KANSAS CITY CHIEFS 2021 WIN PREDICTION

BY ADAM GREENE

Of all the outcomes I personally predicted for Super Bowl LV, the Kansas City Chiefs getting blown out 31-9 by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers was the one I never would have believed possible. But, that’s what happens when you go to battle with the tattered un-injured remnants of an offensive line that wasn’t that great to begin with.

As that was their Achilles heel last February, the Chiefs set about this offseason completely rebuilding their team in the trenches, making trades, signing free agents and cashing in draft capital so they won’t find themselves, win or lose, on the bad end of a NFL title game blowout again.

Regardless of their final game of the 2020-21 season, the Chiefs remain the team to beat in the AFC and as long as Patrick Mahomes is healthy, it’ll likely stay that way for a while.

KANSAS CITY CHIEFS

Last season: 14-2, 1^st place AFC West, AFC Champion, Super Bowl runner up

2021 odds: under 12.5 wins -125, over 12.5 wins -105

2021 NFL Draft: Nick Bolton, LB, Missouri – Round 2, Creed Humphrey, C, Oklahoma – Round 2, Joshua Kaindoh, Edge, Florida State – Round 4, Noah Gray, TE, Duck – Round 5, Cornell Powell, WR, Clemson – Round 5, Trey Smith, OG, Tennessee – Round 6

UDFAs: Zayne Anderson, DB – BYU, Dicaprio Bootle, DB – Nebraska, Shane Buechele, QB – SMU, Marlon Character, DB – Louisville, Riley Cole, LB – South Alabama, Malik Herring, DE – Georgia, Devon Key, DB – Western Kentucky, Jaylon McClain-Sapp, DB – Marshall

Acquisitions: Joe Thuney, LG – Free Agent, Jarran Reed, DL – Free Agent, Austin Blythe, C – Free Agent, Mike Hughes, CB – Free Agent, Blake Bell, TE – Free Agent, Will Parks, Safety – Free Agent, Jerick McKinnon, RB – Free Agent, Michael Burton, FB – Free Agent, Orlando Brown Jr., RT – Trade

Key Losses: Eric Fisher – LT, Sammy Watkins – WR, Bashaud Breeland – CB, Damien Wilson – LB, Damien Williams – RB, Austin Reiter – C, Mitchell Schwartz – RT, Tanoh Kpassagnon – Edge, Stefan Wisniewski – LG, Daniel Kilgore – C, Antonio Hamilton – CB, Le’Veon Bell – RB, Martinas Ranking – LT, Ricky Seals-Jones – TE, Deon Yelder – TE, Alex Brown – CB

PRESUMED STARTERS

QB: Patrick Mahomes

RB: Clyde Edwards-Helaire

WR: Tyreek Hill

WR: Mecole Hardman

WR: Demarcus Robinson

TE: Travis Kelce

FB: Michael Burton

LT: Orlando Brown

LG: Joe Thuney

C: Austin Blythe

RG: Laurent Duvernay-Tardiff

RT: Mike Remmers

LDE: Mike Danna

LDT: Chris Jones

RDT: Jarran Reed

RDE: Frank Clark

OLB: Nick Bolton

MLB: Anthon Hitchens

OLB: Willy Gay

CB: L’Jarius Sneed

CB: Charvarius Ward

SS: Tyrann Mathieu

FS: Juan Thornhill

K: Harrison Butker

P: Tommy Townsend

FORECAST

Normally I go through a team’s schedule and pick through each game to come up with what I think their final record will be. With Kansas City, there’s just no use in doing that. The Chiefs, barring any catastrophic injuries, will be favored in all 17 of their games regardless of who they play. Will they go undefeated? Probably not. How many games will they win? Plenty.

This is a tough schedule, especially out the gate when they host the Cleveland Browns, then travel to Baltimore to face the Ravens. After that it’s the Los Angeles Chargers and a week off against the Philadelphia Eagles before an AFC title game rematch against the Buffalo Bills. It’s going to be that way all year and it just won’t matter. Kansas City remains the safest bet to win the AFC. Heavy is the head the wears the crown.

Final Record Prediction: 13-4

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