Chiefs Four Biggest Potential Rivals Over the Next Decade – Part II – I’m taking a continued look into which teams present themselves as the biggest potential rivals for our beloved Kansas City Chiefs over the next decade. I define “rival” as: the teams that are going to be tough and stay competitive during the Chiefs projected dynasty over the next ten-plus years. I’m sticking to one team per division in the AFC, because that means more meetings in the playoffs, and more regular season matchups as the Chiefs are likely to continue their division dominance for years to come. With the Baltimore Ravens and the Indianapolis Colts revealed in Part I, today we’ll take a look at the other two.
The Buffalo Bills
Yes, the New England Patriots are still the favorites to win the AFC East after picking up Cam Newton in free agency this offseason. Yes, a vast majority of Chiefs fans already consider the Patriots to be a rival of the Chiefs with the same hatred we have towards the Denver Broncos or Oakland (now Las Vegas) Raiders. However, Tom has moved down south to Tampa Bay and has taken away the “current GOAT vs. potential future GOAT” matchup. To me, the Patriots are on their way out as the Chiefs start to take over their dynasty. But as long as head coach Bill Belichick still has talent on the roster, I can’t definitively say that the Patriots are going anywhere. Still, something in the back of my mind keeps saying that their dynasty has reached its last Super Bowl and is coming to an end. The Jets and the Dolphins are both still rebuilding quite substantially, so that leaves the up-and-coming Buffalo Bills.
It is still unclear if the phrase “Defense wins championships” will apply in Buffalo over the next few years. If this saying is as true as many think it is, then they certainly have a shot. The Buffalo Bills are yet again going to have a top-ten defense in 2020 barring any major injuries or setbacks. They have youth and talent everywhere you look on that defense from one of the hottest young cornerbacks in Tre’Davious White and free safety Micah Hyde in the secondary, to second-year defensive tackle Ed Oliver and rookie defensive end AJ Epenesa (a steal in the late second round in my opinion), and second-year middle linebacker Tremaine Edmunds. All of these guys are stars in the making and the solid young core that will become household names in upstate New York for years to come.
The Buffalo offense has been its main issue over the past couple years. Quarterback Josh Allen has used the past couple years to really develop into a decent player. He’s tough, determined, and with a little more improvement on his mechanics I think he can be a decent thrower; he certainly has the raw arm strength for it.
Devin Singletary turned out to be a bit of a surprise in his rookie campaign and quickly took over the starting running back job in Buffalo, with rookie Zack Moss and TJ Yeldon as his backups, the Bills will continue to have a strong running game. Then the Bills went out and splurged sending four draft picks in total to Minnesota for wide receiver Stefon Diggs. Diggs joins John Brown, Cole Beasley, and second-year tight end Dawson Knox as the main targets for up-and-coming Josh Allen. Yes the Buffalo Bills are a bit untested in big games, but with their high-powered defense and run game, they can control the pace of most any game, which can be an enormous advantage. Along with the already-established rivalry with the New England Patriots, I think the Buffalo Bills have a pretty good chance of being a thorn in the Chiefs side over the next decade.
The Denver Broncos
Okay, I get it, the Denver Broncos are already our rivals, just like the Las Vegas Raiders and Los Angeles Chargers. Although, the Raiders haven’t beaten a playoff team since they hired their current head coach John Gruden to a ten-year contract. The Chargers are the other logical choice as far as the team that is most likely to be competitive with the Chiefs for years to come, and yes, they have a great defense that is both wildly talented and still very young. However, Tyrod Taylor and rookie Justin Herbert are just not the guys I believe to be the answer for the Chargers at the critical position of quarterback. Their offensive line needs several holes filled, and until that happens, they are going to struggle offensively… especially in the first half of this season since they have not yet been able to work together this offseason. They lost running back Melvin Gordon to the Broncos this offseason and if wide receiver Keenan Allen can’t stay healthy, their offensive weapons revolve around wide receiver Mike Williams and tight end Hunter Henry, who I actually really like as a player, I just don’t see him being a team’s number one target like Travis Kelce or George Kittle. So, if we leave out the Chargers and don’t even consider the Raiders — hahaha! — that leaves the Denver Broncos.
The Denver Broncos have very quietly gotten a lot better this offseason. They had a stellar draft in my opinion:
- Round 1, No. 15 overall: Jerry Jeudy, WR, Alabama
- Round 2, No. 46 overall: KJ Hamler, WR, Penn State
- Round 3, No. 77 overall: Michael Ojemudia, CB, Iowa
- Round 3, No. 83 overall: Lloyd Cushenberry III, C, LSU
- Round 3, No. 95 overall: McTelvin Agim, DT, Arkansas
- Round 4, No. 118 overall: Albert Okwuegbunam, TE, Missouri
- Round 5, No. 178 overall: Justin Strnad, LB, Wake Forest
- Round 6, No. 181 overall: Netane Muti, OG, Fresno State
- Round 7, No. 252 overall: Tyrie Cleveland, WR, Florida
- Round 7, No. 254 overall: Derrek Tuszka, OLB, North Dakota State
By snatching up wide receivers Jerry Jeudy and KJ Hamler and University of Missouri tight end Albert Okwuegbunam ( who he already has sound chemistry with from their days at Mizzou and… he’s still fourth on the tight end depth chart), the Broncos have improved their passing game. Adding these guys to wide receiver Courtland Sutton, who has quickly become one of the top young receivers in the game, and the Denver Broncos have, by far and away, the second best offense in the AFC West behind only, and obviously, the Chiefs. Drew Lock has developed very quickly into a solid quarterback; granted we are working with a small sample size, but he has shown much promise for Denver fans. Tack on the three-headed rushing monster of running backs Melvin Gordon, Phillip Lindsay, and Royce Freeman, and this Denver offense is no joke!
Remember back in the mid-2010s when the Broncos had a scary-good defense? Well, don’t think back too hard because here they come again: Von Miller is still Von Miller, and Bradley Chubb is on his opposite side. These two can serious rush the passer about as good as any other pass-rushing duo in the league (thank goodness the Chiefs have excellent offensive tackles). Then factor in former-Titans defensive tackle Jurrell Casey (one of the few elite pass-rushing tackles, just behind players like Aaron Donald and the Chiefs own Chris Jones), the secondary of Justin Simmons, Kareem Jackson, and AJ Bouye, and the Broncos have also put together a top-tiered defensive unit for the upcoming campaign. Now, I’m not saying that this year the Broncos are going to overtake the Chiefs in the division, or even make the playoffs, but wait until the Chiefs have to cut back on a few contracts and these young guys in Denver build chemistry, and I’m saying they could easily be our biggest competition for years to come. From the Denver Post, here’s the Broncos defensive numbers and rankings by each quarter of the 2019 season, a season when they had lost five of nine one-score contests:
The Broncos look like their set to improve on those numbers including the win rate in close games in 2020.
Biggest Potential Rivals Summary
Currently, the Chiefs only have a couple non-AFC teams that the organization, players, and fans might consider to be a “rival:” the New England Patriots and Houston Texans. However, when we start looking down the road three, five, or even ten years, I’m not so sure that list is going to stay in tact. Obviously we are still going to have a very active rivalry against the Broncos, Chargers, and Raiders… because some things will never change, but when you look around the league at these young teams that are just overflowing with talent, you can’t help but think a new rival or two might be in store a decade or so down the road. Sure some of these teams might have some chemistry issues or need to continue developing their major components, but when I look at the rosters, front offices, and coaching staffs of the Baltimore Ravens, Indianapolis Colts, Buffalo Bills, and Denver Broncos, I see four teams who have the most potential to continually stand in the way of our up-and-coming dynasty and become potential rivals throughout the 2020’s.
David Beck — ArrowheadOne
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