Coming off a blowout loss to the Cincinnati Bengals, the Atlanta Falcons will have to face another heavyweight AFC contender this week when they host the Kansas City Chiefs.
On the bright side, the Chiefs aren't exactly playing their best ball right now, having lost two of their last three games.
Then again, Kansas City is once again one of the toughest teams in the league with a healthy Patrick Mahomes back in the lineup and a brilliant run game headed by Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker III. Their elite defenses is what powers this train nowadays, though.
Anything can happen on Any Given Sunday - but there's a good reason why the Chiefs are favored for this matchup. However, Vic Tafur at The Athleticis predicting an upset win for the Falcons.
"The
Falcons beat the 49ers last month, but have looked terrible the past two weeks. The Chiefs haven’t played all that well, and they are 6-2. So let’s go with … the Falcons — who didn’t break much of a sweat in Spain — and their pass rush, which shows up at home. Maybe the Chiefs are a little too giddy about trading for Josh Downs, who has only had one game with more than 40 yards in the past six."
It can definitely happen - it's just really difficult to visualize exactly how.
The winning formula for the Falcons this season has mostly been establishing an early lead, riding Bijan Robinson and then taking occasional deep play action shots with Michael Penix. The surprise victory over the 49ers flipped that script though, with Penix working a pass-happy game plan to great success. That's pretty much the only time in his career that's happened, though.
Any upset scenario probably has to include heavy pressure on Mahomes, who is only human after all (mostly) and doesn't have many weapons to throw to - even after the addition of Josh Downs at wide receiver.
Realistically, to win this one the Falcons are going to have to win the turnover battle. Everything else comes second.
This article originally appeared on Falcons Wire: The Athletic picks Falcons to upset Chiefs in Week 10 matchup
