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Following a win on Sunday afternoon in a Super Bowl rematch with the San Francisco 49ers, the Kansas Chiefs are officially the last team unbeaten team standing, and that means that from now until the point their perfect record is no more, they'll be the subject of the obligatory, “Can they run the table,” conversations that get recycled each year when there is just one undefeated team remaining.
Of course, with 11 games still to be played this season, it's probably a little premature to take too long of a look at Kansas City's chances, but that's not how everyone feels. CBS Sports' Pete Prisco claims that there is only one team remaining on the Chiefs schedule that he thinks could prevent Kansas City from a perfect regular season.
When will the Chiefs first loss come?
“If they win against the Bills, they will run the table and go undefeated.” – @PriscoCBS pic.twitter.com/HUwvsDJxOM
— NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) October 21, 2024
Prisco's confidence in Buffalo's ability to topple the Chiefs likely has a lot to do with the fact that the Bills have won three straight regular season games against the Chiefs, all of which have been played at Arrowhead Stadium. With that said, the Bills have also lost all three of their postseason matchups with Kansas City since Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes became starters, including last year's devastating 3-point loss in Orchard Park in the AFC Divisional Round. Their Week 11 matchup will be played in Buffalo.
In addition to the Bills, KC still has matchups with the NFC South leading Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the AFC South leading Houston Texans, and the 5-2 Pittsburgh Steelers on Christmas Day. That's not a cakewalk by any means. And let's not forget to mention, the Chiefs have made a habit of blowing games to below .500 teams the last couple of seasons — remember last season's Christmas Day stinker against the Las Vegas Raiders? Or how about the Week 3 stunner in Indianapolis in 2022?
This is not to say that the Kansas City Chiefs aren't the best team in the NFL. They are. Given their back-to-back Super Bowl championships, they had already earned that distinction heading into the season, and as the league's last remaining undefeated team, they've proven it. But there's a good reason why only two teams in the Super Bowl era have completed a perfect regular season… it's really damn hard.
Chiefs defense shouldering the load during 6-0 start to 2024 season
When the Patrick Mahomes era in Kansas City began in 2018, this was a team that relied far too heavily on their young superstar quarterback on a game to game basis, and let's give some credit to Mahomes, because he was up to the challenge. But the reason why this Chiefs team is as scary as they are, and potentially even a real threat to go undefeated, is because for the second consecutive year, the defense is outperforming the offense.
Now this isn't to say that Kansas City's offense is bad. By the numbers, they Chiefs offense is middle of the pack just about any way you slice it, which is impressive considering, A) They're playing without the two receivers who were at the top of the depth chart in August, B) They're without their starting running back, and C) Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce are both having their worst statistical seasons ever.
(The Chicago Bears fan in me would also like to remind you that Matt Nagy took over as offensive coordinator last year.)
To make up for all of this, Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo is going deep into his bag and for the second consecutive year solidifying a belief that many folks around the league already believed… he's one of the absolute best defensive coordinators in all of professional football, capable of concocting game plans that stifle the NFL's most brilliant play-callers and most talented players.
If the Chiefs offense manages to get back to their pre-Nagy form sometime this year, this team might cruise to a third straight Super Bowl.
