What the Chiefs need to do to get back to Super Bowl after blowout loss to Eagles

Well, that was a mess for the Chiefs and their fans.

Sunday night's Super Bowl rematch between Kansas City and the Philadelphia Eagles was a blowout almost from the opening whistle, with Philly eviscerating the two-time defending champs 40-22, and the only reason it was that close was a pair of garbage time Kansas City touchdowns.

Now the Chiefs find themselves at a crossroads. After a season of getting away with it up until the exact moment they didn't anymore, they'll need to go back to the drawing board and find some answers heading into next year. What changes does KC need to make to get back to the pinnacle of the sport next year? Let's break it down.

Find Mahomes some weapons

Kansas City's pass catchers could charitably be described as frustratingly inconsistent this season. Xavier Watts showed promise as a rookie, but no other wideouts had more than 500 yards in the offense. DeAndre Hopkins looked old, and a shell of his former self, Rashee Rice couldn't stay on the field, and JuJu Smith-Schuster looked like a player eight years older than he currently is.

This is a pretty solid draft class of wideouts, and someone like an Elic Ayomenor a Trey Harris, or even a Tyler Warren would go a really long way towards bolstering their wide receiver corps.

Fix the run game

If you want to know why the Chiefs were so bleh offensively this year, look no further than tthe run game. Neither Kareem Hunt nor Isiah Pacheco really moved the needle in any kind of way, especially in the playoffs, and without the threat of the run, opposing defenses could pin their ears back and focus more fully on containing Mahomes.

They ranked 22nd in yards, and 29th out of 32 teams on yards per attempts, and really need someone to get rolling next year. With the likes of Devin Neal, Cam Skattebo, Dylan Sampson, and Kaleb Johnson floating around in the draft, there are plenty of options for the Chiefs to try and get some better production from their backfield next year.

Find a left tackle

This has quietly been an ongoing issue in this team since Orlando Brown, Jr. left for Cincinnati a couple years ago. Kansas City has been looking for their answer at left tackle since then, and it has yet to really go well for them to this point. It was such an issue for them this year that it started to bleed over to other parts of the offensive line; against both the Texans and the Eagles, Kansas City struggled to stop pressure against regular four-man fronts, and Mahomes spent a good portion of both games running for his life.

Maybe the answer lies in free agency, or maybe they want to take a crack at grabbing someone in the Draft (a Grey Zabel could be an absolutely lovely long-term fit at the position if he pans out).

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