Kansas City Chiefs: Ranking every opponent on 2019 schedule
By Kole Berrey
Tier 2: Hopefuls
9. Tennessee Titans
8. Baltimore Ravens
7. Green Bay Packers
6. Houston Texans
5. Minnesota Vikings
Let’s get this out of the way early: The Baltimore Ravens will have a bad 2019. There just isn’t talent on that roster. Lamar Jackson still struggles throwing the football. The defense lost two high profile linebackers (Za’Darius Smith and C.J. Mosley) and they don’t have a receiver outside of rookie Hollywood Brown to get excited about.
This roster’s only strength is the offensive line, and that will be enough to keep them from Pretender status, but don’t expect a repeat playoff appearance from them.
Green Bay is so high because I refuse to put any team with a healthy Aaron Rodgers anywhere near the bottom. He is that good.
The Texans and Vikings are the most intriguing teams in this group. The Texans are talented, but there are too many questions about their offensive line and defense as a whole. Deshaun Watson and DeAndre Hopkins are going to be good to great all year.
With that said, their line is still in shambles and first round pick Tytus Howard won’t fix that year one. He is more prospect than polished pro at this point. The defense still has J.J. Watt and Jadeveon Clowney to cause some chaos, but the loss of Tyrann Mathieu is going to hurt this unit.
I contemplated putting the Vikings in the top category in these rankings. Kirk Cousins quietly threw for 4,000 yards and 30 touchdowns last year. Stephon Diggs, Adam Thielen, a healthy Dalvin Cook and Kyle Rudolph is an offensive unit that could could problems for the Chiefs.
The Vikings also have a defense that features Everson Griffen, Xavier Rhodes, Harrison Smith, Danielle Hunter and Athony Barr. That mix of talent on both sides of the ball is something Kansas City should fear.
The addition of Garrett Bradbury should sure up their interior offensive line a bit. There are still enough questions about that line group to go with the health of Dalvin Cook that made me keep them in this tier.
Look out for the Vikings in 2019, however, as they could take a big leap.