The Kansas Metropolis Chiefs can level to a myriad of points behind their offensive struggles, including Matt Nagy’s playcalling, however their speedy disarmament during the last two years has hit them the place it hurts. In the event you’re trying to find a offender for Kansas Metropolis’s offensive demise and fall from high 10 in scoring for the primary time since 2016, their wideouts have already been caught holding the bloody knife on the gridiron over the Tremendous Bowl champions’ physique. Patrick Mahomes, king of the tight spiral, found this season that he, too, is topic to the whims of his wideouts. For the second time in a matter of weeks, a Chiefs receiver has turn into the primary NFL Twitter protagonist after butchering a miraculous Mahomes play on nationwide tv.
Kadarius Toney offered a glimpse into what sort of season this might be within the Chiefs season-opening loss to the Detroit Lions. That evening featured an ideal trinity of drops by Toney together with his pièce de résistance in the final two minutes, on a bobbled cross that ought to have put the Chiefs in place to win. Lightning struck once more when Marquez Valdes-Scantling dropped a deep bomb inside Philly’s 5 on one of many last performs of their Week 11 loss to the Eagles. On Sunday, Toney handled the road of scrimmage like an summary idea, lined up offsides and worn out the spotlight of his and Kelce’s careers. The Chiefs offense is spiraling and the calls are coming from inside the home.
The foundation of this era of discontent has been Kansas Metropolis’s neglect in drafting or signing an elite receiver for Mahomes. It’s analogous to New England’s miscalculations in evaluating offensive ability positions throughout Tom Brady’s twilight with the Pats refusing to draft a wideout within the first spherical.
Reid has experimented with this methodology of team-building round cardboard cutout receivers earlier than and it failed. Welcome to the Donovan McNabb expertise. Throughout Reid’s early years on the helm of the Philadelphia Eagles, he surrounded McNabb with flotsam at receiver, developed Brian Westbrook into an amorphous multi-purpose again who may create splash performs at receiver or within the run sport.
The McNabb period in Philadelphia was outlined by McNabb’s hero ball regardless of receivers who dropped the ball like they’d carpal tunnel. The one season Philadelphia was gracious sufficient to bless him with Terrell Owens resulted in Philadelphia advancing previous the NFC Championship of their fourth attempt to reaching the Tremendous Bowl in McNabb and T.O.’s solely full season collectively.
It was a close to excellent storm that resulted in McNabb setting career-highs in yardage, yards-per-attempt, touchdowns and quarterback score. Mahomes’ profession has been the inverse of McNabb’s. He’s a superior quarterback in almost each approach above the shoulders than McNabb, however Philadelphia’s bayonet offense compelled McNabb to do significantly extra of the soiled work than Mahomes has needed to do with Tyreek Hill, Sammy Watkins and Travis Kelce creating separation downfield within the Chiefs high-octane assault.
McNabb was haunted by the follies of his huge receivers. Freddie Mitchell thanking god for his palms was the spotlight of his Eagles profession. James Thrash dropped a vital cross within the 2004 NFC title sport that price the Eagles a visit to the Tremendous Bowl, months earlier than they acquired Owens. Staley and Todd Pinkston had been denizens of Drop Metropolis throughout that championship loss to the Rams, whereas McNabb gutted it out for almost three quarters with injured ribs.
In Owens’ shadow, Mitchell and Pinkston had been the one Eagles receivers to reel in touchdowns for Philadelphia throughout their Tremendous Bowl marketing campaign, catching a grand complete of three. Philadelphia ought to erect a monument to the heavy lifting McNabb did with such a mediocre solid of receivers.
Throughout his stint in Philly, Westbrook, Pinkston, Chad Lewis, L.J. Smith, Thrash, Staley and Reggie Brown had been his main receivers. There isn’t a single 1,000-yard receiving season between the three of them. Not a single one. McNabb molded masterpieces from clay and dung.
Kansas Metropolis’s up to date receivers spotlight the significance of getting competent palms in your lineup. For years, NFL cognoscenti have made it their mission to reduce the impact a terrific receiving corps can have on an offense spearheaded by a quarterback deity. Nice offense is a polytheistic train. If something, Kansas Metropolis’s shortcomings ought to solely strengthen Tyreek Hill’s MVP case.
One season of that is sufficient. Kansas Metropolis can’t afford to extend Mahomes and the passing assault’s struggling. If this season has taught us something, it’s that whereas Reid has secured a slot in Canton after beginning over in Kansas Metropolis, we must always put much more respect on Donovan McNabb’s title and it ought to function a warning for Reid to not repeat his errors of that period.
Observe DJ Dunson on X: @cerebralsportex
