How The Chiefs Can Win Super Bowl 50

Three Keys to Victories- The Chiefs must execute well on these things to accomplish the ultimate goal.

1. Alex Smith must not give the ball away. Smith has been virtually perfect this year by only throwing seven interceptions while setting a career high for pass yardage. He did throw two interceptions consecutively against Oakland. These were not tipped or mis-communications with his receivers. These were very bad decisions made by Smith. Some things will be out of his control, but Smith must not give the ball away with silly mistakes.
2. The offense will have to get points in the second half. We must realize that even though the Chiefs have gone on a 10-game winning streak, the offense is still limited. They have been bad in the second halves of these games and have left it to the defense to stop a last second drive in three of the last four games. That will not work against playoff teams. Expect the adjustments made by great quarterbacks like Brady, Manning, and Roethlisberger to exploit a stifled second half offense.
3. The defense has to take advantage of mistakes. What has made this win streak so potent is the way the defense has been able to pressure the quarterback, stop the run and create turnovers. The turnovers are what the defense will have to rely on in the playoffs. When the opposing offense makes a mistake, the Chiefs must capitalize to get the offense into good field position.

Game-by-Game

If the Chiefs can accomplish those three keys then this is how I see the playoffs going for Kansas City. A disclaimer: this is the best-case scenario for the Chiefs. This is a prediction but it is predicated on those three keys. First comes Houston.

Kansas City @ Houston

The Chiefs won at Houston in Week 1, but one of those three keys was not followed and the Texans crawled back to within seven points by the end of the game. The Chiefs were unable to really push the ball in the second half and allowed J.J. Watt to get after Alex Smith. It was a preview of things to come for the Chiefs’ offense, but for the most part the defense was able to dominate the Texans.

We could argue that the Chiefs defense has become even more lethal since that meeting, but the Texans have figured out that all they need to do is throw it up to DeAndre Hopkins. Marcus Peters may be brash enough to try and take on Hopkins for the entire game to prove he’s a grown man. Sutton won’t allow him to do that but he will expect both Smith and Peters to shut him down.

Without Hopkins the offense will be dead in the water. It will be up to the offensive line to give Charcandrick West holes and Smith time. The Chiefs will put this game away with a Smith run to get into field goal territory. Who knows, he might slip through the slightly bandaged hand of Watt to make that run. Chiefs 20, Texans 17

Pittsburgh may be a better team than Cincinnati right now but A.J. McCarron will get the Bengals a playoff win before Andy Dalton. The Steelers have shown an incredible amount of vulnerability in the last few weeks.

That puts the Chiefs in Denver for the Divisional Round.

Next: Mile High meeting