Chiefs Rant Week 3

It's only fitting that my first posting be dedicated to my beloved Kansas City Chiefs.  Here are my thoughts after week 3.  First, it is impressive and worthy of celebration that they are 3-0.  After tonight's match-up between the Bears and Packers, there will only be 3 remaining unbeaten teams in the NFL.  That the Chiefs are one of them is just short of stunning considering the dreadful years they've had of late.  They games have been hard-fought and in previous years they would have been hard-lost. 

However, lets not crown them anything just yet.  The next time we see the Chiefs, they will serve as sacrificial lambs to the Indianapolis Colts.  I don't expect it will be pretty.  They do have a few things in their favor - first of all they have a bye this week which gives them two weeks to prepare, rest, and get healthy.  If you are going to go on the road and take on Indy in their house, this is about as good of a chance as you are going to get.  Second, the Chiefs have an incredible run game and Indianapolis would probably allow me 100+ on the ground.  Third, their special teams (all aspects - kicking, punting, returns) are among the best in the league.  Combine that with a strong defense and they could, feasibly, keep the game from getting completely out of hand.  However, they are young young young and Big Daddy Peyton will likely make mince-meat of the rookie safeties.  In all likelihood, the Chiefs lose the match-up and the media will label them fakers and the downhill slide will begin.  We also should remember that the teams the Chiefs have beat are not all that good.  Their combined record at this point is 1-8.  After the trip to Indy, the Chiefs will then face the Houston Texans, who as we know are no joke.  In all likelihood the Chiefs will be sitting at 3-2 at week 6.

The good news is that the schedule softens up significantly after that.  The following 3 opponents are the Jaguars, Bills, and Raiders who combined stand at 2-7.  These are all very winnable games and put the Chiefs at a likely 6-2 at week 9.  After that, opponents include the Broncos(2), Cardinals, Seahawks, Chargers, Rams, Titans, and Raiders.  It's too early to tell how most of those games will go.  If the Chiefs can go 4-4, that puts them at a likely 10-6 and a division crown is certainly a possibility.  If it happens it will likely be due to overall team improvement and a fantastically easy schedule, but you take wins where you can get em and don't look back.

So at this point I suppose the overall outlook is good, but there should be no delusions that the Chiefs will be contending for any serious prizes this year.  A trip to the playoffs sounds just about right.  I suppose we'll just have to tune in and see.