When the Kansas City Chiefs traded Tyreek Hill after the 2021 season, many thought it could be the end of the line for the budding dynasty the team had been building.
Instead, the Chiefs are now two-for-two in winning Super Bowls after a dramatic overtime win over the San Francisco 49ers in the years following the trade of one of the game's most elite wide receivers.
While fans had grown very accustomed to Patrick Mahomes finding Hill on deep ball after deep ball, the post-Hill Chiefs on offense have not been nearly as explosive, but they have found the methodical rhythm and efficiency in their passing game that it takes to sustain success.
On the flipside, the Chiefs needed to actually get something out of a trade of a player of Hill's caliber. Missing on the picks they got in return for him would be catastrophic.
How Trent McDuffie Saved Kansas City's Defense
In the trade, Kansas City got the 29th pick in the 2022 NFL Draft from the Dolphins, giving them consecutive first-round picks at 29 and 30.
In need of a cornerback, the Chiefs made a trade with New England, flipping that 29th pick, a late third, and a late fourth for the 21st overall pick.
At 21, they selected Trent McDuffie, the cornerback from Washington. We didn't know it at the time, but that pick completely reinforced the existing power structures in the AFC. Not only did getting McDuffie completely turn around Kansas City's defense, but the Chiefs jumped over another corner-needy team, the Buffalo Bills, who instead two picks later drafted Kaiir Elam, who has struggled mightily in his time in the league.
During Sunday's Super Bowl, McDuffie was clearly the best player on the field when the 49ers had the ball. That includes MVP candidate Christian McCaffrey and his own teammate Chris Jones, both of whom were excellent.
The first-team All Pro broke up a would-be touchdown in the second quarter, when Brock Purdy had Deebo Samuel in the end zone. McDuffie raced back, leapt with Samuel and got a hand on the ball without committing pass interference.
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If the Niners had gotten just one more positive play like that out of the first half, it might have been too much for the Chiefs to rally from.
McDuffie had another PBU against Samuel late in the third quarter, with the Chiefs still trailing 10-6. It forced a third straight three-and-out and allowed the Chiefs to take the lead for the first time later on.
Then, with the game fully on the line late in the fourth, McDuffie went on a slot blitz on 3rd-and-4 on the first play out of the two-minute warning. A first down for the 49ers would have allowed them to run the clock down for a game-winning field goal, but McDuffie disrupted Purdy's throw, forcing an incompletion and affording Mahomes and the offense the time to go tie the game and force overtime.
While Mahomes won the recognition as Super Bowl MVP, it could just as easily have gone to McDuffie. The Chiefs would not have won this Super Bowl without him, and they would not have him if they didn't trade Tyreek Hill when they did.
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