The Kansas City Chiefs are the AFC champions for the second consecutive season. Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs blew past the Buffalo Bills, 38-24, in Sunday’s AFC championship game.
After falling behind 9-0 early, the Chiefs then surged out to a 38-15 lead by scoring on six straight possessions before the Bills regrouped and tried to make it interesting in garbage time.
That game came one week after the Chiefs edged the Cleveland Browns, 22-17, in the divisional round. There was no garbage time in that game, a nail-biting affair for fans of both teams. Only a gutsy call by Chiefs head coach Andy Reid and a couple of great plays by backup QB Chad Henne, not to mention a blown officiating call just before halftime, allowed the Chiefs to escape the upstart Browns.
This isn’t to say the Browns are better than the Bills because of the final scores. Game scripts and scenarios are different, as are team strengths/weaknesses and how they match against the opponent. This is to say, however, that the Browns should rightly feel they are close to the goal of winning the AFC and advancing to the first Super Bowl in franchise history.
The Browns finished 11-5, blew out the Steelers in Pittsburgh in the wild-card round, and then gave the Chiefs everything they could handle. They did so despite a motley crew of middle-of-field defenders who sorely lacked speed to match Kansas City.
All the key pieces on both sides of the ball return for the Browns, and many have yet to hit their prime NFL years. They have enough cap space to augment the roster with some free agents, plus a bevy of draft picks to help build depth across the roster.
Now they’ll have systematic continuity under Kevin Stefanski and a coaching staff that will return intact. Browns fans should feel very confident about the future and the very real chance that this franchise can go even deeper in the postseason in the coming season(s). The final two weeks of the AFC playoffs proved the Browns are capable of beating anyone.
