© Jay Biggerstaff-USA TODAY Sports

The Kansas City Chiefs will look to defend their Super Bowl crown in the 2023 NFL season. Once again led by Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes, the Chiefs are loaded and are expected to compete for the championship. The Chiefs have been the best team in the NFL since Mahomes became the starter. In his 80 career games, Mahomes has lost just 16 games. Furthermore, only three losses have come by more than one possession. The Chiefs are the standard of greatness in the NFL, and the coming season should be no different.

The Chiefs are the betting favorites to win the Super Bowl this season at +600. Their regular season win total is set at 11.5, and they are +350 to come out of the AFC this season. The Chiefs are an absolute unit with the Reid-Mahomes dynamic, and they are atop the leaderboards for a reason.

What to like about the Chiefs…

• Andy Reid is one of the best head coaches in the NFL today, and his record as a head coach of the Chiefs proves it. Since he took over in 2013, KC is 117-45 with three Super Bowl appearances. He has proven to be as good, if not better, than all of his counterparts, and there is no reason to believe this season will be anything different. Even when he was with Philadelphia, Reid was still considered to be one of the upper-echelon coaches in the league; however, he never had the quarterback, or level of talent across the field to bring his entire vision to life as he has had in Kansas City. Reid brings plenty of wisdom to the table, and Kansas City should be one of the best teams in the league again under his command.

• What is there really to say? Patrick Mahomes is undoubtedly the best player in the NFL today, having won multiple MVP awards to pair with his two Super Bowl rings. Mahomes is the definition of a franchise player. Kansas City was a solid team before his arrival, but since he became QB1, the Chiefs have been the gold standard of teams across the NFL. Mahomes has thrown for well over 4,000 yards in each of his seasons as a starter, including 5,250 last season to pair with 41 TDs. His record, accolades, and experience speak for themselves regardless of how tough the AFC is this season. When you have Mahomes running the show at quarterback, you are absolutely in every single game.

• Reid and Mahomes aside, this Chiefs squad is battle-tested. Since Mahomes took over as the starter, Kansas City has played in the conference championship game in every single season. While there are some new faces in the mix for Kansas City this season, there is still a core nucleus of players and coaches who have been there and done that with the organization, paving a winning standard over the last few seasons. The Chiefs live on the edge of innovation and tradition, and any player and coach who is a part of that organization understands the standard that has been established over the last handful of seasons. The Chiefs have shown an ability to win consistently, and there is no reason to believe otherwise this season.

What not to like about the Chiefs…

• One player who has been away from the team virtually the entire offseason is DT Chris Jones. Jones has been an impact player for the Kansas City Chiefs since the 2016 season and is at odds with the team regarding his contract situation. While many thought the situation would be resolved throughout the course of the offseason, it appears as if Jones may hold out into the regular season. Jones is one of the premier players on the Kansas City defense and a significant reason why the Chiefs have sustained their success over the last few seasons. He recorded 15.5 sacks a season ago and has recorded at least nine sacks in four of the last five seasons. If the Chiefs want to preserve their spot as the best team in football, they will need Jones on the field to do so.

• A division victory and win in the Super Bowl means a first-place schedule for the season. The Chiefs will open the season against a revamped Detroit Lions team and have a handful of games against quality opponents such as the Jacksonville Jaguars, New York Jets, Minnesota Vikings, Miami Dolphins, Philadelphia Eagles, Buffalo Bills and Cincinnati Bengals, all of this on top an already stacked division. There is no question Kansas City is one of the best teams on paper, but their schedule is about as tricky as it gets, even for the defending champs.

• Kansas City will work to replace Eric Bieniemy as OC. Bieniemy, considered one of the best coordinators in the league the last handful of years, departed in favor of an increased role with the Washington Commanders. While Mahomes and Reid are critical to the Chiefs’ success, Bieniemy has also played a large role. Former Chicago Bears HC Matt Nagy will take over OC duties for KC, and while he has a good level of familiarity with Mahomes and the team, it’s still a different shotcaller than the one who helped steer KC to the Super Bowl last season

Steve Quinne’s Pick: Chiefs to win the AFC +350

Sure, it’s the easy pick to make, but you might as well get this bet in now before the odds shrink. Despite loaded AFC and the first-place schedule, the Chiefs are still the cream of the crop in the NFL, and history has shown us they will be right there in the very end so long as the Mahomes-Reid dynamic is working. One could play this a variety of ways, but it’s hard to envision the Chiefs not being in the championship game come January as they have been every season with Mahomes running the show. You could also play the Chiefs to win the Super Bowl at +600 if your heart desires, but if history continues to repeat itself, KC should be one of the last teams standing in the AFC. They have the best quarterback, one of the best coaches, a solid defense and a coaching staff with plenty of experience. Let’s look for the Chiefs to be in the big game once again this season.