The Kansas City Chiefs will try to be the first team in about a year to defeat the defending Super Bowl Champion Green Bay Packers today at Arrowhead Stadium.

Since the game has the potential to be a blowout (Chiefs doing the blowing of course) I thought it might be fun to play a little over/under before today’s game. Later this week we can check back to see who got the most right.

The game is simple. I’ll make a list of possible scenarios that involve predicting a number.

For example: Thomas Jones will have two fumbles.

If you think Jones will fumble more than twice, vote over. If less, vote under. If you think I got it just right, vote PUSH.

The reader/AA staffer who gets the most correct will win bragging rights until next week’s game. Have fun and leave your guesses in the comments.

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Apparently, the Chiefs don’t do so well against AFC East opponents at home in 2011. That is one thing we did learn this weekend. Not only did the winless Miami Dolphins’ streak of, you know, being winless come to an emphatic end with a 31-3 exorcism at Arrowhead, but a couple of other streaks fizzled out on Sunday, too, starting with K.C.’s own recent undefeated stretch. So it looks like there will be no unprecedented 13-3 season after an 0-3 start, no 16-game run to a Super Bowl title. Oh well.

Perhaps, too, this marks the conclusion of Head Coach Todd Haley’s days as a bedraggled, unwashed sideline hobo. “I want to take my hat off to Miami,” he said after the game, effectively announcing an end to the streak in which he has worn the same streaked cap since the autumnal equinox.

But what’s weird, or not so weird, is that—other than dropping the Chiefs back to 4-4 for the first half of the season (and, hey, who saw even that as a strong possibility back in mid-September?)—the unfortunate events of November 6, 2011, tell us almost nothing about what is coming next for this team in the second half of the season.

Will these Chiefs beat the Denver Broncos at home this Sunday? I have no idea. Probably? Maybe not?

Will these Chiefs win the AFC West? I have no idea. Maybe? Probably not? It is possible. Of course it’s possible. They are currently in a three-way tie for first, and as rough as their second half looks, the road facing each of their divisional compatriots looks just as tough. This team could still end up 6-10 or 8-8 or even 9-7, but which nine? Which seven?

So, at the midway point, I might as well make one semi-bold prediction:

The Kansas City Chiefs will beat the Green Bay Packers.

That’s right. You read it here first. Unless, of course, you’d already read it somewhere else, and that’s okay, too.

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Alas, it appears that The Fickle Finger of Fate has determined that I was possibly prophetic, nay even Nostradamus-like, with that forecast as we are now less than a week into the frenzied fervency of the Bench Cassel, Can Haley, Blame Pioli, Hunt’s A Tightwad, and Suck for Luck campaigns.

Now, to the surprise (chagrin?) of many I am sure, I present:

THE RECLAMATION OF TODD HALEY

I mean come on, after all the trouble I caused the poor guy last week, it’s the least I can do. Right?

Enough sizzle, substance to follow.

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Each week we go “Inside The Enemy Camp” and interview the FanSided editor who covers the team the Chiefs will do battle with next. This week, I had a special request to do an exchange with Andy Tisdel of The Oak Creek Patch in Wisconsin. Andy was kind enough to answer a few of my questions about the Packers.

You can also read more about the defending Super Bowl Champs by visiting FanSided’s Packers site Lombardi Ave.

Now, let’s go Inside The Enemy Camp with Andy Tisdel.

 The Packers are the defending Super Bowl champs. That means they are going to have a bulls-eye on them all season. Do you feel they are ready to deal with that pressure or will they suffer from the “dreaded Super Bowl hangover?”

I’m fairly optimistic that they will not, or at least, if they don’t repeat it won’t be because they were still sitting on the Super Bowl victory. I give a big assist to the lockout, because in a normal off-season, the players and coaches all get to parade around and go to events and sort of bask in the glory that they’ve earned. And from what I understand, it gets harder to get the players focused and keep them hungry in minicamps and training camp. This year, there was none of that. They didn’t go to the White House until August, they didn’t have much time to celebrate. Guys were at home, training and staying hungry. If the Packers fall short this year, I don’t think a Super Bowl hangover will be the cause.

However, it’s very true that every team that plays the Packers is going to put special emphasis on it, especially the Bears, Falcons and Giants (all teams that the Packers ran over on the season-ending six-game winning streak). Everybody wants to knock off the defending champs. That’s something they’ll absolutely have to prepare for.

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Here are the results:

Advancing on the left:

Rodgers, Bradford, Woodhead, Nicks, MJD, Charles, Ryan, Hillis

Advancing on the right:

Rivers, Peterson, Brees, Sanchez, Vick, Andre Johnson, Ward and Willis

You can see the bracket here. Voting for this round ends on April 3rd.

My guess is this one is going to come down to Aaron Rodgers and Vick. Rodgers deserves it for leading the Pack to the Super Bowl and Vick is an insanely popular player to control in Madden. I think Rodgers and his SB pedigree will win out over Vick.

What do you guys think? Who will end up on the cover?

The Green Bay Packers are Super Bowl champions for the 4th time in their storied history.

The Packers defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers 31 to 25 in a game where turnovers made the difference. Green Bay lead 21 to 3 midway through the second quarter but the Steelers came roaring back, closing the gap to 21-17 heading into the 4th quarter.

But Aron Rodgers would not be denied. The Packers QB would go on to be named Super Bowl MVP after throwing 24 completions for 304 yards and 3 touchdowns with no interceptions.

Steelers QB Ben Roethilisberger did not fare as well. He threw 2 costly picks to go along with his two TD passes. all in all the Steelers turned the ball over 3 times and that proved to be the difference as the Packers converted those turnovers into points.

Hopefully we’ll be seeing the Kansas City Chiefs in the big game next season (if there is a season) but for now, the Green Bay Packers are the kings of the NFL. Congratulations to the Pack.

There is only one game that matters remaining in the 2010 NFL season, and the Kansas City Chiefs aren’t in it.  Instead, we will see the Green Bay Packers and the Pittsburgh Steelers duke it out in Dallas at the Super Bowl.  Instead of pouting about how the Chiefs didn’t make it to the big game, we should take the opportunity to get a good look at why the Packers and Steelers made.  Those teams have demonstrated how to get to a Super Bowl.  We need to see what we can learn from them so that in the coming years, we can there as well.

Many different kinds of teams can get to the Super Bowl.  Just look at the difference between the teams that went last year compared to the teams that made it this year.  However, there are similarities between the Packers and the Steelers that I will highlight so that we can determine where the Chiefs fell short this year.
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