The Kansas City Chiefs‘ 25-17 win over the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday was particularly noteworthy for a couple reasons. First, it eliminated the Bengals from playoff contention, the second consecutive campaign in which Cincy‘s season has ended in Kansas City — this time, albeit, before the playoffs had even started.
But second, it confirmed the Chiefs as AFC West champions yet again. For the eighth consecutive season, Patrick Mahomes and company are the class of the division — and even in a season where they haven’t been at their best, the Chiefs will still enter the playoffs guaranteed at least one home game after seeing off challenges from the Denver Broncos, the Los Angeles Chargers, and the Las Vegas Raiders.
Taylor Swift rubs Chiefs win in Bengals face in viral AI-generated video
The West goes through Kansas City…again
The Chiefs left it later than they would have liked this season, but they still wrapped up the AFC West with one game to spare after beating the Bengals. At 10-6, Kansas City can’t be caught atop the division and will finish at least a game better than the 8-8 Broncos, who were eliminated from playoff contention despite their win over the 5-11 Chargers on Sunday.
Kansas City became only the second team to win its division for at least eight consecutive seasons since the AFL–NFL merger in 1970, joining the Bill Belichick–Tom Brady era New England Patriots — who won the AFC East a record 11 seasons in a row between 2009 and 2019. The only other team all-time that can match this run of dominance would be the Cleveland Browns, who started play in the All-America Football Conference and won four consecutive championships before being absorbed into the NFL in 1950.
Reid’s second wind
Chiefs head coach Andy Reid has been in charge for each season of this dominant division title run, which is unlikely to end anytime soon — as long as Mahomes and tight end Travis Kelce remain active players. Reid helped to stabilize a franchise that had gone an NFL-worst 2-14 in 2012, the year before his arrival. Kansas City has racked up at least 10 wins in all but one of his 11 campaigns in charge.
The 2023 season could go done as one of Reid’s more momentous accomplishments — especially if the defending champion Chiefs are able to return to the Super Bowl. Kansas City is uncharacteristically 12th in scoring offense this season, as Mahomes (a career-high 14 interceptions) has missed having a true #1 receiver like Tyreek Hill. But the Chiefs’ defense has morphed into one of the NFL’s best to pick up the lagging offense. KC has allowed the third-fewest points in the league and is second in both passing yards allowed and total yards allowed.
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