Watching the various power rankings after each week in the NFL, or even worse the endless debate they cause, brings up the often asked question: Is the team that got away with the W over the better team… a better team? So Chicago beat the Steelers, who in the midst of their problems pounded on the -undefeated at the time- Chiefs. Does this make the Bears a contender?
Well, in some cases it can all be explained by the “i got your number” theory. We all know that in sports lots of teams, despite their ill fated troubles at times, they find a way to cause trouble to certain opponents who look a lot better on paper. This brings us to the curious case of the Kansas City Chiefs. In their last 20 games (playoffs included) their record is 17-3. All three loses came from the Steelers. Do we see a pattern here…?
The loses came in different situations and fashion. On a rainy night in Pittsburgh, Cairo Santos was horrible. In a playoff standoff no touchdowns were scored and the traditional smash mouth team came victorious. On Sunday… well Alex Smith turned from MVP candidate to… Alex Smith: Mr Checkdown. Courtesy of a stingy defense. One that Pittsburgh hadn’t presented since the Super Bowl days of Dick Lebeau.
But lets not crown that defense yet… That game was nothing but proof that Mike Tomlin’s team will find -even amidst an internal turmoil- a way to beat the Chiefs. As we’re sure that the same team will find a way to lose to New England. As they have so many times the past two years. With Big Ben or without. During an early October week or on an AFC Championship game. ‘Cause the Patriots have the Steelers number…
The vicious cycle brings us to our beloved Jets. Although there’s no chance in the world the Jets have New England’s number, they do seem to cause trouble and controversy and all that comes with a traditional NFL rivalry. A few years back, a late Nick Folk kick gave the Jets an unexpected victory. Last week -baring an overturned Seferian-Jenkins 4th quarter touchdown- we’ d be talking about the early dethroning of our Champions. And of course who can forget the 2016 week 17 Patriots loss in overtime, when Bill elected to kick away when his QB was named Tom Brady.
I’m sure we can keep on bringing up mostly lopsided matchups on paper that didn’t turn out exactly how everyone anticipated. No one gets a guaranteed win in the NFL, no matter how better they are in theory. Just make sure that the next time you see Chicago playing an AFC North team, you put your money on Mitch Trubisky and whoever throws a touchdown pass (that’s not a quarterback) that day!
By Dj Rico