Add the Kansas City Chiefs to the list of contenders-turned-pretenders. Add the New York Giants to the list of “teams to be leery of.” And (finally) add the Buffalo Bills to the list of teams with a win.
The Chiefs were the NFL’s feel-good story in September, jumping out to a 3-0 start and carrying a comfortable division lead into the second-half of the season. That all came crashing down in a big way Sunday afternoon in a 49-29 loss at Denver in which Kansas City allowed three first-quarter touchdowns and trailed 35-10 at halftime.
The Chiefs are 2-4 since their hot start and have been walked down by the rest of the AFC West. Oakland (5-4) leads the division, San Diego (4-5) is charging fast and Denver (3-6) just handed Kansas City its ugliest loss of the season. The sinking Chiefs play all three of those teams in the final seven weeks.
On the other side of the country, it’s a tale of two New York teams (state and city) with different outlooks entering Week 11. In the Detroit-Buffalo toilet bowl special, the Bills (1-8) used the power run game with Fred Jackson (25 carries, 133 yards) and a suddenly rejuvenated run defense to win their first game of the season. Buffalo entered play Sunday allowing an NFL-worst 178.3 rushing yards a game but allowed only 76 to the 2-7 Lions, who lost by eight points or fewer for the sixth time this season.
Meanwhile, down in New Jersey, the NFC East-leading Giants — winners of five straight — ended the first half of the season with a legitimate claim as the conference’s best team. They no longer have that right after their mistake-filled 33-20 loss to the lowly Cowboys. New York, which entered Sunday with the NFL’s second-best scoring offense (27 ppg), showed its ugly side against Dallas by turning the ball over three times and committing eight penalties. Adding insult to injury, the power went out midway through the game at New Meadowlands Stadium. The Giants, presumably, wish it never came back on.
