On Thursday morning, ESPN’s “Get Up” crew previewed the 2026 NFL season with a question about the Kansas City Chiefs: how good are the Chiefs if quarterback Patrick Mahomes can’t be 100% healthy this season?
The question was first answered by former NFL wide receiver Andrew Hawkins, who doubted the team has enough “on the outside” to succeed like the organization has in past years of the Mahomes era, before pointing out that the quarterback may need to tweak his game to make it work.
“Does he need
to change his style? He probably will need to,” Hawkins said. “He’s a little older, he’s obviously coming off injury, I don’t think that he can.”
“They can’t afford a diet version of Patrick Mahomes and still expect to be as good as they’ve been in his career,” Hawkins concluded.
NFL insider Adam Schefter responded to Hawkins with the context of the team’s actions this offseason, looking to strengthen the team around a recovering Mahomes.
“This is why you break the bank and sign Kenneth Walker III,” Schefter said. “This is why you bring in Eric Bieniemy as your offensive coordinator. This is why you plan to have the ground game, the rushing attack as much a part of your offense as it has been in any recent season.”
Former NFL general manager Mike Tannenbaum countered Schefter with the significance of the pass game in having an elite run game.
“If [they] don’t have somebody on the outside, you’re going to load the box and say, ‘Hey, make somebody on the outside beat us, you’re going to load the box, we’re not going to let Walker be that guy,‘” Tannenbaum noted.
Former NFL offensive lineman Damien Woody finished the segment with a definitive statement on where he believes the Chiefs are in the pecking order this season.
“I don’t know if any Andy Reid team is going to go ground and pound,” Woody mentioned. “But this might be the first year in quite some time where they’re going to be forced to have an identity on offense because of the lack of explosiveness in the passing game.”
“This team needs an identity,” Woody continued. “Too many times over the last few years, we saw the team ask Patrick Mahomes to basically throw on his cape and try to will this team to win, and I don’t think that’s going to be the case for this team moving forward this year. Couple that with all the change on the defensive side of the ball, I look at this Kansas City Chiefs team, quite honestly, as the third-best team in the AFC West.”
Are the Chiefs doomed if Mahomes can’t play like himself this season, or can he make adjustments to his game and get back to winning as he moves closer to 100%? ESPN doubts it; what do you think?
