Why the Buffalo Bills Must Crush the Kansas City Chiefs’ Dreams of 17-0
Buffalo will play host to the Chiefs, and there’s a very good chance that the Bills are the last thing standing between Kansas City and a perfect 17-0 season.
With a victory, the Chiefs might as well consider themselves 12-0, as the Carolina Panthers and Las Vegas Raiders await them in Weeks 12 and 13, respectively. Kansas City will be tested down the stretch due to meetings with the Los Angeles Chargers, Houston Texans, Pittsburgh Steelers, and Denver Broncos, but it has already downed two of those teams this season, so we still like its chances.
And oh yeah, the Chiefs’ game on Dec. 15 against the Cleveland Browns? That’ll be a win, too.
Running back Isiah Pacheco won’t be back this week for Kansas City, but he’s nearing a return after fracturing his fibula in Week 2. Wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins has also been a seamless fit in the offense, hauling in 12 receptions for 142 yards and two touchdowns over the past two games.
The Chiefs are somehow only getting better.
Knowing that perfection is very much within reach for Kansas City is a hard pill to swallow. We hear about this team more than enough on a weekly basis, and mainstream media seemingly hasn’t said a bad word about it in almost 10 years.
Just imagine what we’d be force-fed if the Chiefs became the first team to complete an undefeated regular season since the New England Patriots did so during the 2007 campaign.
One can only wonder how the league would tie Travis Kelce’s relationship with Taylor Swift to the 17-0 record.
Well, if Buffalo doesn’t win on Sunday, we’re all bound to find out.
Of the teams Kansas City still has to face, the Bills have the best shot of tagging the Chiefs with their first loss in our eyes. The Chargers are on a three-game winning streak, but all three victories came against low-level competition; the Texans have been on a steady decline for nearly a month, the Broncos don’t have the experience to get the job done, and we’d imagine the Steelers will fade at some point with Russell Wilson under center.
Pittsburgh has to, right?
Have no fear, though, NFL fans. No matter how the Chiefs finish the regular season, they won’t be going all the way in the playoffs.
No team has ever managed to win three Super Bowls in a row, and that’s not going to change this season. You could even argue that going 17-0 might hurt Kansas City in the long run. Sure, the Chiefs are battle-tested and have proven that they have what it takes to win on the league’s biggest stage, but we don’t know how they’d respond to the added pressure of following up an undefeated campaign with another championship.
At the end of the day, taking home the Lombardi Trophy is what really matters. That New England team back in 2007 had 18 wins and just one loss—the Super Bowl—and that one loss made it get lost in history.
And the Chiefs might find themselves in that same predicament if they put too much emphasis on chasing perfection.