The Kansas City Chiefs should remain the team to beat in the AFC, and that has been the case for multiple years. Despite a 2024 season that everyone predicted would not go their way, the team continued to find ways to win.
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Patrick Mahomes and company are clutch, if nothing else, and that has been proven in winning 10 games by one score or less. Despite their winning ways, that is a formula that can't be sustained.
In fact, the Chiefs have experienced a huge points discrepancy that can cause their 2025 NFL season to derail completely.
The Athletic's Jeff Howe broke down strengths and weaknesses for all 32 teams, and when speaking on the Chiefs, one glaring issue was mentioned.
"No one is diminishing Patrick Mahomes' body of work, but the ongoing turnover in offensive personnel has taken a toll on his statistical production. The Chiefs averaged 493 points during Mahomes' first five seasons as the full-time starter, but just 378 over the past two seasons," Howe wrote.
The Chiefs have found out that their overall point totals have diminished by a significant margin. The team was averaging 493 points a season, which is probably how the team consistently made it to the Super Bowl.
Now, the Chiefs are averaging 378 points a season over the past two years, and a big reason for that is injuries to the offensive playmakers and Mahomes not being able to punch above 30 touchdowns.
To be fair, the Chiefs did make it to the Super Bowl last season, but they were handily beaten by the Philadelphia Eagles. A big reason for that was the stalled offense.
Mahomes went from having 37 touchdowns in 2021, 41 touchdowns in 2022, to having just 27 touchdowns in 2023 and 28 touchdowns in 2024.
Again, it is understood that the Chiefs have dealt with injuries to start players, along with having less-than-stellar wide receivers at their disposal. That is an issue that could come back to haunt the team in 2025.
As Howe stated, the offensive turnover for staff is another reason the team might not be clicking as much as they should on that side of the ball. The hope for 2025 is to get Travis Kelce moving like he was before, along with Mahomes getting the ball into the endzone.
It is a simplistic idea, but there are too many talented teams in the AFC that are gunning for that top spot, and the Chiefs might not be able to skate by with one-score games any longer.
For more on the Chiefs and NFL, head to Newsweek Sports.
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