3 Kansas City Chiefs who need a Super Bowl win to avoid the cut line
The Kansas City Chiefs are back in the Super Bowl and the Patrick Mahomes-Andy Reid combo will vie for their third Lombardi Trophy since the quarterback took the helm of the offense. They went on the road in the AFC Championship Game to topple the Ravens and are now en route to Las Vegas.
Despite what the Chiefs have done in this Mahomes-Reid era, the Taylor Swift era for this franchise has been a little rocky, though that's of no fault to the pop sensation and boyfriend/tight end Travis Kelce. The offense had its issues that were highlighted routinely throughout the season while the defense, to the surprise of many, was a driving force.
Once the playoffs came around, though, this team's experience in these situations along with the otherworldly talent of Mahomes have shone through, which is why the Super Bowl is their next stop. For some players, though, it might be the last stop if they don't win the Super Bowl, or maybe even make a big impact in that game regardless of the outcome.
3. Marquez Valdes-Scantling, WR
The Marquez Valdes-Scantling re-emergence in the playoffs has been one of the cooler underrated storylines for the Chiefs thus far. After being what can best be described as a headache for many fans throughout the years with costly drops and miscues throughout the year, he's shown up on the biggest road stages in the postseason.
Against the Bills, MVS hauled in two much-needed deep passes, one for 32 yards and one for 30 yards, to create some crucial explosive plays for Mahomes and the Kansas City offense. Then, in teh win over the Ravens, he hauled in another 32-yard reception in the closing minutes to ice the game for the Chiefs with Baltimore out of timeouts.
That's great, but it also doesn't erase all of the problematic things we saw from Valdes-Scantling on the field throughout the year.
Put simply, you want a deep threat to be able to catch a deep pass and MVS had some real issues accomplishing that consistently throughout the year. Whenever people highlighted the problems at hand with the Chiefs receiving corps, he was one of the poster-children for that as he was inadequate in the role he was signed to play in this offense.
What's more, there is no world, even with the playoff resurgence, in which Valdes-Scantling is worth the $14 million cap hit he's worth for the 2024 season. However, the Chiefs could save $12 million of that with only a $2 million dead cap penalty. As Kansas City almost assuredly aims to improve the wide receiver room this offseason, allotting that money to other players besides MVS makes just too much sense. And unless he shows up even bigger in the Super Bowl, one would expect that not to change.