The Chiefs have the best thrower of the football in the league. When the catchers of the football can’t, you know, catch the football, that’s a problem.
Monday night’s loss to the Eagles likely would have been a win, if the Kansas City receivers had been more sure-handed. Obviously, the Marquez Valdes-Scantling drop was the most obvious pass-fail moment. But there were other drops, from tight end Travis Kelce to receiver Justin Watson, who had the last-gasp, fourth-and-25 throw his hit gloves before bouncing away.
Today in Las Vegas, they won’t have the original dropmaster, receiver Kadarius Toney. They’ll need the rest of the group to step up and, more importantly, hang on.
An item from Ian Rapoport of NFL.com looks more closely at the dynamic. "[S]ources say,” the article says, “there is a strong sense of urgency about fixing it all -- and confidence that it’s coming. The receivers have continued to do extra work on the JUGS machine post-practice, but physical work won’t be the only answer.
Some of the drops have been attributed to, per the article, received being “a few feet off from the precise spot they are supposed to be.”
Sorry, but these are professional pass catchers. When the ball hits their hands, they’re supposed to catch it. Period. Whether they’re in the precise spot or not The ball is still hitting their hands. They still should be catching it.
This year, they’re not. While they were able to overcome the absence of Tyreek Hill in 2022, they clearly miss him in 2023. And, if they don’t fix things in the offseason, they’ll miss him in 2024, too.