Chiefs may be underdogs in final three games despite best record in NFL

The Kansas City Chiefs own the NFL’s best record at 13-1, yet they could be underdogs in each of their last three regular-season games. Even if Patrick Mahomes recovers from the ankle injury he suffered in the win against the Browns, the Chiefs will end the 2024 campaign with maybe their toughest stretch of the season. 

The Chiefs’ streak of 15 consecutive wins by one score or less ended against Cleveland when Kansas City won 21-7. The game should have been a blowout because the Browns turned the ball over six times, but the Chiefs only managed 311 yards of total offense and punted nine times. 

The NFL has given the Chiefs a brutal schedule down the stretch, not only with the opponents they must face, but Kansas City has three games in 11 days. Considering its bye week was back in Week 6, it is a lot for the league to ask. 

The Chiefs host the Texans on Saturday, six days after playing in Cleveland. Four days later, on Christmas Day, they play at Pittsburgh at 1 p.m. ET. They’ll finish at Denver in Week 18. 

BetMGM already has the Chiefs as a 2.5-point underdog against the Texans, and that is before Mahomes’ availability is known. There is a good chance they are underdogs against the Steelers, too. Even though the Steelers will be playing on short rest, they will be home on Christmas after a short road trip to Baltimore this weekend. 

Denver lost to the Chiefs when a last-second chip-shot field goal was blocked in Kansas City. The Broncos are playing well and will be looking for revenge. Denver might have an extra incentive if its AFC West rivals have a bye in the playoffs on the line. 

It almost defies reason that the Chiefs are 13-1. By Week 3, their top two wide receivers and No. 1 running back were all on injured reserve. Their secondary was decimated as the season progressed, and now, Mahomes is hurt. 

They rank 13th in passing yards and 15th in rushing yards. Until their win against the Browns, they only had 10 takeaways for the season. They won several games in unusual ways, like last-second blocked field goals and a snap to an unprepared quarterback in the waning seconds of a game. 

How long can the good fortune the Chiefs have experienced in games all season last? How long will Mahomes be out? Will Marquise Brown return and make any impact since getting injured on the first offensive play of the preseason?

The Chiefs are already underdogs for the upcoming game vs. Houston, and it would not be a shock if they were road underdogs for the Steelers and Broncos games. That 13-1 record almost seems like a mirage. But is it? Since losing to the Raiders in Kansas City last Christmas, they’ve won 19 of their last 20 games, including road playoff games in Buffalo and Baltimore and a Super Bowl. 

Success doesn’t happen based on luck, but these last three games might give everyone a better idea of whether the Chiefs are as good as their current record suggests.