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The Kansas City Chiefs will have a chance to become the first team in NFL history to win three straight Super Bowls after clinching a playoff berth on Friday following a 19-17 home win over the Las Vegas Raiders.
1. Kansas City Chiefs (11-1; lead AFC West)
2. Buffalo Bills (9-2; lead AFC East)
3. Pittsburgh Steelers (8-3; lead AFC North)
4. Houston Texans (7-5; lead AFC South)
5. Baltimore Ravens (8-4)
6. Los Angeles Chargers (7-4)
8. Indianapolis Colts (5-7)
10. Cincinnati Bengals (4-7)
11. Cleveland Browns (3-8)
13. Tennessee Titans (3-8)
14. New England Patriots (3-9)
15. Jacksonville Jaguars (2-9)
16. Las Vegas Raiders (2-10)
This marks the 10th consecutive season that the Chiefs will make the playoffs. It’s the second-longest streak in NFL history, trailing only the New England Patriots’ run of 11 straight seasons from 2009 to ’19.
The Chiefs also have the third-longest streak in NFL history of consecutive 10-win seasons at 10.
Josh Dubow @JoshDubowAP
Most consecutive 10-win seasons in NFL history:
Patriots 17, 2003-19#49ers 16, 1983-98
Chiefs 10, 2015-present
This has been a different type of season for the Chiefs than what we have come to expect. Their offense is still not playing at the level they did from 2018 to ’22, but they’ve also had some regression on defense.
Patrick Mahomes has the highest interception rate of his career (2.6 percent) and fewest passing yards per game (248.3). Travis Kelce is averaging a career-low 8.5 yards per reception.
After allowing more than 20 points once in their first seven games, the Chiefs did it three times in four games from Weeks 9-12.
Despite all of the concerns from the outside about how they have looked for most of this season, the Chiefs are still in the driver seat for home-field advantage in the AFC playoffs. They are 9-0 in games decided by eight points or fewer.
No matter what happens in the regular season, as long as the Chiefs are in the postseason, there will be an assumption they are going to win the Super Bowl. They’ve done it three times in the previous five seasons, including last year when most fans and analysts were ready to give up on them after a Christmas Day loss to the Las Vegas Raiders.
Only three teams in NFL history have made the Super Bowl in at least three consecutive years. The Chiefs will be the fourth if they are playing in New Orleans on Feb. 9.
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