The last Super Bowl champion to repeat the following season was New England in the 2004 NFL campaign. Can the defending SB champion Kansas City Chiefs end that drought this year? If Patrick Mahomes stays healthy, then absolutely they can.

A Closer Look at the Kansas City Chiefs 2023 NFL Season

Is it September yet?! ⏰ pic.twitter.com/gYEc9jFNzE

— Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) July 2, 2023

• NFL Week 1: vs. Detroit Lions — 8:20 p.m. ET (NBC)
• NFL Week 2: at Jacksonville Jaguars — 1:00 p.m. ET (CBS)
• NFL Week 3: vs. Chicago Bears — 4:25 p.m. ET (FOX)
• NFL Week 4: at New York Jets — 8:15 p.m. ET (NBC)
• NFL Week 5: at Minnesota Vikings — 4:25 p.m. ET (CBS)
• NFL Week 6: vs. Denver Broncos — 8:15 p.m. ET (Prime Video)
• NFL Week 7: vs. Los Angeles Chargers — 4:25 p.m. ET (CBS)
• NFL Week 8: at Denver Broncos — 4:25 p.m. ET (CBS)
• NFL Week 9: vs. Miami Dolphins — 9:30 a.m. ET (NFLN)
• NFL Week 10: BYE
• NFL Week 11: vs. Philadelphia Eagles — 8:15 p.m. ET (ESPN/ABC)
• NFL Week 12: at Las Vegas Raiders — 4:25 p.m. ET (CBS)
• NFL Week 13: at Green Bay Packers — 8:20 p.m. ET (NBC)
• NFL Week 14: vs. Buffalo Bills — 4:25 p.m. ET (CBS)
• NFL Week 15: at New England Patriots — 8:15 p.m. ET (ESPN)
• NFL Week 16: vs. Las Vegas Raiders — 1:00 p.m. ET (CBS)
• NFL Week 17: vs. Cincinnati Bengals — 4:25 p.m. ET (CBS)
• NFL Week 18: at Los Angeles Chargers — TBD (TBD)

Mahomes and the gang remain on the top

Kansas City, Philadelphia and Cincinnati have the highest over/under win total for the coming season at 11.5. The Chiefs have won at least 10 games every year since 2015 and at least 12 every year since 2018, which is also when Patrick Mahomes became the full-time starter.

Mahomes won his second regular-season MVP last year in leading KC to a 14-3 record, becoming the first Black QB to win MVP twice. Mahomes got 48 of 50 first-place votes; the other two went to Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts and Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen. Mahomes led the NFL this season in passing yards (5,250), touchdown passes (41) and Total QBR (77.5). He set an NFL record of 5,614 total yards in a season. Mahomes became the 10th player ever to win the award twice. Only Jim Brown and Kurt Warner won two MVPs in less time at the start of a career.

The Chiefs are going to be contenders as long as Mahomes is healthy – he’s a generational talent who might go down as the best ever. His long-time backup, Chad Henne, did retire. Henne backed up Mahomes for five seasons and proved his worth at a handful of critical games, including last season’s playoffs. Mahomes left the team’s AFC divisional round game against the Jaguars with an ankle injury in the second quarter and Henne entered, completing 5 of 7 passes during a 98-yard touchdown drive. Mahomes returned after halftime, but those seven points proved crucial. The Chiefs edged the Jags 27-20.

Blaine Gabbert is the current No. 2 to Mahomes. He just worked behind Tom Brady for three seasons in Tampa Bay. The Chiefs also lost a top wideout, JuJu Smith-Schuster, in free agency to New England. In his one and only year as a Chief, Smith-Schuster was targeted 101 times by Mahomes and hauled in 78 passes for 933 yards and three touchdowns in 16 games (14 starts). He helped the Chiefs pick up 47 first downs on the year via reception, also posting a career-high catch percentage of 77.2 while also averaging his second-best yards per target mark (9.2) since entering the league in 2017.

Recent Roster Changes

Kansas City did select SMU receiver Rashee Rice in the second round of the 2023 draft. Rice caught 96 passes with 10 touchdowns and a per-catch average of 14.1 yards last season. He joins 2022 second-round pick Skyy Moore, Kadarius Toney, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Justin Watson, Richie James and others in the group competing for snaps. It’s possible the team signs free-agent DeAndre Hopkins.

On the offensive line, the Chiefs elected to let Orlando Brown Jr. walk and replace him with Jawaan Taylor at a huge cost of $20 million a year. Taylor, who has only ever played right tackle, was initially supposed to play on the left side, but the team has since signed Donovan Smith and will likely keep Taylor on the right side, where he has been an excellent pass blocker.

Andy Reid might be the best coach in the NFL. Since he took over in 2013, Reid is 129-52 including the postseason with a cumulative offensive grade of 93.6 in those 10 years. And he has two Super Bowls to show for it. Since 2018, the Chiefs’ 0.241 expected points added per pass is the highest mark by a country mile, with the Chargers in second at 0.129. Reid of course is the play-caller. He’s a first-ballot Hall of Famer at this point with no plans to retire.

A Look into their 2023 NFL schedule

Kansas City’s 2023 schedule is ranked as the 16th-toughest in the NFL as its opponents combined for a .512 winning percentage last year. The Chiefs are 7-point home favorites at home for Week 1 in the Kickoff Game vs. Detroit. That’s one of six scheduled prime-time games for KC. The team will also be featured on the international stage once again this season, facing the Miami Dolphins in Frankfurt, Germany, on Nov. 5 at Frankfurt Stadium. After the club’s contest in Germany, the Chiefs will enjoy the Bye Week.

The schedule features eight games vs. seven playoff teams from 2022. Mahomes has recorded at least one win over every NFL team except for the Vikings. Kansas City visits Minnesota on Oct. 8.

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READ MORE: Kansas City Chiefs 2023 NFL Season Betting Guide