The Kansas City Chiefs didn’t put forth the most inspiring performance on Monday Night Football in Week 9. They were expected to roll versus the Tampa Bay Buccaneers but didn’t prevail until Kareem Hunt’s overtime game-winning touchdown.
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Chiefs win it in overtime to remain unbeaten! pic.twitter.com/Klz0vELuAE
— NFL (@NFL) November 5, 2024
However, Kansas City improved to 8-0 with the victory. And in the process, they became the 30th 8-0 team in NFL history. On Tuesday, ESPN’s NFL Live took a look at the past 29 organizations to start 8-0 and gave fans a picture of the Chiefs’ Super Bowl chances. The results were as follows:
- 100% (29/29) of 8-0 teams made the playoffs
- 69% (20/29) of 8-0 squads reached their conference championship
- 55% (16/29) of 8-0 franchises appeared in the Super Bowl
- 28% (8/29) of 8-0 organizations won the Super Bowl
The NFL’s last 8-0 team was the 2022 Philadelphia Eagles. Philly made the playoffs, hosted the NFC Championship and played in the Super Bowl, but lost to Kansas City in the big game.
Who could stop the Chiefs from pulling off the three-peat?
Kansas City’s hot start has them in great position to be the AFC’s No. 1 seed. The Chiefs have already claimed the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Baltimore Ravens, and possess multi-game leads on all of their fellow division leaders – the Buffalo Bills (7-2), Pittsburgh Steelers (6-2) and Houston Texans (6-3).
If Kansas City remains atop the AFC standings, they’d receive a first-round bye and host in each of the AFC’s ensuing playoff rounds. Mahomes is 12-2 at home in his postseason career. In other words, a conference foe knocking the Chiefs off at Arrowhead Stadium seems to be unlikely.
In the Super Bowl, Kansas City’s most probable opponents – based on FanDuel’s odds – would be the Detroit Lions, San Francisco 49ers or Philadelphia Eagles. The Chiefs have defeated the 49ers and Eagles in their past two Super Bowls but did lose to the Lions in Week 1 of the 2023 season.
Detroit (7-1) slipped up in Week 2 versus the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but have been the NFC’s most dominant team. Their plus-110 point differential is far and away the NFL’s best (the Washington Commanders plus-74 margin is second-best). Right now, it appears if any franchise could pull Kansas City off their perch, it would be the Lions.
