A lot has changed since August, but not this: All eyes remain on the Kansas City Chiefs and their quest for a historic third consecutive Super Bowl title.
The regular season ended and through a series of close victories, combined with a strong finish heading into Week 18, the Chiefs finished 15-2. They are the No. 1 seed in the AFC and are two home wins away from another Super Bowl. A couple of teams on our list of the five biggest threats to beat the Chiefs didn’t even make the playoffs. There are some left.
Just like four months ago, we can reasonably identify five threats to stop the Chiefs:
Los Angeles Chargers: It was difficult to remove Minnesota from this list, but the Vikings’ path is very difficult now that they are the fifth 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. At the end of 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 limited the Chiefs to 17 and 19 points in two regular-season games. They are a potential threat of unrest.
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 is capable of playing great games. The Eagles have won 12 of their last 13 for a reason.
Buffalo Bills: This should be obvious since the Bills already beat the Chiefs. The Chiefs’ only loss when they tried this season was a 30-21 Bills victory in Week 11. That happened in Buffalo, the rematch would be in Kansas City. Josh Allen has played well at Arrowhead before and 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 doing it.
Detroit Lions: If the Lions get a little healthier on defense, they will be a real threat. They can also win by simply beating good teams; we have seen it. The Chiefs somehow never scored more than 30 points in a game this season, so perhaps they couldn’t exploit the Lions’ defense or get past Detroit. At least if this matchup were to happen, everyone outside of Missouri and Kansas would be rooting for Detroit.
Baltimore Ravens: If you can come up with a recipe to beat the Chiefs in the playoffs, you’ll want a future Hall of Fame coach, an MVP quarterback, a stellar running game to control the clock and a defense that’s among the best in the NFL. . Check them all out for the Ravens. The issue was defense, but since a midseason position change for Kyle Hamilton back to free safety, The Ravens lead the NFL in multiple defensive categories. Lamar Jackson has never won a Super Bowl, but he also hasn’t had Derrick Henry by his side. The Ravens would probably need to beat the Bills first, and that’s not easy, but this is the team that could emerge as the Chiefs’ biggest threat.
Here are the NFL Power Rankings at the end of the regular season: