NFL

There has been so much focus on the Marquez Valdes-Scantling drop that would have given the Chiefs the lead late in the fourth quarter. The assumption is the Chiefs would have won if he makes that catch. Putting aside there was 1:45 left, the Eagles had 3 timeouts left, and Hurts has five 4th quarter comeback wins already on a team that rarely trailed in the fourth quarter, let's focus more on why this happed.

Does Tyreek Hill catch this pass? You are damn right he does. Does he make that 4th and 25 catch on that incredible Mahomes throw. Yep. Most likely. But the Chiefs made a choice. They traded Hill before the 2022 season. They spend their 2022 draft loading up on defense and drafting Skyy Moore. They then let JuJu Smith-Schuster and Mecole Hardman go before the 2023 season.

So the team KC chose to field had a much better defense and much weaker WR core. That led to the Eagles to put up only 21 points against them. Go back in time and keep those WRs, you get a more potent offense but continue to have significant problems with a weak defense.

So, does Hill catch that ball? Yep, 99%. But, in that same what if, the Eagles could easily have put up 35 points on a weaker KC defense making that late game catch not matter.

In the end, the 2023 version of two great teams played. One kept their incredible WRs to compliment their electric QB. One did not. One made half time adjustments, executed the big plays at the right time, created the red zone turnovers, and won the game. The other had major issues with dropped passes and poorly run routes that cost them the game.