KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Want a bold prediction for the remainder of the season? Your hand-wringing about the impact of Monday’s loss against the Los Angeles Rams on the Kansas City Chiefs’ hopes for the top seed is wasted energy.
As I explained on this week’s 4th & 1 podcast, the Chiefs aren’t losing again during the regular season and will be the No. 1 seed in the AFC at 14-2.
I’m as confident in that statement as I am that turkey will be served at my in-laws’ house for Thanksgiving dinner.
And it’s not even as if I’m going way out on a limb either, so feel free to join me out here on this incredibly sturdy branch.
Think about this — entering the bye week, the AFC leader in passing yards (Patrick Mahomes), rushing yards (Kareem Hunt), receiving yards (Tyreek Hill) and receiving yards by a tight end (Travis Kelce) all the share the same locker room.
Granted, Kansas City has played an extra game than most of the league, but that’s still an unbelievable stat.
So, I’m calling it — the road to the Super Bowl goes through Arrowhead Stadium in the AFC, because I don’t think Kansas City will lose another game in the regular season.
Two of the Chiefs’ remaining games are against the Oakland Raiders (Dec. 2 and 30), so chock up a couple victories there — unless KC has clinched early enough to rest its starters in Week 17.
The Baltimore Ravens (Dec. 9) bring a very good defense to town and a coach in John Harbaugh who knows Andy Reid well.
But it doesn’t matter, because that offense can’t score enough to keep pace with the Chiefs’ high-octane attack.
It’s easy to look at that Los Angeles Chargers matchup (Dec. 13) and resort to typical Chiefs Kingdom fan — ‘That’s the game where we’ll screw everything up’ or ‘This is why I don’t get my hopes up’ — but I just don’t see it.
The Chargers play in the afternoon window, so the Chiefs will be resting up or studying film Dec. 9 while Philip Rivers and company are battling the Cincinnati Bengals.
Los Angeles also will lose a day of preparation with travel, which is extra important with a Thursday game.
Plus, I have faith the Arrowhead crowd and defensive coordinator Bob Sutton know what to do against Rivers.
If the Chiefs can commit five turnovers and 13 penalties but still score 51 points on the road, it’s hard to imagine anything happening in a home game that Mahomes and company can’t overcome.
Maybe I’m underestimating the Seattle Seahawks (Dec. 23), who have a tremendous home crowd and presumably will be fighting for their own postseason lives.
But nothing about the Seahawks strikes me as elite, which tilts the advantage heavily to the Chiefs in my mind — even on the road.
Now, the only question is whether the NFL wants to put Mahomes in the primetime spotlight on Saturday or Sunday for his postseason debut during the Divisional round Jan. 12-13.
