Kansas City Chiefs schedule prediction; Part 2

Hey, Kansas City Chiefs fans, thanks for joining me this weekend as I continue breaking down the schedule post-draft and attempt to predict how I see this season going. Today we’ll look at the second quarter of the season that brings in some interesting opponents for the Chiefs. We have no clue how this will all pan out unless you have a DeLorean and the Gray’s Sports Almanac, which would make you a GREAT follow on Twitter.

Last week my predictions had the Chiefs going 2-2 with wins against Houston and Denver, following losses to Green Bay and Cincinnati. Below you’ll find my most-likely-wrong-but-sure-to-praise-them-if-right predictions for the next four games of the season.

vs. Chicago Bears: The Bears were bad last year. Of course, that doesn’t guarantee they will be bad this year, as we saw with our own Kansas City Chiefs’ turnaround from worst to pretty good after some front office changes in 2013. But playing Jay Cutler at Arrowhead to me is a beautiful thing. I expect our defense to be a major problem for him and cause a couple of turnovers. Just a hunch.

Key Player To Watch: Justin Houston. I expect him to have a big game against a not-so-stellar offensive line. I wouldn’t be surprised if he ends up having two or three sacks and a forced fumble in this game.

Outcome: Win

Last Time They Played: On Dec. 4, 2011, Tyler Palko shredded the Bears with 157 yards passing, leading the Chiefs to 10-3 win.

@ Minnesota Vikings: The Vikings are similar to the Raiders, a team that’s struggled to find a winning identity for several years but have rejuvenated hope with a couple of young, promising quarterbacks. I seriously see this as one of those “trap games,” if you believe in those. The Chiefs need to come in ready, and if they play their best football, they should leave Minnesota with a win.

Key Player To Watch: Derrick Johnson. I believe stopping Adrian Peterson is going to be key in winning this game.

Outcome: Win

Last Time They Played: Oct. 2, 2011, Ryan Succop made five field goals leading the chiefs to a 22-17 win

vs. Pittsburgh Steelers: There was a day and age (last year) when I was a little fearful of playing the Steelers. This year is less so. They lost a bunch of talent on that defense. I expect our offense to roll this game and our defense will get enough stops to give us a win.

Key Player To Watch: Jeremy Maclin. The Steelers secondary defense is going to be bad, I think J-Mac goes off.

Outcome: Win

Last Time They Played: Dec. 21, 2014, the Steelers beat the Chiefs, 20-12. Biggest take away was Eric Fisher getting destroyed by James Harrison, who came out of retirement.

vs. Detroit Lions: The Lions overseas should be interesting. The Chiefs secondary will have to play well. Our style of defense demands a lot of one-on-one coverage. Calvin Johnson could have a huge day if the defense doesn’t execute well. I think the Chiefs will just be a due for a loss and come up short in this one.

Key Player To Watch: Sean Smith. With all that Calvin Johnson talk, I think Sean Smith is going to have to play a great game to give the Chiefs a shot at winning this one.

Outcome: Loss

Last Time They Played: Sept. 18, 2011, This is not a fun game to remember. The Chiefs got pummeled by the Lions, 48-3.