Browns: 5 reasons Browns can clap Chiefs in AFC divisional round

2. Chiefs are weakened

Yes, the Chiefs are weaker from when they made their Super Bowl run last season. No, I haven’t been sleeping under a rock all year. Patrick Mahomes is still the best quarterback in the NFL and having him under center covered a lot of warts that tried to pop up throughout the 2020 campaign.

But the truth is Kansas City doesn’t have two of its starters on the offensive line in right tackle Mitchell Schwartz, as well as left guard Kelechi Osemele.

Andy Reid was also without his sensational rooking running back, Clyde Edwards-Helaire (who practiced Wednesday, by the way). Helaire’s been out since Week 15 with a high-ankle sprain, and it looks like he’s going to give it a go, although it will be worth watching how he holds up.

On the other side of the ball, the Chiefs are still far from perfect on defense, and their inability to have consistent success against the run plays into the Browns favor.

Kansas City has names on their defense in nose tackle Chris Jones, safety Tyrann Mathhieu and edge rusher Frank Clark, but they’re not a consistent stopper, ranking 16th against the pass and 31st against the run.