At this point in the NFL season, there are clear Super Bowl contenders and pretenders emerging. For the NFC, the Detroit Lions have established themselves as the favorite, but the AFC is still a toss-up. After a miraculous win vs. the Broncos, the Kansas City Chiefs are 9-0 for the first time in the Mahomes era. Beating the Broncos on a blocked kick in a game that they ultimately shouldn’t have won sums up their season. Seven of their nine wins have been within one-score games. Although some argue that the Chiefs just know how to win close games, Patrick Mahomes’ play this season gives another perspective. So far, Mahomes is statistically off to the worst start to a season of his career, already having nine interceptions. For comparison, in the 2007 Patriots undefeated season, Tom Brady passed for 50 touchdowns and 8 interceptions, winning the league MVP. In the last decade, the team that won the Super Bowl almost always has had a top-five quarterback in the NFL.
For the Chiefs to return to the Súper Bowl, they will have to face elite quarterbacks like Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen, and Joe Burrow. Without a competent quarterback, the Chiefs will stand no chance against those teams, and it will be proven this weekend in their game against the Buffalo Bills. Given that Mahomes has been playing like a bottom-five quarterback, the Chiefs will be exposed as a fraudulent team by the time the playoffs come around in January.
Third Down With Devin 