In the second half of this little two-piece mini series, I’m switching over the AFC and ask myself “what is the one burning question I have for each team as I think about the 2024 NFL season?”
Tag Archives: Kansas City Chiefs
Everything to know about Super Bowl 58:
Four years after Patrick Mahomes pedaled backwards and hit Tyreek Hill on “2-3 Jet Chip Wasp” to convert a third-and-15 and start their comeback over the 49ers, these two sides are set to face off again on the biggest stage. This time around, Kansas City is looking to cement itself as a dynasty, with their third championship in five years, while San Francisco is going for their sixth title in franchise history, but the first one in 29 years, after knocking on the door with four NFC championship game appearances in those last five seasons.
The Niners looked dominant throughout the regular season en route to the NFC’s number one seed, before having to battle until the end against the Packers and Lions, coming back from a 17-point deficit in that conference title game. Meanwhile, it wasn’t nearly as smooth a ride for the Chiefs, trying to defend their championship, finishing with an 11-6 record and having to go on the road in the playoffs for the first two teams in the Mahomes era.
Based on the current active rosters, the 49ers are slated to return nine players and the Chiefs seven who were also part of those Super Bowl 54 teams. Both Kyle Shanahan and Andy Reid return as head coaches, while Steve Spagnuolo on defense and Dave Toub on special teams for the Chiefs are the only two of six total coordinators still around. They also have the benefit of a quarterback starting his fourth Super Bowl in five years, but the Niners have their best signal-caller under Shanahan in the Bay Area.
I want to look at both sides of the ball, break down in detail how the offensive and defensive units function respectively, along with how I believe they’ll match up, before presenting a couple of X-factors for each group and ultimately giving you my prediction for the final score.
Let’s dive in:
The magical Bills season that wasn’t supposed to be:
Yet another Bills season just came to an end in gut-punching fashion. In four years straight now, they were eliminated after winning the AFC East and at least one playoff game – three times by these very Kansas City Chiefs.
We’ve seen slightly different versions of the team, but this year felt quite unique, because unlike prior iterations that would largely coast through the regular season, until they got their week 13 bye, it didn’t seem like this crew would even be part of the conversation down the stretch. They were coming off a heartbreaking loss to the Eagles, which dropped them to 6-and-6, in a year where we had as many teams battling for the final couple of AFC Wildcard spots as I can remember. Yet, despite off-field distractions and questions around their coaching staff, they went on win their final five regular season matchups and the division after all again, which after taking care of the Steelers in the Wildcard Round, set them up to finally host Patrick Mahomes and company in January for the first time in this rivalry. Yet, once again they couldn’t quite overcome their while whale.
I want to discuss the organization’s journey leading into 2023, the different stages of the season we just witnessed, how the fairytale ultimately came crashing down and then give a future outlook, as we consider where they may go from here.
NFL Power Rankings heading into the final month of the 2023 season:
It’s that point of the year again – we enter the figurative fourth quarter of the NFL season. Teams are starting to separate themselves at the top-end and bottom of the league, but there’s still very little clarity in the middle of the pack. So now I’ll try to distinguish between those squads with similar records, as we head down the home stretch, and rank them one through 32.
As always, these are power RANKINGS rather than standings. So I’m well aware that these aren’t fully compliant with how records stack up and that some teams may have beat others, who are listed ahead of them. I base this on what my eyes tell my first of course, but will bring up different metrics, in order to make my points, as well as add context to certain numbers.
Let’s get into it:
AFC West 2023 draft & roster review
We have come to the final edition of our 2023 NFL draft & roster review series!
And we’re finishing off with a bang, as we’re looking at the division that includes the reigning Super Bowl champions and three challengers at different stages of their team life cycles!
NFL Power Rankings heading into the fourth quarter of 2022:
We’ve now played 13 of 18 regular season games, which puts us exactly at the three-quarter mark of the season at this moment in the middle of the week. And just like I did after the first month of the season, I thought it was time for me to rank and tier all 32 NFL teams yet again.
As I always say – these are power rankings, based on what I perceive teams to be right now, rather than listing them by record and basically creating a standings table. Some squads may have started off slowly but are starting to hit their groove, while others have fallen off, as the season has progressed. Funnily enough, numbers one and 32 are still the same today as they were for me back on October 5th, but there’s been plenty of shake-up between those two.
Here’s my list:
Burrow vs. Mahomes: Part III
After winning a late-season thriller & then overcoming a 21-3 deficit in the AFC title game, the Bengals are now set to play the Chiefs for the third time in less than a calendar year.
How are both sides different schematically compared to when they last met, who has the upper hand in certain matchups & what can we expect on Sunday?
You can check out the full video at youtube.com/@halilsrealfootballtalk
Analyzing the six biggest matchups from NFL week six:
Having already done a couple of big topics in video format, with the Bengals early-season struggles on offense and the Giants now 5-1 start, powered by Saquon Barkley, along with power rankings at the quarter-pole of the season, I thought this was the right time to kind of let readers into my world of tape study and really dive into the six biggest games from this past weekend. All teams involved in these matchups are now .500 or better, including some risers and what were labelled as championship contenders heading into the season, now at somewhat of a crossroads a month-and-a-half into the year.
Below, you can find my offense versus defense breakdowns when either team possessed the ball, along with some concluding general thoughts, from the following matchups: 49ers-Falcons, Vikings-Dolphins, Jets-Packers, Ravens-Giants, Bills-Chiefs and Cowboys-Eagles.
(Records listed are as of post-week six)
AFC West Draft & Roster Review 2022
In the eighth and final video of our divisional draft breakdown series, we’re looking at the AFC West!
Over the last month, we’ve now analyzed all 262 draft picks and talked about all 32 NFL teams in detail, as it pertains to their roster building process!
AFC West Draft Breakdown 2021:
And there it is! Our final division to run through, explaining every single draft pick that was made, discussing each class and comparing them to each other. Let’s finish up strong!
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