First off, if you haven’t seen the “A Tour of Kansas City” YouTube video, I HIGHLY recommend it. While it references all the typical things people think of when they think Kansas City: From BBQ, to Power and Light, to the Jazz museum, to more BBQ, and of course our sports team. I’ll post a link here to the video if you haven’t seen it, but the one part I want to reference is about the sports teams.
Standing in front of Sporting Park, our wonderful tour guide tells us that this is where our sports team wins. Next, he stands in front of both Kauffman and Arrowhead, and says this is where our sports team loses. When asked to specific, he replies with “Doesn’t matter”. While the Chiefs and Royals fan in me takes offense, that statement holds a lot of truth. I have never seen a Chiefs or Royals playoff win in my life. Now, the Chiefs have had more regular season success than the Royals while I’ve been around, but neither of them have done anything when it counts, with the Royals not even making the playoffs in that time.
On the other end of the spectrum, the relative new kid on the block, Sporting KC, has already brought home two MLS Cups, one as the Wizards and one this past year. They’ve enjoyed fairly consistent success since they’re formation in 1995, and it’s hard to argue against two championship wins in the same time frame in which our other sports teams haven’t even won a playoff game.
With the Royals sitting at under .500 this year (But coming off of two wins against the Cards at the time of writing this, so go Royals!) and Sporting KC coming off a championship win, where does that leave the Chiefs?
Their upcoming schedule was released back in April, and while tons of people have over analyzed it, I plan on hoping on that same train. Back when I first saw the schedule, I immediately predicted a 9-7 season, with the Chiefs barely missing the playoffs after my first glance through. With the draft now over and with the new talent on the team, I still stand by my original prediction, however I do think the Chiefs can sneak into a Wild Card spot. While my thoughts about our wins and losses haven’t changed, my thoughts on the rest of the AFC has. The AFC just isn’t very good, and 9-7 may be enough to get the Chiefs into the playoffs.
Here’s my quick rundown of the schedule, with a thought or two for each game.
Week 1: Tennessee Titans- Win
I don’t trust Jake Locker yet, and even if I did he doesn’t have much fire power around him.
SIDE NOTE: I’m excited to see if Bishop Sankey will get a lot of playing time, strictly for fantasy football purposes.
Week 2: @ Denver Broncos- Loss
Sorry, guys. It’s Peyton at Denver, and they’ve become even more loaded than last year on both offense and defense.
Week 3: @ Miami Dolphins- Win
Ehh. This is a game that the pessimistic Chiefs fan in me says we lose after losing to Denver, but I don’t think Andy Reid lets that happen.
Week 4: New England Patriots – Monday Night Football – Loss
Brady is Brady. As fun as this will be having MNF at Arrowhead, I don’t think we can pull it off against the Brady Belichick duo.
Week 5: @ San Francisco 49ers- Loss
3 of the last 4 weeks have been against teams who played in either the AFC of NFC championship game last year. Talk about rough. San Fran hasn’t lost much, and Kaep will get better with time.
Week 6: Bye
Week 7: @ San Diego Chargers- Loss
San Diego has had our number as of late, and as much as I’d like to say Big Red turns it around after the bye week, I don’t see it happening.
Week 8: St. Louis Rams- Win
Much like the Royals this year, I see us winning against the cross state rivals. While the Rams have been building up a ton of talent the past few years (They should really thank RGIII for that), they haven’t put it together, and I look for this being a bounce back win.
Week 9: New York Jets- Win
I don’t care if the starter is Vick or Geno Smith. This is a game we have to win if we want to be a playoff team, and I see us taking care of business.
Week 10: @ Buffalo Bills- Win
I personally like EJ Manuel, and while I wonder if they gave up too much for Sammy Watkins, they could be a dangerous duo. I predict this one to be close, and a big morale booster for the entire team to pull out the win.
Week 11: Seattle Seahawks- Loss
Um, Super Bowl Champs who resigned two of the most dangerous defenders in the league. Along with one of the best running backs in the league, and a young quarterback who is still learning the game. As much as I’d like to say we pull the upset and also shatter the sound record again against these guys, I don’t see it happening.
Week 12: @ Oakland Raiders – Thursday Night Football– Loss
Mainly because it’s a short week and we are coming off a tough loss at home. The Raiders sneak one past us on their home field.
Week 13: Denver Broncos – Sunday Night Football– Loss
Three in a row, not exactly a streak you want to be on towards the end of the season. Again, it’s Peyton and they might be even more threatening than they were last year.
Week 14: @ Arizona Cardinals- Win
I see this game as the one we finally turn things around. After a tough three loss streak, look for us to come out aggressive and take a win against the Cards. While their secondary looks good on paper, I still see us having our way with them.
Week 15: Oakland Raiders- Win
We won’t let the Raiders end our playoff chances. If we lose here on my predictions, we go 6-8 and probably lose our chances at a playoff spot. I expect the sea of red to be out in full force and for us to take it to the Raiders.
Week 16: @ Pittsburgh Steelers- Win
Ugh. This was the hardest pick of the season. This game is 50/50 for me. I could see it falling either way, I just think/hope that we will come out strong and pull out a crucial win.
Week 17: San Diego Chargers- Win
Win or go home type game, at home, against the Chargers. Again, I feel like the MVP of this game is going to be the sea of red once again, and with this win the Chiefs will make it back to the playoffs for the second year in a row.
Basically, the Chiefs are going to split the difference between Sporting KC and the Royals. While they won’t be able to bring home a Super Bowl ring, I do see them going over .500 and making the playoffs. So, while all the focus is on who is going to be our 6th string receiver and if the undrafted guard from who knows where will make the practice squad, what are your thoughts on our schedule Addicts? Any ESPN-like “Bold Predictions”?