AP Editors - Are the Chiefs "just lucky?" And the No. 1 AFC picture
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And away we go. It's another edition of the Arrowhead Pride Editor's Show. My name is Pete Sweeney. I'm the editor-in-chief of ArrowheadPride.com, joined once again by my esteemed executive editor, Pete.

John Dixon. John, I think it's safe to say we're in the final stretch, except our final stretch includes three games in 10 days after this Browns matchup that will be this week. Are you bracing yourself for what I think I think will be the most games we've ever covered in such a short area of time?

It's going to be tough, but we'll get through it somehow. Technically, it's 11 days, but okay. 11 days. It's just a lot nicer to say 10. I know. You know what? Well, it makes it seem worse. It'll feel like 10 for the players, I'm sure. Right. Chris Jones has been vocal about this rest thing. I do wonder with how weird the schedule has been. Right this year, they got rid of what was like...

CBS had certain games and Fox had certain games and NBC because they wanted to make the best schedule possible. The problem with the best schedule possible, and don't get me wrong, it's been fun. I think Thursday nights and Monday nights have certainly been better this year, but they really didn't think about player rest or player safety when they did so. And so the Chiefs, of course, being the best team in the league these past few years, I think are

are feeling the brunt of it. One thing we've said a lot in addition to the three games in 10 days is every day except Tuesday this year for the Chiefs, which it's been impressive to see Andy Reid navigate. We have talked before on the podcast of just how routine-driven he is. And so kudos to them for having the record that they do. The latest win...

John was a 1917 win over the Chargers on this free portion of our Pride Editor show. We'll talk about the hot topic of the week, which seems to be, well, the Chiefs are lucky, aren't they? John has some good stuff on that, apparently. And we will address the big swing that we saw on Sunday, those Los Angeles Rams.

We're able to defeat the Buffalo Bills as the Chiefs pulled out their victory. It changes the landscape of the AFC, so we'll give you a glimpse of that. Then we'll get to our premium section, and that's where I got to remind you that if you want to listen to the entire hour of the editor's show, you can. You subscribe to our newsletter, arrowheadpride.com slash subscribe. The link to the editor's show is in the Tuesday newsletter at the top.

And if not, you get this portion for free and you can check out all our stuff at Arrowhead Pride. But that option is available to you. All right, John, let's get into our initial thought from the game. I'll turn it to you. Another close win. How weird is this season? Nineteen seventeen. The final score for the second week in a row. Let me let me tell you something.

1917 is a weird score. That is a very odd score to ever get in a season. And the Chiefs managed it twice in a row. What was your thought immediately following this game? Well, this was a tough one. I really do think this was a tough game on a lot of different levels.

Um, you know, they put in a new player at left tackle that was supposed to be a big help and he wasn't nearly as much help as, as we thought he might be. Um, Patrick Mahomes was running for his life regularly as we've often seen during these games, but he also made some amazing plays, uh, during this game, particularly in the final drive of the game, uh, which made the difference in, in the victory. Um,

So, you know, these things are so odd. I don't even know how to describe them anymore. I'm not surprised that people think that there's something besides skill involved in the Chiefs record at this point because it's all so strange. You know, the consecutive 1917 games is like the weirdest thing of all. Yeah.

Yeah, I used artificial intelligence ahead of the podcast here, and I wanted to find out what is the likelihood of two 1917 victories in a row. It is one in 250,000. So there are longer odds for you to win the lottery, which is something, but I feel like that is wild in itself. I'll put it this way, and...

I think this is where you're seeing the national heads weigh in with like week by week, just asking how good, how real, how genuinely authentic the chiefs are. And I came up with it as I was writing the rapid recap. And I really think it's a nice bow on how I feel about this season. And it's just the fact that, and John, you read this cause you, you edit the pieces before we put them up, but yeah,

I don't think there's anything elite about this team. Like last year, we continually pointed to the defense and said, this is one of the best defenses in the league. If the offense can simply figure it out, who's going to beat this team in the playoffs. I don't think we can point to any aspect of these 2024 chiefs and say, wow, that is spectacular, but they still managed to have an elite record. And again,

It's tough to wrap your head around because I think it would be one thing if it was week six or week seven and the Chiefs were six and one or seven and no like they were. And you're like, well, this type of thing will eventually catch up to them. But there's this thing that you can't really put your finger on. It's like just so non-tangible about this team where it's like they're good enough to make sure that

They can just hang around every week, even if they're not playing exactly well. And then where I think they separate from the other teams is they just have this knack for in the final moments, not shooting yourself in the foot. I'll give you an example. If you watch this Bengals Cowboys game last night, the Cowboys were in a fantastic position to win the game. They should have won. I mean, the game was essentially over with how it was playing out. They blocked the punt.

And then one of the Cowboys tries to pick up after the Bengals have touched it, the ball. And I guess by rule, that's a fumble. By the way, that rule is dumber than the touchback rule. Lo and behold,

The Bengals get the ball back somehow, and they win the game with a touchdown to Jamar Chase. And I just think, right, that has nothing to do with the Chiefs. The Bengals seem to be out of it. I think they have eight losses already. The Cowboys now probably are in the same boat. But I think it's just a good example of in the final moments, the Chiefs really aren't making mistakes to win.

as they say, like lose, you lost yourself the football game. The chiefs just don't do that in the final moments and kudos to them, right? Like whether you win 44, 42 or 19, 17, two weeks in a row, one in 250,000, they count the same, you know? And, and so that, that's just where we're at. I think in, in 2024, can you think of another team that wasn't elite in any category? Can you, can you come up with another one?

Uh, right now that's like in playoff position. I think there's a lot of teams, you know, that you could probably say that about. Well, the one that comes to my mind is the 1972 Miami dolphins. Oh, there you go. Well, that's a good one. I mean, this is, this is, you know, maybe a characteristic of teams that can, that can play at a high level. Now, you know, they certainly the new England Patriots from 2007 wouldn't be in this group. They, they were elite, uh,

as an offense and won many of those games running away with huge offensive scores. But then in the Super Bowl...

They couldn't do it, you know, against a particular team that was managed by Steve Spagnuolo on defense, I might add. But, you know, they couldn't win that last game. The Dolphins won all of them. Fewer games, of course. And, you know, famously an easier schedule. And you certainly can't say the Chiefs have had an easy schedule this year.

But I think that, you know, being good at the same level across the board maybe is an underappreciated thing in football that, you know, it makes it easier to play a complimentary game. Maybe. I don't know. I'm just speculating here. I just, you know, I think it's interesting that you bring up this thing that they're not a league in any other way. And, you know, there's other teams that have done that have been very successful.

I just remember last year and just how I was feeling last year. And I remember because I was still with 6'10 at the time, and 6'10 uses the text line often. And I'd go on these shows, and when I was with CDOT, I would just be like, well, Rasheed Rice is breaking out, and who's going to beat this defense? And I think...

Even I, who I think will sometimes get annoyed with fans for being panicky when they're winning, even I this year, I feel a little bit closer to that of like, well, eventually the wheels have to fall off, right? Than I was last year because I just could always point to, as you mentioned, Steve Spagnuolo on the defense. And I, you know, when I say that, I...

I don't think it's the Chiefs' fault. And I think when you have a team that is winning like this, everyone is looking well. Brett Beach should have traded up for an offensive tackle. Yeah, and four for three picks and next year's first rounder, and then you have to sign Justin Reed, Nick Bolton, Trey Smith, whoever you end up choosing with no picks and no ability to really sign anyone from the outside or like –

they couldn't, they, they loaded up the wide receiver room and then where she rice and Hollywood Brown were just injured. And then now, and I'm sure we'll get to it more in the show. You're like getting to the second and third cornerback. So like, I don't, I don't know what much they could have done differently. I I've used the point before and I'll use it again. Like I think some will often the complainers and whatever, but,

They look at Madden and say, well, I can make moves here and there. It's just not the same. Other teams have to pick up the phone. You have to think about

salary cap, the chiefs are not going to be able to keep all of these impending free agents either. And I, you know, I think in getting information and talking with people in the building, they're looking at next year's drafts essentially as free agency because they're going to be so up against the cap. So I just think it leaves you in a position where I think a lot of this is out of their control. If they were like, let's, let's say John scenario wise that, um,

Kingsley Stilmataia was more like Creed Humphrey, and he was able to start day one. And Hollywood Brown and Rasheed Rice never got injured. And Jalen Watson was there for the whole year. I mean, you're probably not having these conversations. It's not like they didn't try to be what would be a quote-unquote better football team. But then in the same token, you try to look at the record of what they were before.

Last year, going into what would have been this last game, they would have been 8-4. They're still 12-1. They've done enough to essentially buy themselves time. I think that is worth appreciating as we do talk about what this team will be.

Well, yeah, yeah, I agree that they probably would have won some games by bigger margins, but I'm not sure that the record would be any different. You know, would they would they have beaten the Bills? Maybe, maybe not. You know, so often these games are won and lost by things that are not that have really nothing to do.

With the player's ability, you know, I thought in the Bills game, the Bills just did a superior job of coaching. You know, they did a better job of game planning than the Chiefs did. And sometimes it comes down to that. Not every time. You know, obviously, sometimes, you know, a particular player will have an amazing game and can carry the team on his back. We see Patrick Mahomes do that all the time and other players and other teams do that.

But, you know, sometimes a loss would have been a loss no matter who was on the field because the other the other coordinators did a much better job of planning the game and recognizing how they could get an advantage against the other team. I mentioned that in the five things we learned column on Arrowhead Pride dot com yesterday, you know, that that.

the football games about probing for weaknesses and making adjustments to take advantage of your opponent based on what you find when you probe for weaknesses. And then once that happens, the other team makes adjustments of their own and it goes back and forth until the final whistle and a winner is declared. And sometimes the coaching makes a huge difference in that. Yeah. Yeah.

Well, regardless of whatever the hell we think, you can't argue with the standings. And right now the chiefs have a two game lead over the Buffalo bills. John, you're our playoff picture mastermind at Arrowhead pride. What can you tell us about the swing that happened over the weekend?

Well, it was crazy. The Chiefs had less than a 50% chance to win the number one seed when the weekend began. And now it stands at, I think it's 72% or something like that. I mean, it was huge. And that's a big, big swing in one week, particularly since it basically was on one game.

actually two games, the Chiefs winning their game against the Chargers, but also the Rams defeating the Bills made an enormous difference in how easy it'll be for the Chiefs to get the number one seed. As it stands now, the Chiefs can win three of their last four games and they're in no matter what happens with the Bills. If the Bills lose to the Lions, which doesn't seem that improbable,

this Sunday, the Chiefs could wrap this thing up before Christmas Day, which is crazy. Yeah, I think that's the most interesting part to me, that the way that things have turned so sharply. By the way, the Bills and Rams defenses should be ashamed of themselves. What was that final score? It was 44 to 42. There were no turnovers in this game. That's never happened in NFL where two teams scored 40 plus points and there were no turnovers.

No, the way that it sets up, I want to talk about the schedule really quickly. The Chiefs play the Browns. I think we can all agree. I'll even knock on some wood if you want that the Chiefs are better than the Browns. The Bills play the Lions.

And the Steelers play the Eagles, two of the main contenders for what will be the NFC side of things. So let's assume the Chiefs get their win. That would put them at 13-1. The Bills lose 10-4. The Steelers lose their 10-4. And then now you're looking at next week where the Chiefs would play the Texans. At home.

And all they would need to do, correct me if I'm wrong, is win, correct? That's correct. Yeah. If the Steelers and Bills both lose this weekend, then the Chiefs can clinch by beating the Texans at home in week 16. I mean, that's just crazy.

That's just crazy that, you know, a week ago we were trying to figure out if there's any way the Chiefs could get the number one seed. It was all very complicated. But just, you know, by losing this game that nobody really expected the Bills to lose and now looking at it, it didn't seem that unreasonable.

But a week ago, we thought, oh, yeah, yeah, the Bills will beat the Rams. The Rams are always spicy. You know, they're one of those teams that if they're like teetering around 500, I just think they're so well coached that you never know. And that played out. And now you get to week 15. And let's say another scenario. Chiefs win. Let's say the Bills still lose against the Lions because they have the tiebreaker. So there's a main team you got to worry about. Let's say the Steelers win in Philly, the Battle of Pennsylvania. Now you could win against the Texans.

By the way, the Steelers have the Ravens on that same day. They're the second game, but let's say both teams win. Now you're looking at a clincher on Christmas because you're playing the team you have to clinch against. So this is really falling back in favor of the Chiefs, and that's what happens when you win games. And I think fans will be really quick to say you could lose any game. We've seen the Chiefs lose some stinkers. For some reason, the Colts and Titans are coming into my brain. It seems like the AFC North can sometimes pull out those stinkers.

And so you never know, right? Like it's not unreasonable to think Jameis can have the Lord deliver him away from pick sixes and then put up a good performance and make things more interesting. But right now, yeah, I think it's important to say, regardless of all the stuff we're going to talk about in this podcast, after we hit the break, the Chiefs are in really, really good shape again. And, you know, you think about the chances of getting weeks off

plural off, you know, you, you have guys that have played more games than anybody else in the NFL over the past couple of years because of how far they went in the playoffs. You have the Hollywood Brown factor. You have Charles and many of you who I think could, you know, could afford to be tempered. There seems to be a very, very, and I'm going to emphasize very outside chance that Jalen Watson at some point in the playoffs could get back in the mix. I want to maintain that there's not a ton of optimism from the team side, but we'll see about that. So, uh,

Yeah, should be a good final stretch here. And if the Chiefs can get a little bit closer to that dominant fashion that we've been seeing, they're going to look like a complete juggernaut, especially with the week off where...

These teams are going to all have to play a playoff game before they even get to Kansas City. So more on that after the break. We'll talk about Andy Reid. We'll have our world-famous Marietta takeaways. We'll have some initial notes on the Cleveland Browns and the best Chiefs thing I heard all week. If you are sticking with us, we thank you. We'll talk to you soon. If you're not, we'll talk to you next week. This is the Arrowhead Pride Editor Show.