Chiefs Beat Browns, Move to 2-0

No that title is not a misprint, the Kansas City Chiefs have opened the season 2-0. Kansas City won a close road contest against the Cleveland Browns to remain undefeated and on top of the AFC West standings. While not thoroughly convincing, a win is a win, and the team has already matched half of its win total from last season.

After finishing what was yet again a terrible preseason, many thought that the young Chiefs were still at least a year away from contention. However, the league's weakest schedule and a few signs of life from the running game and special teams turned some fans into believers. After the first two weeks, many are starting to wonder if Kansas City can make a push for the playoffs.

Now before Chief fans get too carried away, lets not forget that even really bad teams can jump out to fast starts (Tampa Bay, anyone?) and then cool off. The Chiefs offense is still held back from subpar play from Matt Cassel and not getting Jamaal Charles the ball enough (despite his eye-opening stats).

The Chiefs have made obvious improvements, but still have a long way to go. With an easy schedule and weak division, there is no reason why the team shouldn't at least contend for a playoff spot. At the very least, the team may still be in playoff contention after week 8, which is a big improvement from the past two seasons.

NFL Predictions, Season Officially Underway

The NFL regular season is officially here, as the New Orleans Saints defeated the Minnesota Vikings 14-9 last night in a rematch of last year's epic NFC Championship Game. The game showed us that the Saints will be as formidable as they were last year en route to winning it all, and the Vikings may be on shaky ground. Adrian Peterson is a beast, but lets not forget Brett Favre's hamstring and ankle have seen better days, and the team is missing a few key weapons such as leading WR Sidney Rice.

With the rest of the season about to get underway, I thought I would take a look at the NFL as a whole and through out some division predictions, as well as postseason predictions. The teams in each division are listed in a predicted order of finish.

AFC East
NY Jets
New England Patriots
Miami Dolphins
Buffalo Bills

I wanted to pick the Pats to win, as I am not sold on the Jets offense under Mark Sanchez. However, how am I going to pick someone who looks like Justin Bieber? Miami may be a year away as QB Chad Henne grows and adjusts to getting the ball to Brandon Marshall.

AFC North
Cincinatti Bengals
Baltimore Ravens
Pittsburg Steelers
Cleveland Browns

The Bengals offense lights it up once again, and a better defense wins the division. I don't see Pittsburg recovering from starting Dennis Dixon at QB for four games.

AFC South
Indianapolis Colts
Tennessee Titans
Houston Texans
Jacksonville Jaguars

A very tough division. Colts win it every year, and Houston and Tennessee should battle it out for second place and a wild card spot.

AFC West
San Diego Chargers
Kansas City Chiefs
Oakland Raiders
Denver Broncos

Broncos loose too much, Chargers have too much talent. Watch out for the Chiefs and Raiders though, both will be better and could surprise this comming season.

NFC East
NY Giants
Dallas Cowboys
Philadelphia Eagles
Washington Redskins

Everyone loves the Cowboys, so I'm taking a bounce back year for the Giants. Watch out for Washington, they may not be playoff ready but adding Donovan McNabb and Mike Shanahan at coach could be a huge upgrade.

NFC North
Green Bay Packers
Minnesota Vikings
Chicago Bears
Detroit Lions

The Lions should be better this year, while the Vikings should be worse. Green Bay has a potent offense and a solid defense, and should be able to win the North.

NFC South
New Orleans Saints
Atlanta Falcons
Carolina Panthers
Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The Saints will become the first NFL South team to win the division in back to back years in the league's history (no I'm not making that up). Atlanta looks like a playoff caliber team, while Carolina and Tampa Bay will be forced to make due with shaky QB play.

NFC West
San Francisco 49ers
Arizona Cardinals
Seattle Seahawks
St. Louis Rams

The 49ers have a good defense, running attack and are finally getting consistent play from QB Alex Smith. The rest of the division is so terrible that San Francisco should be able to run away with this one.

For a superbowl prediction, how about Indianapolis over New Orleans in a bitter rematch from last year's game? How juicy would that be?

Comments?

Chiefs Beat Packers, Regular Season Prediction

The Kansas City Chiefs finally got a preseason win, beating the Green Bay Packers 17-13 last night at Arrowhead Stadium. The preseason is finally over, which means Kansas City fans can officially look forward to the regular season.

Over the preseason, I felt like I was able to get a good grasp on the Chiefs strengths, weaknesses and possibilities. With that in mind, lets break down the teams game-by-game and take a look at the Cheifs' regular season schedule:

Week 1: San Diego Chargers

The Cheifs will put up a fight, but the Chargers have too much talent on both sides of the ball. LOSS

Week 2: @ Cleveland Browns
Chiefs get revenge from last season's debacle and hang on to win a close road victory

WIN

Week 3: San Francisco 49ers
The 49ers have too much talent on defense, and Alex Smith may have moved past Matt Cassel in the QB picking order of the NFL. Sad isn't it?

LOSS

Week 5: @ Indianapolis Colts
This game is terrifying

LOSS

Week 6: @ Houston Texans
The Texans simply have a little more talent on both sides of the ball.
LOSS

Week 7: Jacksonville Jaguars
Kansas City matches up well with the Jags on defense. The offense and special teams should make the difference.
WIN

Week 8: Buffalo Bills
Chambers doesn't drop the sure touchdown this time. Kansas City simply has the better team
WIN

Week 9: # Oakland
Raiders finally have a decent quarterback. Feeling a split this year with the Raiders.
LOSS

Week 10: @ Denver
Mile High has been a house of horrors for the Chiefs
LOSS

Week 11: Arizona Cardinals
Matt Cassel will look like a superstar compared to the mess at QB for Arizona.
WIN

Week 12: @ Seattle Seahawks
The Seabirds lack talent, and seem to be hampered by injuries every year. This game is late, so...

WIN

Week 13: Denver Broncos
Chiefs repeat last year's home finale by running all over Denver again. Not even this guy will save the donkeys.
WIN

Week 14: @ San Diego Chargers
Meh
LOSS

Week 15: @ St. Louis Rams
You and I could lineup for WR for the Rams. Seriously lets do it.
WIN

Week 16: Tennessee Titans
Chiefs will struggle to stop the Titans potent ground attack
WIN

Week 17: Oakland Raiders

Last time I checked, Al Davis still owns this team.
WIN

All in all, the Cheifs have a very easy schedule (most pundits have deemed it the easiest schedule in the league) and have the chance to be competitive. If Cassel can recover from a poor preseason and the defense keeps improving, Kansas City will have a shot.