December 19, 2020

By Fred Liggett
FredL@lstribune.net

When you are a high-scoring football team trying to achieve your championship goals numbers are very important to you. For the Kansas City Chiefs a lot of numbers have been thrown around this week to indicate the type of season they are currently enjoying. The Chiefs, now an AFC best 12-1, travel to New Orleans to play the 10-3 Saints tied for the best mark in the NFC.

This week’s game played inside the historic Superdome will be the final road test of the regular season for the Chiefs who so far have won every road game in 2020. Other numbers worth mentioning is the Chiefs have won 10 consecutive road games a franchise record which includes all seven so far this season. Chiefs fans know all too well the team now has five straight AFC West Division titles after their 33-27 game a week ago at Miami. Thanks to that win the Chiefs are well on the way to a sixth straight post-season appearance. If the season ended today the Chiefs would enjoy being the AFC’s top seed throughout the upcoming playoffs.

All these numbers give added value to this non-conference game between two teams that don’t play each other much. The last meeting was back in 2016 when the Chiefs won 27-21 over the Saints in overtime. The series is currently led by the Chiefs at 6-5. This anticipated matchup of two teams with Super Bowl aspirations has brought a big spotlight to New Orleans and CBS will bring their top TV crew to cover it in Jim Nantz and Tony Romo who just announced the Chiefs win last week in Miami.

The Saints head into this week’s game sharing the best record in the NFC with the Green Bay Packers at 10-3. The Saints enjoy life in first place in the NFC South and will conclude their run through the AFC West teams against the Chiefs. The Saints also enjoy playing at home where they have a 5-1 mark with two home games left to play. They hope for some home cooking will serve them well as the Saints lost last week in Philadelphia 24-21.

The number of injuries for the two teams was a big topic on Wednesday as both teams went to work on game planning for this showdown. The Chiefs may play without their starting two offensive tackles while the Saints could be without franchise QB Drew Brees. Brees who has put up some big numbers in his 20-year career has missed a few games this season due to a rib injury that affected 11 ribs in all. In place of Brees the Saints have continued to play well with Taysom Hill at the controls.

The Chiefs and Saints are expected to put up some big numbers once they kick things off indoors at what is now known as the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. Last week the Chiefs won in Miami, a city that has played host to multiple Super Bowls including Super Bowl 54 a game the Chiefs also won. This week the Chiefs will win in New Orleans another city who has played host to several Super Bowls including Super Bowl 4 a game the Chiefs won. At the end of this one the Chiefs will enjoy their numbers more than the Saints. That’s What I REID Into It for this week.