Kansas City Chiefs: Three must win games in 2019
By Kole Berrey
MUST WIN GAMES IN 2019
Week 5: Kansas City Chiefs vs Indianapolis Colts (Sunday Night Football)
Primetime. There is nothing quite like it outside of actually being in the playoffs. Louder crowds and amped up players make almost every primetime game feel special, regardless of who is in it. This game, however, happens to be against two teams with the juice to make some noise in the AFC.
The Chiefs start the year against the Jaguars, Raiders, Ravens, and Lions. There is a real chance they can be rolling into this game at 5-0. The Colts, meanwhile, open with the Chargers, Titans, Falcons, and Raiders. It is very possible these teams could be facing off undefeated at this point in the year (please beat the Chargers, Indy. It’ll make this game more fun!).
Even if both teams manage to drop a game coming out of the opening stretch, this game is going to feature plenty of star power and talent to make it compelling.
The reason this is a must win match-up though is simple: It’s a home game against an AFC hopeful. These are the type of games that decide home field advantage at the end of the year.
The Chiefs have a relatively tough schedule next year (tied for 5th toughest) so they are going to need to win every home game they can. Dropping one here wouldn’t mean the end of the world for Kansas City, of course. They would have plenty of time to rebound.
To avoid any tiebreaker situation where common opponents (the Colts and Chiefs share the Titans, Texans, and Chargers on their schedule as potential playoff hopefuls) or AFC record come into play, the Chiefs need to take care of business at Arrowhead whenever they can.
This game isn’t just a must win for importance either. It has plenty of side drama to boost its appeal. Being in primetime is just one aspect of this. Former Chiefs executive Chris Ballard is the GM for the Colts, Justin Houston and Spencer Ware departed from the Chiefs and joined Indy’s roster in the offseason, and the Chiefs and Colts have some recent playoff history to boot.
This game is full to the brim of potential, and should be one of the best 2019 has to offer.