes, quarterback Patrick Mahomes is looking to bounce back from a rather lousy 2021 campaign. According to NFL.com analyst and former NFL player Bucky Brooks, Mahomes is the last quarterback teams want to play against this season.
On Friday, Brooks ranked his top five scariest QBs entering the 2022 NFL season, and taking the top spot on his list sits the Chiefs’ all-pro signal-caller as Brooks writes:
“Do not let a sub-par 2021 campaign — by his incredibly high standards — overshadow the fear factor created by the former regular season and Super Bowl MVP. Mahomes has the capacity to shred defenses with a variety of laser-like tosses from inside and outside of the pocket. The sixth-year pro has dazzled the football world with his ability to throw the ball down the field, but 2022 could give him a chance to showcase a more disciplined and patient approach. With Tyreek Hill now in Miami, Mahomes might play more small ball and pick apart opponents with a barrage of passes thrown at short and intermediate range. If he continues to refine his approach while maintaining the fearlessness and efficiency (66.1% completion rate, 105.8 passer rating, 151:37 TD-INT ratio) that has made him so hard to stop, the Chiefs’ QB1 could go down as the scariest quarterback in NFL history.”
In 2021, Mahomes completed 66.3-percent of his passes for 4,839 yards, 37 touchdowns, and a career-high 13 interceptions. While these aren’t terrible numbers for the average NFL quarterback, they were the results following a very underwhelming performance from one to elite passers to ever put on an NFL uniform.
Despite not having all-pro deep threat Tyreek Hill, expectations remain high around One Arrowhead Drive as the Chiefs go into the new year with a revamped receiving core. This offseason, the Chiefs acquired rookie receivers Skyy Moore and Justyn Ross and veterans JuJu Smith-Schuster, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, and Corey Coleman to go along with Mecole Hardman and Josh Gordon.
Mahomes has previously alluded that the Chiefs are dialing up and brand new offensive strategy that will play to the strengths of the new receivers and will feature all of them.
“That’s what you’re going to see in this offense this year, it’s going to be everybody. It’s not going to be one guy,” Mahomes told reporters back in May. “I think this year we’ll be different where you’re not going to know [who] you’re gonna get the deep ball from [and] where you’re gonna get the short pass from, cause we have a lot of different guys who can do it all.”
Along with a new group of receivers, Kansas City’s offense also anticipates a rejuvenated rushing attack as Ronald Jones II teams up with starter Clyde Edwards-Helaire, who returns from injury. Factor in tight end Travis Kelce, who’s made a reputation for being Mahome’s security blanket, and the Chiefs’ offensive line unit returning with a year under the belt, and this might the scariest offense the Chiefs have had in the Andy Reid era.
