SI Picks Chiefs to Win AFC West

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — At least one major publication has picked the Kansas City Chiefs to take the AFC West, and then doing something that no Chiefs team has done in nearly 20 years – actually win a playoff game.

In their annual NFL preview edition, Sports Illustrated picks the Chiefs to win the division with a 10-6 record, and senior writer Peter King also believes that the team will win their first-round playoff matchup against the Buffalo Bills before losing to the New England Patriots in the Divisional Round.

The Chiefs have not won a playoff game since 1993 – when Joe Montana was quarterback and Marcus Allen was at running back. That year, the Chiefs beat a team that doesn’t even exist anymore – the Houston Oilers (now Tennessee Titans) – 28-20 in the AFC Divisional Playoffs.

The Chiefs then went on to lose to the Buffalo Bills in the AFC Championship Game 30-13.

King also predicts that Chiefs head coach Romeo Crennel will be named NFL Coach of the Year.

The Chiefs aren’t the only team in the division expected to do well, as King has tabbed the Peyton Manning-led Denver Broncos – picked to finish second behind the Chiefs and make the playoffs as a wild card team – to go all the way to the Super Bowl before losing to the Green Bay Packers.

The Sports Illustrated NFL preview edition hits newsstands this week.