The Kansas City Chiefs enter the AFC Playoffs as the #2 seed. They host the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday, and are 12.5 point favorites. That's the largest point spread in the history of the wild card round ever in the NFL. On paper, they certainly should overpower the Steelers and move into the divisional round.
But in order for Kansas City to get back to the Super Bowl, the path will probably prove very difficult. As Hall of Fame running back LaDainian Tomlinson pointed out, there is a very specific reason for that.
Tomlinson expressed concern that the Chiefs are still too reliant on Patrick Mahomes. The lack of a run game is still very apparent. The longest rush of the year by either Clyde Edwards-Helaire or Darrell Williams is only 21 yards.
If you can't run the football in the playoffs, it is significantly more difficult to put together the winning streak needed to win a Super Bowl. They almost pulled it off last year. But we saw in the Super Bowl that if they face a fierce pass rush that does not have to worry about a running game at all, they can pin their ears back and go straight for Mahomes.
We saw that get ugly in the Super Bowl against the Buccaneers. The Steelers have a very good pass rush, led by T.J. Watt. But Pittsburgh's offense is so anemic it might not matter. But as the playoffs progress, there's a very good chance they have to play the Bills and Titans, who have two of the better defenses in the NFL.
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