Carding the 9-3 Kansas City Chiefs: Are they who they say they are?

If I’m being honest, it also serves as a good way to measure this team’s playoff preparedness. Teams that have real aspirations of postseason success summon their best football in the month of December. If the Chiefs can do that this week, there’s good reason to think they can advance when January football starts. The Raiders have been an NFL darling this season and sweeping them makes quite the statement. After beating a playoff-caliber offense in Atlanta last Sunday, another win in a short window, would reinforce the narrative that Kansas City is a team no one wants to face come tournament time.

The Chiefs have proven they can win in a number of different ways. That kind of flexibility should serve them well as the season wears on, especially in the postseason. Kansas City could find its ceiling under nationally-televised lights on Thursday. They could also prove that their Super Bowl aspirations aren’t a figment of their imagination. A pair of victories over the conference’s top team would go a long way to establishing this team as a viable Super Bowl contender. In truth, it would also put them within arm’s reach of the top seed in the AFC.