They do still have quarterback Patrick Mahomes under center for this season (and the next hundred after it) but he’ll be without star wide receiver Tyreek Hill.

Mahomes is the best in the game for a reason and he will still be able to find a way to have success even without his favorite target.

The pressure is really placed on the defense this year. If the offense does take a step back it will be up to the other side of the ball to step up and shoulder more of the load.

That leads to increased pressure on defensive tackle Chris Jones as the leader of the defense, especially because the Chiefs lost star safety Tyrann Mathieu in free agency.

Jones won’t be alone up front, as Kansas City has some other interior defensive linemen that are just a handful of years into their careers.

Derrick Nnadi and Khalen Saunders should be good enough as complementary pieces around Jones to shore up the middle of the defense.

Where the defense really needs a big jump is in the pass-rushing department.

Kansas City’s top two defensive ends in sacks last year were Frank Clark and Mike Danna who combined for 7.5 sacks (which is less than Jones recorded by himself).

But if he needs time to learn the game and get his body ready to play at the next level then it could be a year or two before we see the best version of Karlaftis.

There is also some uncertainty at the linebacker position.

The group is incredibly young this year after losing veteran starter Anthony Hitchens. That leaves a group led by linebackers Willie Gay, Nick Bolton, and Leo Chenal who are going into their third, second, and first seasons, respectively.

There is a bit of veteran presence in the group but the success of the unit will ultimately be up to those young players. All three were day-two picks so the team does have expectations that they are able to produce.

Bolton had a great rookie season in 2021 when he led the team in tackles, so he is already playing well. He will just need Gay to show some improvement and Chenal to be effective in his rookie year.

One thing that won’t help those areas of the defense improve would be continued struggles from the secondary.

Reid is one of the better young safeties in the game and will benefit from playing with more talent around him than he had in Houston.

He and fourth-year safety Juan Thornhill have the potential to be a very productive safety pairing for the next few years.

Those two guys aren’t going to fix the issues in the secondary by themselves. They are going to need help from the corners this year if that group wants to not be a weakness.

They’ll be without cornerback Charvarius Ward, who departed in free agency, but the talent is still there for a solid group.

There are certainly a lot of unanswered questions surrounding the Chiefs’ defense but, luckily, the offense has far less uncertainty.

We know Mahomes is still going to be one of the top quarterbacks in the league. We know that tight end Travis Kelce will be dominant at the position again.

We know that the offensive line will be great again since they’re bringing back Orlando Brown, Joe Thuney, Trey Smith, Creed Humphrey, Lucis Niang, and Andrew Wylie (who accounted for all but two of the offensive line starts in 2021).

The rest of the offense does not have the same reliability as those positions.

Valdes-Scantling is a perfect fit in the Kansas City offense. He is a very dangerous deep threat with elite speed, which is something that Mahomes can absolutely take advantage of.

Smith-Schuster is more of a possession receiver, which will be valuable in the offense, so he won’t be as valuable to the Chiefs.

The offense would also get some production from Second-Round rookie receiver Skyy Moore this year.

Expectations won’t be sky high (see what I did there) for him because of the presence of the other pass-catching options.

But if he can come in right away and function as an explosive, big-play threat then he will be a very welcome addition.

The last piece that needs to click for the Kansas City offense is the running back spot, more specifically running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire.

He needs to really prove that he can be relied on to be on the field (he’s missed nine games in his career) and produce once he is out there.

This has to be the year that Edwards-Helaire makes the jump from serviceable starter to emerging star.

If he fails to show improvement in 2021 the team could turn to running back Ronald Jones, who they signed in free agency, but he has experienced similar difficulties in his career.

The offense has certainly been what has carried the Chiefs during their recent run of dominance.

Even with the unit expected to take a step back this season, Mahomes and company will still be a great group and will be good enough to get this team where it wants to go.

Because of the questions surrounding the defense, I don’t think the Chiefs will win the division. The AFC West is too competitive this year for a team with genuine concerns on defense to finish first.

I still think the offense carries this team to the playoffs but it may not go as smoothly as in previous years.

Kansas City has a very tough schedule this season, which will make it much more difficult to overcome a bad defense.

Not only do the Chiefs have to play the Chargers, Broncos, and Raiders a combined six times, but they also have games against the Cardinals, Colts, Buccaneers, Bills, 49ers, Titans, Rams, and Bengals.

Those are all teams that finished 2021 with a winning record.

Due to that difficult schedule, I see the Chiefs finishing with a 10-7 record.

I think they are much better than that record suggests but I think they have the unfortunate distinction of facing a grueling schedule this year that will make it much harder for them to be amongst the best records in the game again.

This column also appears at The Dime Press and is syndicated with permission.
Follow Cody Schoeler on Twitter @codyschoeler.