If the Denver Broncos and Oakland Raiders stumble, most figure the Kansas City Chiefs are the team with the best chance to pick up the ball and run with it in the AFC West. The Chiefs, who last won the division title in 2010 and have reigned over the AFC West just twice since 1998, finished with a flurry in 2015, winning 11 straight game before falling to the New England Patriots in the second round of the AFC playoffs. They were as good in 2016, too. And that trend is going to continue in future seasons.
Known as a game manager more than a game breaker, Alex Smith rarely makes a mistake. He holds onto the ball when he needs to and knows how to get the job done. He’s coming to his own as an NFL starter and is a safe starter to put your money on. Smith and his offense hold the ball for large swathes of the game, keeping the opposing offense off the field. And when they do enter the fray, the Chiefs have a solid defensive unit to rely on.
The Kansas City Chiefs made a piece of NFL history in 1991 when longtime Chiefs placekicker Jan Stenerud was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, becoming the first player who performed exclusively during his NFL career as a kicker to be so enshrined.
In an era when kickers were successful on average on 53 per cent of their field goal attempts, Stenerud, who played 13 of his 19 NFL seasons with Kansas City, hit his three-point attempts at a 67 percent ratio.
Born in Norway, Stenerud came to Montana State on a ski jumping scholarship but took up placekicking for the football team and was named an All-American in 1966. He kicked three field goals for the Chiefs in Super Bowl IV, including a 48-yard effort that stood as the longest field in a Super Bowl game for 24 years.
Who Does Kansas City Chiefs Play Next
Want to bet on the Chiefs? Pay close attention to who they play next and where the game is being played while taking into account the game betting lines, all of which is found below.
Kansas City Chiefs Game Schedule
This is where you will find all the details of the Kansas City Chiefs’ NFL game schedule, providing the details you need to make informed wagers on upcoming Chiefs games.
Kansas City Chiefs Standings Today
Are the Kansas City Chiefs poised to return to the top of the AFC West and end the recent dominance of the Denver Broncos and Oakland Raiders? If you think so, now’s the time to make that wager.
How To Make Money Betting On Kansas City Chiefs
It 2015, the Chiefs did something that was a franchise first. They blanked the Houston Texans 30-0 in the AFC wildcard playoffs, the first postseason shutout win in franchise history. Curiously, it was Kansas City's first road playoff win since 1993, a 28-20 victory at Houston over the Oilers.
The Chiefs are going to be good for seaons to come. They will challenge the Raiders for the AFC West title, too. Kansas City is an all-around good team. They play possession football, can score points and have a very strong defensive unit. Smith is the leader of the offensive unit, the quarterback very rarely making crucial mistakes. Oh, and the Chiefs are strong at home and on the road. They are a solid futures pick and should be highly consdiered to make a run. They just have to get by the Raiders, who are themselves an extremely formidable unit.
During their first decade of existence, there was no team that the Kansas City had to take a back seat to in pro football. Between 1960-71, the Chiefs won three AFL titles and a Super Bowl and were the second team after the Green Bay Packers to make multiple Super Bowl apperances.
The Chiefs were multi-point underdogs in both of their Super Bowl appearances - losing 35-10 to the Packers as 13-point underdogs in Super Bowl I and defeating the Minnesota Vikings 23-7 as 12-point underdogs in Super Bowl IV.
On Christmas Day 1971, the Chiefs and Miami Dolphins engaged in one of the most memorable playoff games in NFL history, a double-overtime game that ended after 22:40 of extra play when Miami's Garo Yepremian kicked a 37-yard field goal to give the Dolphins a 27-24 win. Kansas City running back Ed Podolak finished the day with an NFL-record 350 all-purpose yards.
The loss was a sign of things to come for the Chiefs. They wouldn't qualify for the postseason again until 1986 and wouldn't taste postseason victory again until a 10-6 decision over the Oakland Raiders in a wildcard game. It was Kansas City's first playoff triumph since their Super Bowl IV win over the Vikings.
After all that despair, Chiefs fans have a lot to be excited about once again. They are a team for the present and the future in the AFC.
