Kansas City Chiefs

Are the Kansas City Chiefs 'back' after sweeping their November schedule?

Updated Nov. 22, 2021 4:22 p.m. ET

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After notching their fourth consecutive win in November, have the Kansas City Chiefs truly turned things around? 

Patrick Mahomes & Co. defeated the Dallas Cowboys 19-9 on Sunday, as the Chiefs' defense forced a fumble, nabbed two interceptions and kept the pressure on Dak Prescott with five sacks.

The Cowboys are the latest team added to K.C.'s list of victims, following the New York Giants, Green Bay Packers and Las Vegas Raiders earlier this month. Heading into Week 12, the Chiefs now sit firmly atop the AFC West at 7-4, a far cry from the odd slump that befell them earlier this season that put them in last place at 3-4  back in Week 7. 

On Monday's "First Things First," FOX Sports' Nick Wright explained how Kansas City's Week 11 performance proves things are back on track and why all paths to the Super Bowl will go through Mahomes and the Chiefs.

"They're the team to beat in the AFC. They are arguably the best team in the entire league. … I tried to warn you all!" Wright said.

"This team will — once it's at full strength, gets its legs underneath it — be who they've been for now the fourth consecutive year, which is the scariest team in the NFL. … The Chiefs [have] the best quarterback in the conference, one of the two best coaches in the league, a home-field advantage that all of a sudden is vibrant again, and — dare I say — more swagger and confidence than all the other AFC teams put together."

Nick Wright celebrates Kansas City's win over Dallas: 'Chiefs are again the team to beat in AFC' I FIRST THINGS FIRST

Nick Wright celebrates after the Kansas City Chiefs defeat the Dallas Cowboys 19-9 on Sunday.

Most of the Chiefs' success has been limiting turnovers and a much-improved defense, but Mahomes has also attributed to K.C.'s newfound spark.

Through the first seven games this season, Mahomes had a 67.5 completion percentage and an abysmal 18:9 touchdown-to-interception ratio. He was tied for the league lead in INTs with Zach Wilson (nine) and accounted for 11 turnovers total through Week 7. And his QB rating? 97.9, good for 13th in the league. 

In the Chiefs' past four games, Mahomes has thrown seven TDs and just two INTs on his way to a 62.2 completion percentage. Heading into Week 12, he is second in the league in passing yards with 1,107 and has had two games with no interceptions in that time. 

The former MVP also had his first 400-plus passing game of the season in Week 10, becoming the first player in NFL history to record 400-plus passing yards, five-plus passing TDs and no INTs in a game multiple times. (He has now done it twice in his career.)

On the other side, Wright's cohost Kevin Wildes isn't convinced that the Chiefs have it all figured out just yet.

"The Chiefs are a good team, but all last week we were saying ‘Ah, the Chiefs are back. They’ve got their swagger back.' [But] does anyone think this Chiefs team … reminds you of the scary Chiefs teams of the past? … They don't scare me.

"I am not ready to say that the full-steam-ahead Chiefs that we remember from year's past are back."

But of course, Wright had a rebuttal, saying that Wildes' point actually proves that Kansas City is scarier.

"This is a very interesting island that Wildes has dipped his toe onto … which is the island of ‘These Chiefs are less scary because they’re now winning with defense," Wright said. "That's an interesting island. I think the smarter island is 'It might be the scariest Chiefs team of the last four years cause they don't have to score 40 points to win.'

"Now we have … this dominate second-half defense that has turned into a dominant first-half defense as well."

Only time will tell if all of these moving parts will stay on course for the rest of the season.

But one thing's for sure, and that is you should never count out the Chiefs.

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Kansas City Chiefs

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