Each NFL team’s most important game in 2019

Kansas City Chiefs: Week 14 at New England Patriots

Imagine that you’re a team that finished with 12 wins, a division title, the number-one seed in the AFC playoffs and in two games against the reigning dynasty known as the New England Patriots, the club puts 40 and 31 points on the board, respectively. Now consider that the Kansas City Chiefs wound up losing both of those games, including the conference title game at home.

This offseason, head coach Andy Reid and the organization made wholesale changes on the defensive side of the football. There’s a new coordinator and Steve Spagnuolo as the club makes the switch to a 4-3 alignment. There have been plenty of personal moves as well. Justin Houston, Dee Ford and Steven Nelson are some of the performers now with other teams and safety Eric Berry was released this offseason. In their place are defensive ends Frank Clark and Alex Okafor, outside linebackers Damien Wilson and Darron Lee and free safety Tyrann Mathieu – to name a few.

Yes, the Chiefs play four of their final six games vs. their AFC West rivals, including a pair with a Los Angeles Chargers’ team that finished with as many wins as Reid’s team did in 2018. In fact, Kansas City hosts the Bolts on the final Sunday of the season. But it’s this acid test against the reigning Super Bowl champions that looms extremely large in terms of the big picture.

Next: Los Angeles Chargers