Chiefs stat proves they might really be better off without Tyreek Hill

Kansas City Chiefs fans were worried that they might be in for a rough time with Tyreek Hill onto Miami, but Week 1 showed they might actually be just fine.

As of late, Kansas City Chiefs fans have not had much to be nervous about. The team has been a perennial Super Bowl contender, getting to the Conference Championship or deeper in each of the last four postseasons.

Going into this year, though, there was just a little touch of hesitancy over the new-look offense, which is without Tyreek Hill, who was traded to the Miami Dolphins this offseason. Their leading rusher of last year, Darrel Williams, is now on the Cardinals.

The Chiefs offense brings back some key pieces — like Travic Kelce, importantly — but on paper lacks quite the same pop outside of Mahomes and Kelce that it has had in year’s past.

Clyde Edwards-Helaire’s career has been a bit of a disappointment so far, and the offense has a new look with fresh faces in the receiving room like JuJu Smith-Schuster and Marquez Valdes-Scantling.

After a 44-21 win over the Cardinals on Sunday, though, it’s clear the offense is just fine.

Chiefs offense is just fine, and perhaps more balanced without Tyreek Hill

After Sunday, one key stat shows just how prepared the Chiefs offense is, and how fine they are without Tyreek Hill. In fact, things might be a bit more balanced without him.

Yep, the Chiefs converted to first down on 31% of their first downs on Sunday and 41% of the time on second downs. They beat the runner-up for second-or-first-down conversion — which the Chiefs had a conversion rate of 72% in — by 6%.

In total, they converted on 89% of their sets of downs, leading the league, which is why they only punted twice.

No Tyreek? No problem. Clearly, the Chiefs have options on offense, considering their third-string running back and seventh-round overall pick Isiah Pacheco even got on the board with a touchdown on Sunday.

Anyone who was doubting an offense led by Patrick Mahomes was naive to do so, anyway.