NFL Predictions Week 1: 5 Reasons the Kansas City Chiefs Will Blow out the Bills

Kansas City Chiefs fans think their team sucks.

Is this a true statement or just a random inflammatory remark? As an ardent Chiefs fan, I'm beginning to think my fellow Arrowhead nuts have a serious faith deficiency.

Kansas City brings in the most respected NFL executive, Scott Pioli, as general manager. Pro Football Weekly and Sports Illustrated selected Pioli as NFL Executive of the Year three times and ESPN declared him NFL Personnel Man the of the Decade in 2009.

Fans respond by calling Pioli egotistical and overblown. They claim he rode Bill Belichick's coattails during his time in New England.

The Chiefs put together their first winning season since 2006 and fans chalk it up to a soft schedule.

Then yesterday, Kansas City announces their starting tight end, last year's rookie standout Tony Moeaki, tore his ACL and will spend this season on injured reserve.

In response, fans blame Pioli for drafting a player with previous injury concerns and Todd Haley for subjecting his starters to extended playing time in their final preseason game, even though Moeaki was injured on the first play of the second quarter.

This is the nail in the coffin for Kansas City's season, if you listen to the fans postings. However, those fans need to take their head out of their fourth point of contact.

Kansas City still stands every chance to defend their AFC West title and their season opener against Buffalo will defend that statement.

Kansas City won't just win, they'll dominate. They'll give fans reason to believe again and prove that 2010 wasn't just a fluke. Here's why...

5. It All Starts with the Quarterback

The Kansas City Star reported that Matt Cassel might not be ready to start after Howard Green flattened him in their preseason game against Green Bay.

Having a 340-pound lineman plop down on you like a bean bag chair can do that.

However, all the reports link to a reportedly overheard word between Todd Haley and reserve quarterback Tyler Palko, saying Palko should be ready to play come Sunday.

Personally, I'm not counting Cassel out until I see him in street clothes at noon on Sunday. This is a guy who started less than two weeks after an emergency appendectomy last year and between Cassel and Buffalo's starter, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Cassel has the definite edge.

It's not that I dislike Fitzpatrick. On the contrary, I love seeing hyper-intelligent guys like Fitzpatrick, Myron Rolle and Scott Fujita buck the meathead stereotype in football.

Fitzpatrick and Cassel possess a number of similar attributes as well. Both players move the ball smartly on short and intermediate throws. Neither player shies away from contact. They have no issue tucking the ball and running or even laying in a block for their running back.

They're both underdogs, a pair of seventh-round picks who can't seem to get any respect, despite both hitting the 3,000-yard mark last season.

When it comes down to it, though, Cassel just does it better. Cassel only threw seven interceptions over 15 games last season while Fitzpatrick tossed the ball to the other team 15 times in 13 games. While both have played most of their team's snaps the last three years, Cassel passed for nearly 10,000 yards in that time frame and Fitzpatrick barely has 5,500. Cassel also has 24 more touchdown passes in that time.

So until Palko takes the first snap of the game on Sunday, the Chiefs have the advantage behind center.

4. Offensive Weapons

Even if the Chiefs lose their starting quarterback for the opener, Kansas City should see plenty of fireworks from the offensive side of the team. Regardless of who take the snaps for Kansas City, quality options won't be one of their complaints on Sunday.

As part of their rebuilding and refining process, the Chiefs started with growing star Jamaal Charles at running back. Then first-round pick Dwayne Bowe emerged last year as one of the NFL's top receiving threats.

Last year brought in the versatile and accomplished Thomas Jones and utility receiver Jerheme Urban in free agency and speedster Dexter McCluster in the draft.

The Chiefs also drafted a highly talented receiver in Jonathan Baldwin and signed another two solid free agents—fullback Le'Ron McClain and receiver Steve Breaston. With Urban back after last year's injury, Kansas City can boast one of the deepest sets of skill position players in the league.

The only weak spot for the Chiefs is at tight end, where Kansas City has Leonard Pope, Jake O'Connell and Anthony Becht on the roster. Expect that to change between now and Sunday, though, as Kansas City assesses their options following the league's final roster cut day on Saturday.

The Bills could only hope for these types of options.

Buffalo's starting duo at running back—Fred Jackson and C.J. Spiller—looks like a poor man's version of Kansas City's rushing attack. Spiller certainly has all the tools, but has yet to reach his potential in the Bills' offense.

For receivers, Buffalo fields a roster of young unknowns outside of first-round bust Roscoe Parrish and last year's unexpected top performer Steve Johnson. As for tight end, starter Scott Chandler only has one reception after four years in the NFL.

However you look at it, Kansas City holds the advantage in moving the ball.

3. Defensive Playmakers

I've always been of the opinion that a solid offense relies on a developed strategy and near-surgical precision.

That being said, if an offense is the yin, the defense is definitely the yang. Defenses don't win by plodding along with a calculated course of action. They assault an offense, dominating through intensity and aggression. For that, a defense depends on fast-moving, hard-hitting playmakers and Kansas City has those in spades.

The Chiefs already boast one of the strongest up-and-coming secondaries with shutdown corner Brandon Flowers and the much improved Brandon Carr. They then added the quick and agile Javier Arenas as their nickel corner and the best safety prospect in nearly a decade, Eric Berry. Flowers and Berry both attack the ball, giving opposing receivers second thoughts before going over the middle for a catch.

Kansas City's linebacker corps is similarly stacked. After years of under-performing and being miscast, Derrick Johnson exploded on the scene last year. A sideline-to-sideline defender, Johnson flies to the ball and controls the underneath coverage.

Johnson's counterpart, Jovan Belcher, looks ready to reach the next level as a gap shooting run stuffer. Anyone who doubts that should review last week's game against Green Bay, when Belcher literally leaped over Dimitri Nance to get to reserve quarterback Matt Flynn.

AFC sack leader Tamba Hali really needs no further explanation.

So what does Buffalo bring to the table to nullify Kansas City's offensive plan? Shawne Merriman once left quarterbacks flinching with every snap, but those days are long gone. Cornerback tandem Leodis McKelvin and Terrence McGee are solid, but unspectacular.

Rookie Marcell Dareus will likely put the Bills back on the road to respectability, but it's not going to happen this year. There's just not enough talent around him to make that happen.

2. More to Prove

Neither Kansas City or Buffalo fans read a lot of good things about their teams.

But that's what happens when you perennially post losing records and miss the playoffs. Buffalo's suffered through 11 years without a playoff appearance, putting Kansas City's previous losing streak to shame.

Buffalo is only one year into their rebuilding project since hiring Chan Gailey as their head coach and has plenty to do before they can legitimately compete against division rival Patriots and Jets.

Kansas City has no such luxury. In Todd Haley and Scott Pioli's third year with the team, Chiefs fans caught a taste of success last season with their surprise AFC West title.

A harsher schedule won't fly for an excuse, so the Chiefs need to hit the ground running. Another winless preseason will bring an even greater sense of urgency to stack up a couple wins right off and will be the motivation they need to prove last year wasn't a fluke.

1. Home Field Advantage

The ace in the hole for nearly every home game is Kansas City's Sea of Red and shows that Kansas City fans still have hope despite all the doom and gloom out on the Internet.

Kansas City throat specialists must make money hand over fist in the fall months treating Chiefs fans who on every defensive play and scream on every third-down. The stadium rumbles with the sound of 70,000 fans belting out a primal cry while banging and stomping on the plastic seats and concrete floor.

Unfortunately, that intensity among the fans has lacked at times the last couple years. When the Bills visited Kansas City in 2009, the stadium was eerily silent compared to previous games.

That shouldn't be an issue come Sunday.

Chiefs fans today work with managed expectations. They've gotten used to disappointment after the defensive letdowns that thwarted Dick Vermeil's offensive machine and the ultra-conservative bland offense from Herm Edwards, but they want to believe and Kansas City will give them reason to on Sunday.