Live Thread: Seattle Seahawks at Kansas City Chiefs

Now would be a wonderful time for the Kansas City Chiefs to make a statement about who they really are as a football team.

At 6-3 and with a chance to separate themselves from the rest of the playoff pack with a win over the Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks, the Chiefs are in a position to announce to the NFL that they are here to be contenders. And not just contenders for the 2014 season, but for many seasons to come.

It isn’t uncommon for teams in the NFL to go from ‘worst-to-first’ for from a lowly 6-10 one year to 10-6 and the playoffs the next year. But typically what you’ll see is those teams who make a surprise appearance in the playoffs one year typically fail to make the playoffs again the following year. Part of it is a parity thing, but some of it is also those teams typically were not that good to begin with.

A playoff berth this year for the Chiefs doesn’t just aid them in declaring themselves a contender in the AFC, it also justifies what the Chiefs did as a team in 2013 and where John Dorsey and Andy Reid are leading this franchise. Back-t0-back playoff berths is something good franchises do frequently. It is a barometer of how to judge a franchise and the direction it is going.

Anyone can make the playoffs in a random year, but not everyone returns to the playoffs on a year-by-year basis.

Beating Seattle today not only significantly improves the chances the Chiefs will make the playoffs this year, but it puts Kansas City back on the map as a franchise that knows what it is doing. Making that statement while also defeating the defending Super Bowl champions will only make their declaration that much louder.