Who are the KC Chiefs biggest rivals outside of the AFC West?

The modern AFC features great young quarterbacks, who make up the Chiefs biggest rivals outside of the West.

Houston Texans

The modern day rivalries in the AFC, and across the NFL, center around the quarterback matchups. If we’re being predictive, the rivalry between the Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes and Texans’ Deshaun Watson should tantalize the NFL for the next 15 years. Both are tremendous, rare talents who have the athletic ability to take over and dominate games, sometimes seemingly at will.

The modern day rivalry precedes these two stars some. In 2016, the Chiefs defeated the Texans, in Houston, 22 years after their last playoff win, also in Houston against the Oilers. The teams had a shootout in 2017,  which ended 42-34 in favor of the Chiefs, prior to a pair of 2019 showdowns which saw the Texans win 31-24 during the regular season, only to blow a 24-0 lead en route to 51-31 Chiefs win to kick off the redemption tour.

This rivalry is only just beginning, and the all-time series favors the Chiefs, 7-5.

Baltimore Ravens

Like the Texans rivalry, the Chiefs-Ravens rivalry in 2020 centers around the last two league MVPs in Mahomes and Lamar Jackson.

Mahomes, of course, has been sensational in two seasons as the Chiefs starter. As a rookie in 2018, Lamar Jackson was a league-average quarterback who started in relief of the injured Joe Flacco. However, after Baltimore had an offseason to gameplan around the unique, game-changing abilities of their now-superstar quarterback, everything changed.

Now, the 2019 first overall seed Ravens and the 2019 Super Bowl Champion Chiefs seem destined to lock horns in the regular season and the playoffs for years to come. It should be a lot of fun.

The Chiefs currently lead the series 6-4 (including three straight highlighted by this Mahomes gem).

New England Patriots

The New England Patriots have been the number one target on the boards of all AFC contenders for the better part of the last two decades, and the Chiefs are no exception. Ever since Kansas City has launched back into the national narrative upon the hiring of Andy Reid and trading for Alex Smith prior to the 2013 season, New England has been the goal to achieve.

Since the first meeting between Bill Belichick’s Patriots and the Andy Reid-led Chiefs, the teams have met six times and the series is tied 3-3. Memorable amongst those tilts are the 41-14 crushing the Patriots suffered at the hands of Alex Smith in 2014 and the 37-31 overtime heartbreak in the AFC Championship game in the 2018 playoffs.

With Tom Brady departing the Northeast for the beaches of Florida, this rivalry seemed like it might become a thing of the past. However, the signing of Cam Newton demonstrates that the Patriots, and Belichick, are not going anywhere in the list of AFC contenders. The Newton-Mahomes battles will be fun to watch!