LAS VEGAS: As a dynasty, the Kansas City Chiefs are aiming to make history by being the first team to win three straight titles in the Super Bowl era.
They’re not supposed to win.
It will be challenging for Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs to travel to New Orleans in February of next year to compete for the Vince Lombardi Trophy. Coach Andy Reid may retire, Chris Jones is expected to become a free agent, and Travis Kelce may not announce his retirement.
Maybe for that reason, the Chiefs aren’t the heavy favorite to win the Super Bowl the following season. FanDuel Sportsbook has the San Francisco 49ers at plus-450 to win the championship. With plus-750, the Chiefs are the second-best odds, behind only plus-900 for Baltimore. Buffalo and Detroit
The NFL wrapped up its 2023 season when Kansas City overcame another 10-point deficit in a Super Bowl and rallied to beat the 49ers 25-22 in overtime on Sunday to become the first repeat champions since the New England Patriots 19 years ago.
Now, it’s 2024 with the first Super Bowl in Las Vegas in the books.
One of the biggest offseason storylines will be how the Chiefs shape their roster. Kelce didn’t commit to returning, though he is excited about going for three in a row. There’s no word how his relationship with pop star Taylor Swift will affect his decision.
The league is certainly pulling for Kelce to stick around so Swift can keep showing up to Kansas City’s games.
“Let’s enjoy this and everything that transpired,” Kelce declared. “Dude, I’ve had the opportunity to experience this once-in-a-lifetime three times, and each time is more delightful than the last.”
The Chiefs must make a difficult choice since All-Pro defensive lineman Jones is eligible for a new deal and it is doubtful that they would use the franchise tag on him.
The 49ers defeated themselves despite having the greatest chance to win a record-tying sixth Super Bowl. Even so, the oddsmakers believe they will complete the task next season. At least there won’t be as much uncertainty at quarterback as there was during Brock Purdy’s recovery from significant elbow surgery last offseason.If I’m going to lose with a group of guys, I’d do it with those guys any time, and we’ll get over this and come back next year ready to go,” Niners coach Kyle Shanahan said.
There’s no time off in the NFL, so vacations will be short.
In only two weeks, the league will have its annual scouting combine. On March 13, free agency will begin. The players that may be available include Jones, Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins, Jaguars edge rusher Josh Allen, and Bengals receiver Tee Higgins.
On April 25, the draft will take place in Detroit for three days. By the time the rookies report for training camp, additional regulations may have been implemented.
The players’ union is vehemently against prohibiting the hip-drop tackle, but the NFL intends to address it. The Associated Press was informed by NFL official Jeff Miller that “hip-drop tackles cause injuries at 25 times the rate of any other tackle.” Significant time-loss injuries exist. We are discussing sprains of the upper ankle. We are discussing ailments to the knee. We are aware that there is a risk to the game since we are discussing fractured bones. And we are aware that this is causing gamers to lose time. And when you see something similar, we’ve eliminated blindside blocks in the past because we thought it was an unnecessary unsafe behavior that we wanted to stop. When we pulled that play out, there were fewer injuries as a result. Similar to hip-drop, this is something we’ve determined to be problematic.
The Eagles will play an opponent to be announced in Week 1 of the NFL regular season, which will be the league’s first-ever game in Brazil. In all, three regular-season games—three in London and one in Germany—will be held abroad in 2024.
Although it is much too early to predict the Super Bowl, the Chiefs, with Mahomes at their disposal, like being the underdog.
