A lot has changed since August, but not this: All eyes remain on the Kansas City Chiefs and their chase for a historic third straight Super Bowl title.
The regular season is done and through a series of close wins, combined with a strong finish before Week 18, the Chiefs went 15-2. They’re the No. 1 seed in the AFC and they’re two home wins from another Super Bowl. A couple teams from our list of the five biggest threats to knock off the Chiefs didn’t even make the playoffs. A few remain.
Just like four months ago, we can reasonably identify five threats to stop the Chiefs:
Los Angeles Chargers: It was tough to knock Minnesota off this list, but the Vikings’ path is very hard now that they’re the No. 5 seed. The Chargers could be the Chiefs’ first playoff opponent, and they have the quarterback (Justin Herbert) and head coach (Jim Harbaugh) who can challenge Kansas City. Late in the season, Los Angeles lost j19-17 at Arrowhead Stadium on a field goal as time expired. The Chargers want to control the clock, and their defense held the Chiefs to 17 and 19 points in two regular-season meetings. They’re a potential upset threat.
Philadelphia Eagles: This depends on Jalen Hurts’ health. As long as he’s right, this is a well-balanced team that has playoff experience. The defense is good. The running game had a 2,000-yard rusher. Hurts didn’t have a great season but he’s capable of great games. The Eagles won 12 of their past 13 for a reason.
Buffalo Bills: This should be obvious since the Bills already beat the Chiefs. The Chiefs’ lone loss when they tried this season was a 30-21 Bills win in Week 11. That came in Buffalo, the rematch would be in Kansas City. Josh Allen has played well at Arrowhead before and he has played at an MVP level. It might take a Superman effort to beat Mahomes in the playoffs, and Allen is one of the few players capable of that.
Detroit Lions: If the Lions get a little healthier on defense, they’re a real threat. They can also win by simply outscoring good teams; we’ve seen that. The Chiefs, somehow, never scored more than 30 points in a game this season, so maybe they couldn’t exploit the Lions’ defense or outscore Detroit. If nothing else, if this matchup happened, everyone outside of Missouri and Kansas would be rooting for Detroit.
Baltimore Ravens: If you’re coming up with a recipe to beat the Chiefs in the playoffs, you’d want a future Hall of Fame coach, an MVP quarterback, a stellar running game to control the clock and a defense that is among the NFL’s best. Check ’em all for the Ravens. The question was the defense, but since a midseason change in Kyle Hamilton’s position back to free safety, the Ravens lead the NFL in multiple defensive categories. Lamar Jackson has never won a Super Bowl, but he has also never had Derrick Henry alongside him. The Ravens would likely need to beat the Bills first, and that’s not easy, but this is the team that might profile as the Chiefs’ biggest threat.
Here are the NFL Power Rankings at the end of the regular season:
