Much was expected of the Kansas City Chiefs this season, but it’s fair to say that the Arrowhead Stadium side have struggled to meet that expectation. However, recent form has helped give Andy Reid’s side hope of making a push to make their third straight Super Bowl appearance.
Seven weeks into the season saw the Chiefs down 3-4 and star quarterback Patrick Mahomes was found guilty of a number of errors that had not helped matters but four wins on the bounce have helped transform Kansas City’s season.
When the season started Kansas City were the clear favorites, with reigning champions Tampa Bay Buccaneers some way behind, but the latest Vegas odds for the NFL super bowl sees them currently sitting at (+750), behind Tom Brady’s side. Underdogs Arizona are close behind at (+900) while the faltering Buffalo Bills have dropped to (+900).
Mahomes remains the key performer in Reid’s set-up, and having thrown for eight interceptions in the first six games of the season; he’s managed to keep that number down to just three over the course of the past five, of which the Chiefs have won four, including four on the bounce.
The big turning point for Kansas could have come in their 41-14 mauling of the Las Vegas Raiders, during which Mahomes threw for 416 yards and five touchdowns. The Chiefs now sit top of the AFC West but will have to make sure they don’t give up this great run of form as they are still perilously close to all the other sides in their division.
63-year-old Reid knows that his side can not get complacent; he’s been around long enough to know that the moment a team sits back and attempts to ride the crest of the wave they’ve made, they invariably stumble.
Reid, and the Kansas City Chiefs as a whole, are probably not happy that this is their bye week as they would’ve been keen to keep their winning run going, but he’s hoping that they keep that focus that’s needed to drive them long into the postseason.
“Every town, every city has an opportunity to win football games. That’s a great thing, and we’re no different. We’ve just got to keep our nose to it and bear down as we go. Take each game as it comes. We haven’t proven anything yet. You can talk about all of it after the season. Go find an island and go lay around and tell everybody about it but right now… not so much.” Reid commented.
That said, Reid was clearly over the moon with the way Kansas City defended soundly against the Dallas Cowboys in their latest win, where they kept their opponents to single-digits in a 19-9 win. That’s the lowest the Cowboys have scored all season, and it’s a win that proved that Mahomes isn’t the only part of Reid’s outfit that can run a number of the opposition.
“People were so used to our offense kind of going out there and putting up these numbers, but I would say it every week when I was right here at the podium, don’t lose how good our defense is playing. To go up against an offense like that, that has put up so many yards, so many scores and touchdowns and to shut it down, that’s impressive.” Mahomes stated in appreciation of his defense.
