The Kansas City Chiefs, as Super Bowl champions, will have a big target on their back throughout the 2020 NFL season.
Teams in the AFC will be looking to prevent the “Run It Back” tour the Chiefs are currently planning. They’ll do anything it takes to get a win over the champions and keep them out of the postseason. So who are experts picking as their biggest threat to knock off the reigning Super Bowl champions in the upcoming season and threaten their chances at a repeat Super Bowl appearance?
NFL Network analysts Willie McGinest, LaDainian Tomlinson and Michael Robinson recently were tasked to pick their biggest threat to the Chiefs in the AFC. Each of them had different opinions on who that team might be and for some unique reasons.
McGinest chose the Baltimore Ravens, saying they got surprised after the bye week in last year’s playoffs, but he doesn’t expect it to happen again.
“The Baltimore Ravens are a team of attitude,” McGinest said. “A lot of guys on that team have chips on their shoulders. We know they have the No. 1 running game in the whole league, averaging 206 yards [per game]. They’re going to be physical upfront and they’re going to continue to run the football.”
McGinest really liked what the Ravens did on the defensive side of the ball too.
“Defensively, Wink Martindale, my guy the defensive coordinator, got the middle linebacker he’s been looking for to replace CJ Mosley in Patrick Queen,” McGinest said. “They bring over Calais Campbell, they re-sign Matthew Judon, they bring over Derek Wolfe. Listen, this team got better in the offseason. . .”
It’s hard to deny it, the Ravens absolutely improved on both sides of the ball during this offseason, but is it enough to beat the Chiefs? I’m not so sure.
On the other hand, Tomlinson chose the Tennessee Titans for his team. He cited the AFC championship game and the Chiefs’ regular-season loss to Titans as reasons why they pose a threat.
“You know why I like them? It’s all about the identity and make-up of this football team,” Tomlinson said. “They returned pretty much everybody but Jack Conklin… So, this team is virtually the same. And Willie [McGinnest], I love what your former teammate Mike Vrabel has done with this team. It really reminds me of your old teams: physical, disciplined. And at the end of the day, they’re going to play their brand of football. I think that matches up well with the Kansas City Chiefs.”
The final option, presented by Robinson, was the Indianapolis Colts.
“I love Philip Rivers and I love the fact that they have Rivers there,” Robinson said. “Then they have this kid Jonathan Taylor out of Wisconsin. [He had] over 6,000 yards running the football in college. . . then I loved what I saw at the combine from Jonathan Taylor. He can catch the ball out of the backfield. I think he’s a three-down back. . .”
I’m worried that Robinson hasn’t actually watched Rivers play against the Chiefs in recent years. He won a single game against Kansas City since 2014 and it came down to a blown coverage on a two-point conversion in the final seconds of the game.
Perhaps the most surprising thing to me is how quickly these analysts have counted out the New England Patriots. That team had perhaps the best defense in the NFL a season ago, but it was a beat-up receiver corp and offensive struggles that held the team back the most. Jarrett Stidham is an unknown, but Bill Belichick remains one of the most inventive and winningest coaches of all-time. I don’t expect that to change all that much with the absence of Tom Brady.
Who does the Chiefs Kingdom feel is the biggest threat to the Chiefs in the AFC this season? Be sure to let us know your thoughts on Facebook and Twitter.
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