Pro Bowl rosters have officially been released and despite Kansas City's sparkling 15-1 record and dominant regular season, they're still being disrespected across the league.
Five Chiefs were named Pro Bowlers and the team was awarded eight alternates. That gives Kansas City the fourth-most honorees, trailing the Ravens (nine), Lions (seven), and Eagles (six). Notably, none of those teams were as good as the Chiefs this year.
Kansas City obviously intends to be playing in the Super Bowl and not be available for the Pro Bowl anyway. Regardless, a couple of snubs do suggest that those voting still aren't taking this roster as seriously as they should be.
Five Chiefs Named to Pro Bowl With Two Notable Snubs
Creed Humphrey, Chris Jones, and Joe Thuney were all named starters, while Travis Kelce and Trey Smith are backups. Trent McDuffie, Nick Bolton, Patrick Mahomes, Carson Steele, George Karlaftis, Matt Araiza, Leo Chenal, and Harrison Butker are all alternates.
McDuffie and Mahomes, in particular, represent massive snubs and should be backups at their respective positions at the least. McDuffie was a First-Team All-Pro cornerback in 2023 and has arguably been even better this season, notching 13 deflected passes and a pair of interceptions while surrending just a 60% completion percentage and 82.9 passer rating when targeted in coverage.
He gave up a 94.4 rating last year and has assumed greater responsibility now without L'Jarius Sneed. Pro Football Focus ranks him as the second-best corner out of 219 players, and there's little argument that he should be behind someone like Denzel Ward, who has surrendered a 92.8 passer rating in coverage.
Regarding Mahomes, he's still recognized league-wide as the best quarterback in the NFL. While his box score statistics aren't necessarily up to his usual standard, he's been virtually perfect in key situations, leading his peers in success rate and EPA per play on third and fourth downs.
Especially considering how many injuries the offense has dealt with, Mahomes' brilliance shouldn't be overshadowed. During the second half of the season, once he started to get some weapons back, he threw 15 TDs to just two interceptions. You don't go 15-1 without superb play under center, and it'll look foolish in hindsight not to have "Pro Bowl" on Mahomes' list of accomplishments from this excellent campaign.
Again, none of this ultimately matters. The five players named to the team should be proud, but the Chiefs have bigger fish to fry. Here's hoping the All-Pro voters don't make these same mistakes, though.
