How will Chiefs fare in 2023? This is what NFL analysts, broadcasters are predicting

Has there been a more fun 29-week span in Chiefs history?

When the Chiefs take on the Lions at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium in Thursday’s NFL Kickoff Game, it will have been 29 weeks and four days since Super Bowl LVII.

The Chiefs players have had a blast since being handed the Lombardi Trophy, making visits to late-night television shows, being fêted at parades in Kansas City and their hometowns. Travis Kelce hosted “Saturday Night Live,” and all the players who chose to attend received their Super Bowl rings in a lavish ceremony at Union Station.

It was One Crazy Summer.

But that’s in the past and the Chiefs are focused on the 2023 season and hopefully repeating as Super Bowl champions. Can they go back-to-back? NFL pundits have weighed in on the Chiefs’ outlook this season. Here is what they’re saying.

The Chiefs’ five-year streak of AFC Championship Game appearances will end, predicts the Associated Press’ Rob Maaddi. He has the Chiefs winning the AFC West but sees the Bengals and Jets in the AFC title game.

An 11-6 record and AFC West title is the prediction from Sports Illustrated’s Conor Orr. He forecast the outcome of every NFL game this season and has the Chiefs as the No. 2 seed in the AFC behind the Bengals.

NBC Sports’ Chris Simms sees the Chiefs winning their division again.

“I don’t know if I see 14-3 again,” Simms said. “That was a special year, right? The AFC West, not only is their division better this year, they play the NFC North, which we know is going to be a little bit better, and the AFC East ... which all four teams could go to the playoffs.”

The Chiefs will have an 11-6 record, predicts USA Today’s Nate Davis. He has KC winning the West again.

This is a snippet from his story: “They followed up their last Super Bowl victory, following the 2019 season, with another AFC title in 2020. That could certainly happen again, and maybe the Chiefs even become the first team to successfully go back to back in 19 years. But the impediments will be many. As previously noted, the conference is nasty. A first-place schedule that includes the entire AFC East is forbidding.”

All but two of the 34 NFL Network analysts picked the Chiefs to win the AFC West. The other two, Mike Florio and Gregg Rosenthal, see KC as the top wild-card team.

This is what Marc Sessler wrote: “What fact, whisper or iota of gossip suggests the Chiefs are about to be stopped? Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes will chop through a top-heavy AFC en route to another conference title game — and they won’t stop there.”

The Chiefs will win the West with a 12-5 record, believes CBS Sports’ John Breech. He sees the Ravens beating the Chiefs in the divisional round.

A 15-2 record is the prediction for the Chiefs from the Sporting News’ Vinnie Iyer. But he has the Jets beating the Chiefs in the AFC Championship Game.

Here is part of what he wrote: “The Chiefs are positioned to dominate again with Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid now trying to add a third ring together as everyone changes coaching and personnel in the division trying to catch up but still not coming close.”

The Chiefs will be seeded second in the playoffs, NBC Sports columnist Peter King believes. He has them finishing with a 13-4 record and ending up just behind the Jaguars for the top seed.

He wrote: “The Chris Jones holdout worries me a bit. Still expect it to get solved, but if he misses half the season, or some big chunk, well, there’s not a Chris Jones on the practice squad to take his place.”

With a 13-4 record, the Chiefs end up with the NFL’s best record in a season simulation from ESPN’s Seth Walder. But he has the Ravens beating the Chiefs in the AFC Championship Game at Arrowhead Stadium.

Walder wrote: “In one of the least surprising developments in sim No. 3,818, the Chiefs were good again. Really good. In fact, the Chiefs hit 13 wins in a season in which no other team even reached 12, and Patrick Mahomes repeated as the NFL MVP after leading the league’s most efficient offense.”

Fox Sports’ Kevin Wildes has the Chiefs winning a second straight Super Bowl championship. This one will be in a rematch of Super Bowl IV.

The Chiefs will win 12 games, the most in the NFL, say The Athletic’s writers.

Nate Taylor wrote: “This assessment is an appropriate one. The Chiefs still have Andy Reid, Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce. Although general manager Brett Veach replaced tackles Orlando Brown Jr. and Andrew Wylie with Donovan Smith and Jawaan Taylor, the Chiefs’ offensive line could be even better at protecting Mahomes.”