National Football League

Do Kansas City Chiefs deserve to be Super Bowl favorites?

Updated Jan. 17, 2023 11:42 a.m. ET

After seven straight wins, the Kansas City Chiefs entered this week as the NFL's odds-on Super Bowl favorites.

Prior to Week 15, Tampa Bay held sole ownership of the league's top spot as far as Super Bowl projections were concerned. But after the Bucs were shut out by the New Orleans Saints on Sunday Night Football, Tom Brady's troupe dropped from No. 1 to No. 3 on Monday.

The teams that usurped Tampa Bay in the running: Green Bay –– following its close win over Baltimore –– and Kansas City. Both squads are +450 to hoist the Lombardi Trophy come February, according to FOX Bet.

The latter group was the victor of a hard-fought overtime tilt against the Los Angeles Chargers on Thursday, in which Travis Kelce put a bow on his 10-catch, 191-yard day with the game-winning TD grab to walk it off in the extra period.

Kelce's heroic catch-and-run gave K.C. a comfortable division lead over the Chargers, and the Chiefs moved to 10-4.

The victory also stretched Kansas City's win streak to seven in a row, extending its rampant run through a not-so-easy schedule to nearly two months. The Chiefs' most recent loss came Oct. 24, a 27-3 beatdown at the hands of the Tennessee Titans.

The Chiefs' numbers show just how tenacious the team has been during the winning stretch.

They've outscored opponents 115-40 in the first halves of their seven wins in a row and have allowed only three combined points in first quarters.

Kansas City's defense has recorded at least two takeaways in six straight games (longest streak in the league), and the team is 13-0 in its past 13 December contests.

According to Nick Wright, these are just some of the reasons the Chiefs should stand alone atop the Super Bowl odds ladder. He laid out his argument on "First Things First."

"The reason the Chiefs should be significant favorites above Green Bay to win the Super Bowl is that they're such a bigger favorite than Green Bay to get there. If we are ranking the best teams in football, you have the Chiefs, and then what — four NFC teams? I'm not saying they're so demonstrably better than Green Bay, but they are so much demonstrably better than everyone else in the AFC that they deserve to be the standalone favorites.

"Green Bay's got a lot of work to do because the NFC is so much stronger at the top."

Former Pro Bowl linebacker LaVar Arrington, however, didn't see the Chiefs as deserving of lone recognition but did agree with their spot as co-favorites alongside Green Bay.

"They deserve to be co-favorites with the Packers because they have learned how to win in spite of," he opined on the show.

"With all of the firepower that they have on the offensive side of the ball, to move forward with the mindset that 'we actually don’t have to be a juggernaut to win every single game,' I think, gives them that edge in the playoffs. In years past, if they don't bring an offensive A-game, they're going home, whereas now, they're more of a complete team, if you think about it, in terms of all three phases."

All this discussion aside, though, the Chiefs might not hold the league's top spot for long amidst their recent COVID-19 predicament.

A haul of players –– including Kelce, WR Tyreek Hill, CB Rashad Fenton and TE Blake Bell –– have been added to the league's COVID/Reserve list.

So while the on-field tide appears to be in its favor ahead of Week 16, it will be up to K.C. to retain its spot atop the odds amid shaky circumstances.