Analysis
8/10/23
5 min read
Kansas City Chiefs 2023 NFL Season Preview: It's Super Bowl or Bust
As teams head to training camp and the NFL season approaches, The 33rd Team asks its experts to preview every team’s outlook for the 2023 season. In this installment, Matt Cassel takes a deep dive into the Kansas City Chiefs.
>> READ: Chiefs Fantasy Team Preview
Kansas City Chiefs Team Preview
What to Know: Offense
Priority No. 1 for the offense this offseason was making sure that it replaced right tackle Andrew Wylie and left tackle Orlando Brown, who left in free agency. Well, what did the Chiefs do? They went out and got two proven guys.
First, they signed Jawaan Taylor from the Jacksonville Jaguars, who was a hot commodity on the offensive tackle market. Then they got Donovan Smith, who won a Super Bowl with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Smith was a Pro Bowler two seasons ago, but he battled injuries throughout the 2022 season.
The Chiefs have a great interior offensive line, but they have to come together as a cohesive unit because they’re going to be facing stiff competition every week. Some examples of pass rushers in their division? Joey Bosa, Khalil Mack and Maxx Crosby. Those guys won’t make it easy to protect Patrick Mahomes.
What to Know: Defense
The Chiefs had six rookies play significant snaps on the defensive side of the ball last season. So you look at that, and you have to get excited about that group getting even better this season.
Players like cornerback Trent McDuffie and edge rusher George Karlaftis, if they take the next step this season, could make this a top-10 defense. That’s exciting to think about if you’re a Chiefs fan. If you’ve got Mahomes and Travis Kelce on one side and then you put together a top-10 defense on the other side, that will be a tough team to beat.
Biggest Off-Field Storyline
It’s easily Eric Bieniemy leaving to join the Washington Commanders as their assistant head coach and new offensive coordinator. A lot of people were wondering, what’s the next step? Well, they had a succession plan, and by that I mean they had Matt Nagy in the building.
Nagy has previous experience as their offensive coordinator in 2016 before taking the head coaching job with the Chicago Bears. He was back in the building last year as the quarterback coach. This is going to be a pretty seamless transition for him.
He knows the offense, he knows the personnel and he has a great relationship with Andy Reid, which all bodes well for this offensive unit going into 2023.
Breakout Player Prediction
Kadarius Toney will be this year’s breakout player for the Chiefs. You saw flashes of what he could do last season, but he’s got even more in the tank. The Chiefs brought him over from the New York Giants last season. He’s explosive, and he’s a Swiss Army knife on offense. They use him on the speed reverse and the speed sweeps. But at the same time, he made some plays in the passing game, too.
He’ll be a featured guy this year. He's got an explosive skill set and elite quickness in and out of routes. After another year with Mahomes and listening to Reid and the coaching techniques, Toney will have a breakout season.
Move Chiefs Should Make
One addition the Chiefs can make is going out and getting a veteran wide receiver, somebody like Jarvis Landry. I say that because when you look at the wide receiver corps right now, you have Marquez Valdes-Scantling, who has a lot of experience and had a great season last year. But they also have a youthful group with Skyy Moore, Justin Watson and Toney.
Bringing somebody else in — like JuJu Smith-Schuster who fit in at slot and outside last season — can bring useful experience to the room. It would just be beneficial for this team, especially in a 17-game season, where you never know what can happen with injuries.
2023 Season Expectations
It’s Super Bowl or bust for this team. They, obviously, went to the Super Bowl in 2022 and won. That’s exciting. At the same time, they’re set up for success again this year.
Other Previews
NFC East: DAL | NYG | PHI | WAS
AFC East: BUF | MIA | NE | NYJ
NFC North: GB | CHI | DET | MIN
AFC North: PIT | CLE | BAL | CIN
NFC West: SF | SEA | LAR | ARI
NFC South: TB | CAR | NO | ATL
AFC South: JAX | TEN | HOU | IND
Matt Cassel is a former NFL quarterback who played with seven teams in his NFL career, most notably the New England Patriots, Kansas City Chiefs, Minnesota Vikings and Dallas Cowboys. Follow him on Twitter at @M_Cassel.
