The defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs are coming off their third Super Bowl win in the last five years.
Only one season within those five years has seen the Chiefs fail to get out of the AFC. Now, former Chiefs running back and NFL legend LeSean McCoy is saying there is not a single threat to the Chiefs in the AFC.
LeSean McCoy is adamant about the lack of threats to the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC
On the FOX Sports show “Speak,” McCoy claimed that the Chiefs have proven there is no one around to threaten their claim to the AFC title. In an article from The Spun, McCoy cites the fact that there have been several departures of key players, yet the Chiefs continue to win.
“The Chiefs were winning with all of these special players and weapons. Then they get rid of (wide receiver) Tyreek Hill. Nobody thought that they would go back again. They do it again! And you look at this year – they weren’t that good… and then they win a championship. And we’re at the same spot again.
“We’re at the same spot every year and I’m tired of it! I will not be fooled. Every year we say ‘Who’s the biggest threat to the Chiefs?’ and we throw these teams around. And what do the Chiefs do? They win and they win and they win again. So, me, myself, LeSean McCoy, I will not sit up here and… play this game with the big dogs… There’s no threat to the Chiefs!”
LeSean McCoy is uniquely qualified when it comes to understanding what it takes to beat the Kansas City Chiefs
McCoy is about as qualified as one can be when it comes to understanding what it takes to beat the Chiefs, especially in the postseason.
McCoy has two Super Bowl rings in his career and both of them involved the Chiefs in some capacity. One of the rings was acquired when he was a part of the Chiefs. While he wasn’t the main guy in the backfield, being inside the locker room gives a unique insight into how a team operates.
Even if the team has changed a lot since then, the core pieces are still there and head coach Andy Reid is still running the organization in a similar fashion.
On top of winning with the Chiefs, McCoy was a part of one of the few teams that were able to take the Chiefs down in the postseason. McCoy was a part of the Tom Brady-led Tampa Bay Buccaneers that beat the Chiefs in the Super Bowl in a not-so-exciting fashion.
Once again, McCoy wasn’t an integral part of that team, but being on the field level with a team that was able to knock off the Chiefs gives a unique insight into what it takes to beat them in the postseason.
There are still some teams that could potentially pose a threat to the Kansas City Chiefs in 2024
While the Chiefs have grown into what seems like an unbeatable juggernaut with back-to-back Super Bowls, there are still some teams that could pose a threat to their continued dynasty.
First and foremost, the Cincinnati Bengals likely pose the largest threat to the Chiefs in the postseason considering they are the only team that has proven they can get the job done. The other teams that have beaten the Chiefs have been led by Tom Brady, who is now retired.
Burrow is 3-1 against Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs and his only loss was a controversial 2022 AFC Championship game. Burrow and the Bengals managed to beat the Chiefs in the postseason when they still had wide receiver Tyreek Hill, who has a strong argument to be considered the best wide receiver in the league.
Another team that could pose a threat to the Chiefs is the Baltimore Ravens. While the Chiefs handled business against them in the 2023 AFC Championship Game, the Ravens were mere inches away from making it an entirely different game. The Chiefs only beat the Ravens by one score and if wide receiver Zay Flowers was able to put the ball in the end zone rather than fumbling on the goal line, the outcome of the game could’ve been very different.
While the Chiefs managed to get the job done, the sheer physical proximity to the goal line represents the fact that there isn’t an insurmountable gap between the Chiefs and the other teams in the AFC. In the NFL, other teams are never too far behind.
Other potential AFC threats with a lot more to prove include the Houston Texans, the New York Jets, and the Buffalo Bills. None of these teams have proven they can compete with the Chiefs in the postseason, but major roster shakeups could put them over the edge in 2024.
All of the potential competition for the Chiefs doesn’t take into account the level of entropy that defines the NFL. The non-spherical ball gives way to unpredictable bounces and one wrong bounce could be the difference between victory and defeat. Still, it is the Chiefs’ title to lose. Until someone takes it from them, McCoy’s estimation will remain correct.
