It’s not often that you trade one of the game’s best wide receivers and your offense somehow becomes better.
Well, the Chiefs aren’t an ordinary team. Andy Reid isn’t an ordinary head coach. And Patrick Mahomes isn’t an ordinary quarterback. That’s not to say that Tyreek Hill is just another guy, but the Chiefs were able to adequately replace the production of the Miami Dolphins All-Pro wide receiver, and then some.
According to Warren Sharp, in just the regular season alone, Kansas City had 83 offensive plays that gained 20 yards or more last season. Adding onto that ridiculous stat, 49 of those 83 offensive plays went for 25 yards or more.
The Dolphins, who acquired Hill, ranked second in the AFC with 73 played that gained 20+ yards, so Hill’s presence was certainly felt in South Beach, as he recorded a career-high in targets (170), receptions (119), yards (1,710) and yards/per game (100.6).
the Chiefs explosive pass offense of 2022:
10.8% of attempts gained 20+ yds
more explosive than 2021
or 2020
or 2019DESPITE the fact that they dropped their avg target depth massively:
2022: 7.2 air yds/att
2021: 7.4 air yds/att
2020: 8.1 air yds/att
2019: 8.5 air yds/att— Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) April 24, 2023
And yet, the Chiefs were able to have one of the NFL’s most explosive offenses with the likes of JuJu Smith-Schuster, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Kadarius Toney, Skyy Moore and Justin Watson at wide receiver.
It’s funny how the NFL works sometimes.
The Chiefs parted ways with one of the league’s top wide receivers and still had the NFL’s No. 1 offense and led the league in offensive plays that gained 20+ yards. Many were worried about what life after Hill would be like for Kansas City and yet, the Chiefs’ offense may have been even more explosive, as they went on to win Super Bowl LVII.
The NFL world reacted to the absurd Chiefs news on social media:
What got KC here is yards after the catch. That’s why we should expect them to draft a receiver that is good in space and not a prototypical X who’s game is built around contested catches. https://t.co/dUADpcZmzX
— Adam Best (@Arrowhead_Adam) April 24, 2023
Chiefs on top of the big play mountain despite a sharp decrease in deep passes. How many of that 83 were Travis Kelce? He's a cheat code right now.https://t.co/1oUPQSlPqp
— Lions GRIT (@kjb1030) April 24, 2023
But the chiefs needed tyreek. We are all fools😂😂 https://t.co/DUEuncJQTf
— Dallas (@dasmith23) April 24, 2023
Top 6 all made the playoffs. Top 2 played in the Super Bowl. Explosive plays dictate the W/L column at a pretty high rate. https://t.co/o5PO0MLjxL
— Landon Oliver (@Landon3MR) April 24, 2023
Without Tyreek https://t.co/0B1h8THpJR
— Jason Collinsworth (@jc_playmakerWNY) April 23, 2023
After losing cheetah this is actually insane https://t.co/fCW68xd4Iz
— trey wingo (@wingoz) April 23, 2023
No surprise that the top 2 were in the super bowl, and that it was as high scoring as it was! Also Andy Reid is a freakin genius. 😎 https://t.co/TIbHMZn5vb
— Lexi (@lexiosborne) April 23, 2023
Damn chiefs lost the biggest down field treat in the nfl and still lead the league in 20+ yard plays . https://t.co/54lkQ2oVaS pic.twitter.com/F31JNZpZKV
— dy(nasty) (@INKcredible5) April 23, 2023
https://twitter.com/iOwnedYou02/status/1650184526474215424?s=20
