Why a Loss Might Actually Be Beneficial For Chiefs

With the game of the year on tap against the Buffalo Bills, the chatter of a potential undefeated season for the Kansas City Chiefs is getting louder. Should they surpass their biggest test to date, their schedule will loosen up until right around Christmas, when a season-ending three-game stretch against the Houston Texans, Pittsburgh Steelers, and Denver Broncos will be their next true measuring-stick games.

This isn’t to say they couldn’t lose a game in between to the likes of Las Vegas, the Chargers, or even the Panthers or Browns, but in all likelihood, any potential losses will come from the quarter of Buffalo and the aforementioned three-game gauntlet to end the year.

To this point, the Chiefs have found seemingly every which way imaginable to win and stay perfect in 2024. They have won 15 straight dating back to last Christmas against Vegas, when they fell flat in a 20-14 loss and found themselves not only 9-6, but still needing one more win to wrap up the AFC West. In many ways, that loss was the kick in the teeth they needed to fuel their postseason run to a second straight Super Bowl win, and the residual effects have been stunning throughout this magical 2024 campaign.

Which brings us to this Sunday’s showdown against the Bills. So, consider this: Buffalo is 0-3 against Kansas City in the postseason in the Allen-Mahomes era, but has beaten KC the last three years in the regular season — all in Kansas City, no less. There is no hex on the Bills when it comes to any game played between September and December, and Mahomes has officially never won a regular-season game in Buffalo in front of fans (he won his only regular-season game there in 2020). This is all to point out that the Bills, favored by 2.5 points in this game, have a very legitimate chance to hand the Chiefs their first loss of 2024.

Were this to happen, it would mean a few things for Kansas City. First, it would tighten the race for the AFC’s top seed, seeing as how the Bills would only trail the Chiefs by one game and own the head-to-head tiebreaker should they end up with identical records. Second, it would give the Chiefs their first bitter taste of defeat and force a mental reset as they enter a two-game stretch against lackluster Carolina and Vegas teams that could be, in theory, easy to overlook.

To build on the latter, it would also force the Chiefs to treat the regular season with a little more urgency, as no one can overstate the importance of the top seed these days as only one team gets a bye week. On the flip side, a Chiefs win would put them three games ahead of Buffalo and Baltimore, both of whom the Chiefs have the head-to-head advantage over, and would all but wrap up the No. 1 seed. Additionally, you could argue that the pressure of the undefeated season will be gone, and Kansas City can simply focus on their goal of having wild card weekend off.

But the Chiefs do end up staying undefeated after Sunday, and win their next four games against the Panthers, Raiders, Chargers, and Browns — all very winnable games, even though the Chargers are playoff contenders — the Chiefs would wrap up the top seed with three weeks to go. Coupled with a bye week, you’re talking about basically a full month between games of any significance by the time the divisional round rolls around. The rust factor could become very real.

Of course, no one ever would say they want to lose a game. The goal is to win every single time out there, and the Chiefs have done just that through nine games. A win over an 8-2 Buffalo team would also further silence doubters who point to luck being a major reason for their perfect start, when in reality, the Chiefs have beaten some very strong or at least pretty good teams along the way in Baltimore, Cincinnati, Atlanta, the Chargers, and San Francisco. You cannot reasonably expect a team to every blow out a good team, so winning close games against quality competition is nothing to sneeze at.

Regardless of the outcome Sunday, the Chiefs will find themselves chasing something over the final seven weeks of the regular season. Whether that is holding on to the top seed or simply statistical perfection remains to be seen.