Super Bowl: How KC returned to mountaintop minus Tyreek Hill
Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes and head coach Andy Reid arrive for the NFL football Super Bowl opening night, Monday, Feb. 6, 2023, in Phoenix. Credit: AP/Matt York
PHOENIX — Patrick Mahomes’ initial reaction when he was told that Kansas City was close to trading Tyreek Hill was surprise.
“Why?” Mahomes said.
A couple of days before Hill was traded, Kansas City general manager Brett Veach and coach Andy Reid called Mahomes to let him know it was a possibility. The main reason was money. Hill wanted more guaranteed money in a contract extension than Kansas City was willing to play.
It came down to the Jets and Dolphins vying for Hill’s services. Kansas City agreed to deals with both teams. Hill chose Miami, no state taxes and playing for a more established team.
He signed a four-year, $120 million deal with $72.2 million guaranteed. Kansas City was given a chance to match it, but they opted to move on and try to build up both sides of the ball with the money they saved and the draft capital they acquired.
They did and incredibly are playing in the Super Bowl after losing one of the most dynamic and explosive playmakers in the league.
“I tried to do everything I could to make sure that we kept Tyreek because not only was he a special player but a good friend of mine,” Mahomes said. “We tried to make it happen the best we could. It didn’t. But we had a plan for what we would do after that.
“You never want to lose a generational player. But we did a great job of recouping and getting a lot of great receivers in here, and great guys throughout our whole offense. We had a plan. When you lose a great like that you have to make sure you have a plan to replace his production.”
The fact that Kansas City led the NFL in total offense (407.9 yards per game) and scoring (29.2 points) after losing Hill speaks to the greatness of Mahomes as a quarterback and Reid as an offensive genius.
“It starts with Patrick,” Reid said Thursday morning. “He didn’t go anywhere. That was the plus.”
Kansas City still had premier tight end Travis Kelce and receiver Mecole Hardman was returning. They signed former Steeler JuJu Smith-Schuster before Hill was traded. Then Kansas City brought in former Packers deep threat Marquez Valdes-Scantling. They drafted Skyy Moore in the second round and acquired Kadarius Toney from the Giants midway through the season.
Kansas City also utilized running back Jerick McKinnon in the passing game more. He scored nine receiving touchdowns, second only to Kelce’s 12.
“This offense has had one of its best years,” Kelce said. “It’s not a surprise. It’s not by accident. There’s a lot of guys in that room that have the strength and the abilities to go out there and have success.”
Reid said he didn’t change much in his playbook. The players Kansas City brought in didn’t have the speed that Hill has. Few do. Reid said the plays still “fit and work” even if the players aren’t as fast as Hill.
Smith-Schuster finished with 78 catches for 933 yards and three touchdowns. Valdes-Scantling was inconsistent in the regular season, but he had six catches for 116 yards and a touchdown in Kansas City’s AFC Championship Game victory over Cincinnati.
“The really cool thing about our group is with Tyreek leaving I think Coach went out and got guys who can play ball,” Smith-Schuster said. “We got Marquez, Mecole, Skyy, KT, me. I think it’s a combination of everything of having different guys do different things but at the same time still be able to go out there and make these explosive plays.”
Kelce credited Mahomes for organizing workouts with some of the new receivers in Texas before OTAs.
This was before the draft so Smith-Schuster and Valdes-Scantling were the only new receivers there along with Mahomes, Kelce and Hardman. But they started developing chemistry and understanding the playbook and what’s expected of them.
“It’s cool looking back on it now because you see the determination, you see the focus and the want to get to the position that we’re in,” Kelce said. “I don’t think enough is said about the professionals that came in this year, the guys that came in this year with the right mindset even when we weren’t clocking in with [Kansas City]. We were just trying to figure out how we were going to make this thing work.”
Al Iannazzone covers the Jets for Newsday after spending nearly two decades on the NBA beat with Knicks and Nets.
