Kansas City Chiefs Are 1 of 7 Undefeated Teams

The Kansas City Chiefs are one of seven teams sitting at 3-0 to start the 2013 season. The Chiefs join the Denver Broncos, Miami Dolphins, New England Patriots, New Orleans Saints, Chicago Bears, and Seattle Seahawks in the undefeated ranks.

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The 2012 edition of the Kansas City Chiefs finished the season 2-14 but placed six players on the AFC Pro Bowl team. While it was a season where just about everything that could possibly go wrong, did go wrong, then some, there was always a feeling that the Chiefs should have been better than they were. They turned to ball over way too much, and could not force any turnovers. Teams just don’t win in the NFL with that combination.

But 3-0? Who would have thought it?

Now, the Chiefs must face a surprise 0-3 team in the New York Giants. The scary thing about this game is that the Chiefs are only a 4-point favorite at home against an 0-3 team. Vegas wants everyone to take the Chiefs, and that worries me.

I digress.

The point is that a changes at general manager, head coach, coordinators, and quarterback have led to more victories in 3 weeks than the team tallied in a full season a year ago.

Assuming Kansas City can slip past the Giants, what is a realistic expectation for the rest of the season? The Chiefs have already beat two teams from the historically tough NFC East, and the two teams they still have to play, the Giants and the Washington Redskins, haven’t won a game between them.

Before their bye in week 10, Kansas City has to play the Giants, Tennessee (2-1), Oakland (1-2), Houston (2-1), Cleveland (1-2), and Buffalo (1-2).  The Titans and Texans have both showed up well thus far, and Oakland, inexplicably, has had the Chiefs number in Kansas City. If the Chiefs are for real, they should have no less than 7 wins going into the bye.

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Two of the Chiefs first three games after the bye are against the Broncos. They also have the Chargers, a team that has played better than their 1-2 record, twice. The second game against the Raiders, and tilts against the surprising Colts and the disappointing Redskins round out the schedule. If the Chiefs can fix a few things on offense, can maintain their aggressive defense for the whole season, and things go their way more times than not, twelve wins could be withing their grasp.

Yet, football seldom plays out in reality as it does on paper. You can count on a game or two, minimum, that won’t go the Chiefs way. Still, that would give the Chiefs 10 wins, which should be enough to earn a playoff berth.

The 3-0 start takes a little pressure off the Chiefs in general. Of all teams to start of 3-0, 75% of them end up in the playoffs. Statistically speaking, that means one or two of the 7 teams still undefeated will not make the playoffs.

While some will look at the list and see teams they don’t think are very good, their fans could be thinking the same about Kansas City – the Chiefs did only win 2 games last year, after all.

You might look at the standings and think New England and Miami aren’t that good. You might be right, but chances are, one of those teams will their division and will be in the playoffs. Seattle and Denver look like locks at this point, and Chicago and New Orleans may not be in the toughest divisions. At least a team or two out of these 7 teams will most likely fall short.

Let’s hope it won’t be the Chiefs. Let’s hope what we’ve seen so far on defense will continue. Let’s hope the offense, which has not been impressive thus far, will improve as the season pr0gresses. Let’s hope the schedule plays out like we all think it will.

That’s a lot of hope but the Chiefs can start off by beating a dangerous Giants team this Sunday. It would be great if next week we can talk about the Chiefs being one of the “X” number of teams that are 4-0.