Kansas City Chiefs:  This is a big year for the Dorsey/Reid administration.  It is by far the most talented team that the pair has assembled since they’ve been in Kansas City, and has the potential to be one of the best in the league.  Going into the year, from my perspective, anything short of a playoff win, not just getting there, but getting there and winning at least one game, is a failure.  With that being said, I hate to then go and predict another 9-7 season for the Chiefs, but that’s where I unfortunately think they’ll end up.  I just got done saying they’re more talented than they’ve been in the 2 previous seasons when they won 11 and 9 games respectively, so why do I think we’re most likely in store for another disappointing 9 win season?  Mostly due to the way the schedule lines up, not so much who we play, but when we play them.  Not having Dontari Poe for who knows how long will be tough, but losing Sean Smith to suspension for the first 3 weeks of the season is even tougher.  Throwing rookie defensive backs at Peyton Manning and Aaron Rodgers in weeks 2 and 3 respectively is a recipe for disaster, and I don’t see our offense being able to score enough points to keep up with those 2 QBs.  Outside of that, in weeks 1 and 4 the Chiefs are on the road against Houston and Cincinnati.  Now those 2 teams are teams that the Chiefs are definitely capable of beating, but they are both equally capable of beating the Chiefs.  Combine that with both of those games being on the road, and dropping at least one of them is much more likely than not.  So out of the gate at 1-3 puts us behind the 8-ball early in the season before returning home for Chicago which is a game the Chiefs can and should win, getting back to 2-3.  The next 3 games then become absolutely massive to get back to at least .500 before the bye week.  Those games are:  at Minnesota, vs Pittsburgh and in London against Detroit.  Those are all winnable games, but much like weeks 1 and 4, they’re also very lose-able.  I think getting 2 out of the 3 would be a great accomplishment which would put the Chiefs at 4-4 going into their bye week.  Coming off the bye, 3 out of the next 4 are on the road again and those road games are all within the division.  Starting at Denver, where Kansas City has only won twice in the last 15 years and neither of those wins came against the Peyton Manning led Denver Broncos.  I really think Kansas City has the talent to end their 6 game losing streak against Denver this season; but with the injuries and suspensions to start the year I don’t see a way the Chiefs get a win in their home opener, and beating Denver in Denver is not something I can ever count on the Chiefs actually doing, so I think this one goes down as a loss.  Next is at San Diego where the Chiefs won last year, but another road divisional game is tough and I think we end up splitting with the Chargers this year so that brings us to 4-6 with 6 games left to play.  Home against Buffalo, Cleveland, San Diego, and Oakland all should be wins, so too should the game at Oakland.  That has us at 9-6 and I see the 7th loss coming at Baltimore in week 15. Will 9-7 make the playoffs in the AFC? It could, but I don’t think it’s likely, which is unfortunate because I think IF the Chiefs are able to get into the postseason, I think our 21 year playoff win drought would in fact end.  Hopefully I’m wrong about the results, but that’s just how I see it. 

  Now, as far as the rest of the league and the NFL playoffs go, I think it will play out something like this: