The Kansas City Chiefs had the best record in 2020, going 14-2 while cruising to the No. 1 seed. Their two losses came against the Las Vegas Raiders and then against the Los Angeles Chargers when they rested their starters in Week 17. The Raiders loss was a stunner that came in Week 5. Kansas City might have looked past them, but the Raiders played a great game and won on their own merits. It was likely a wake up call as they went on to win 10 in a row before resting their starters and then going to the Super Bowl for the second straight season.
Betting on win totals, division titles, and Super Bowl appearances is a traditional side of sports betting. However, DraftKings Sportsbook is offering a twist for the coming season. They have posted odds on whether four teams will go 17-0 or 0-17 in the 2021 regular season. The Chiefs have the best odds to do just that with a +3300 line. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers come in second to go 17-0 with a +4000 line, while the Detroit Lions and Houston Texans are the favorites to go 0-17 at +2800 and +2200 respectively.
When asked about possible records this season now that there are 17 games, Patrick Mahomes said “The only record I have my eyes set on breaking, which would be new this year, is going 20-0. That’s not really a record to be broken, I guess you would say. But I think 19-0 is the record right now, so being able to go 20-0, to be the first one to do that, that would be awesome,” per Bleacher Report’s Kayla Nicole.
Only two teams have gone undefeated in the regular season, the 1972 Miami Dolphins, who went 14-0 and then went on to win the Super Bowl, going 17-0 overall while the 2007 New England Patriots went 16-0 and then were upset in the Super Bowl by the Giants. Now that we are at a 17 game season, the odds get even tougher for that elusive perfect season and Super Bowl run.
Below, we will take a look at the Chiefs 2021-22 schedule to see what it will take for Kansas City to win every regular season game.
Easy matchups
Week 4: at Philadelphia Eagles
Week 6: at Washington Football Team
Week 8: vs New York Giants
Week 17: at Cincinnati Bengals
All four of these teams should be better this season, but that likely isn’t enough to make their matchups with the Chiefs much of a contest.
Winnable, but could be close
Week 3: vs Los Angeles Chargers
Week 10: at Las Vegas Raiders
Week 11: vs Dallas Cowboys
Week 13: vs Denver Broncos
Week 14: at Las Vegas Raiders
Week 15L at Los Angeles Chargers
Week 16: vs Pittsburgh Steelers
week 18: at Denver Broncos
I’ve put all the AFC West games in this section even though they have dominated the West of late. If an upset from a less than top-tier team happens, it will likely be in their division. We saw the Raiders pull it off last season.
The non-AFC West games I have here are against the Steelers and Cowboys, both home games. The Cowboys should be better with Dak Prescott back while the Steelers looked awful to end last season. Both have the personnel to put things together though.
If the Broncos were somehow able to land Aaron Rodgers, these Denver games go from likely easy matchups to very tough. But as it is, all of these games should put the Chiefs in the win column.
Tough matchups
Week 1: vs Cleveland Browns
Week 2: at Baltimore Ravens
Week 5: vs Buffalo Bills
Week 7: at Tennessee Titans
Week 9: vs Green Bay Packers
Each one of these teams has the ability to beat the Chiefs. Kansas City should be favored in all of these matchups though. Getting the Bills, who I see as the toughest matchup, at home, is great. With fans back in the stadiums at full force, home field advantage gets a boost. The Chiefs did beat the Bills twice last season, but there is no doubt they are a team that can get the job done.
The Browns made some questionable decisions in their playoff loss to the Chiefs last season but played well and should only be better this year. Kansas City didn’t have much trouble with Baltimore last year in Baltimore. I expect the Ravens to remain one of the elite teams in the league though. The Titans don’t look as good on paper as they have the last couple seasons, but they are in the mix for Julio Jones and the Chiefs main weakness is run defense. And we know the Packers will live and die by Aaron Rodgers. If they can bring him back into the fold, this game will be tough. But right now that doesn’t look all that likely and if not, that game gets moved down, pushing the odds for a 17-0 season up.
The Chiefs lost the Super Bowl last season to the Buccaneers due in part to injuries on their offensive line. They’ve revamped their line and believe they have added depth as well. Health is still extremely important for consistency, but as long as they are healthy, I don’t see any reason to think they don’t have a legitimate shot at the record.
The extra game does mean they’ll have more chances to rest their starters if they are undefeated late in the season. Would they rather rest their starters and lessen the chances for injuries for a better shot at a Super Bowl win or keep going even if the games were meaningless other than for a shot at going undefeated?
At least we know Mahomes has it as a goal, but every quarterback has it as a goal. But there aren’t many that have it as a realistic goal. Is it worth putting a bet on? Well, the odds are good for a nice payout on a small bet. I see no reason not to throw a little money on them this season. I’d love to see them land another wide receiver (paging Julio!), but even if that doesn’t happen, they have the offensive firepower to cut through the NFL easier than any other team, including the Buccaneers.
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