After their bye week, the Kansas City Chiefs will commence the second half of their regular season against the same team they defeated in Super Bowl LVII: the Philadelphia Eagles.
Prior to the start of the season, many expected tonight's matchup to be the game of the year and that still rings true. Both teams are the number one seeds in their respective conferences, both are coming off their byes, and both are among the Top 3 favorites to win Super Bowl LVIII, so Monday Night Football should be a good one.
Given how well the Week 10 slate went for the Chiefs, they have a real opportunity to put a stranglehold on the AFC. If they can improve to 8-2, they're in the driver's seat for the number one seed with a not-super-difficult schedule down the home stretch.
But if the Chiefs are going to soar to 8-2, here are the five things they must do to win.
1. Don't give the Eagles extra possessions
Don't turn the football over. The Chiefs have had at least one giveaway in every game this year, except for the Week 5 win over Minnesota. Kansas City ranks third in giveaways per game at 1.89. The Chiefs were at 1.35 in the regular season last year.
No one has been innocent this year. Patrick Mahomes has thrown more than his fair share of interceptions, multiple wide receivers have fumbled, multiple punt returners have muffed punts, and even the special teams unit has been vulnerable has fallen for a fake punt and failed to convert on a fake field goal.
One silver lining is that the Eagles aren't ballhawks on defense. They force their share of takeaways but only rank tied-20th in that category. Although that isn't terrible, it isn't scary either. In this matchup, fumbles will likely be a bigger concern than interceptions, due to Philadlephia's ferocious defensive line and an underwhelming secondary.
Against a team as great as Philadelphia, losing the turnover battle is catastrophic. There are very few scenarios in which the Chiefs win this game while also losing turning the ball over more than they take it away.