It feels good to be back on top. Kansas City Chiefs fans are used to being the class of the AFC with quarterback Patrick Mahomes at the helm. Last season was somewhat of an anomaly as the team starts this year 4-0 and sits atop the conference standings as the only undefeated team.
That will last the Week 5 bye, but the Chiefs won’t get comfortable with the hot start. A tougher schedule awaits on the other side of the bye, starting with two AFC West matchups in three weeks, sandwiched by a road trip to take on the defending champions.
The Chiefs have an early lead in the AFC West, but imagine the cushion Kansas City could build by beating the Chargers and Broncos next month. Those will be the critical matchups here, while a road primetime game against Seattle is less important. It’s hard to upset a loss there if it’s accompanied by wins over division rivals in Weeks 6 and 8.
It feels like the first three-game stretch of the second half of the season, though the schedule doesn’t allow for a clean midway point. Four of the team’s division games are behind them, and this stretch could test the Chiefs’ ability to stay locked in for the afternoon against desperate teams; the team’s least impressive performance this year was probably the noon kickoff against the Miami Dolphins in Week 3.
The Thanksgiving night game against the Bills was just the beginning of a stretch of playoff-preview-type matchups. It’s like the start of the “playoff push.” You can see some aspects of the team, especially defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo’s unit, starting to take shape for the rest of the team’s run to Super Bowl LXI, and it could result in growing pains against contenders that will be lessons learned next postseason.
The final four-game stretch of Kansas City’s regular season schedule features three home games and a road trip to a divisional foe that is currently on track for a last-place finish this season. That could change, but overall, if the Chiefs stay in the hunt for a No. 1 seed by the time the holiday season arrives, Arrowhead Stadium could play a role in the team securing a postseason bye week and continuing to play in front of the Sea of Red.