"Just when we were beginning to confidently pick the real Super Bowl contenders, Week 9 shuffled the top of the NFL's deck. Four of the five favorites to win this season's title by ESPN's Football Power Index (FPI) lost on Sunday. The only team in the top five to make it through the weekend unscathed was the Eagles -- who were on bye."
"I'm going to break down those four Super Bowl contenders -- the Chiefs, Colts, Packers and Lions -- who lost in Week 9, including what happened and whether it's something to be concerned about moving forward. Were these momentary missteps? Or is the race to the Lombardi Trophy as wide open as records around the league indicate? Let's start with the latest matchup between the class of the AFC, where the Bills held serve on the Chiefs in the regular season for another year."
"It's become a running gag. After earning the best one-score game record we've seen in a single season in 2024, the Chiefs have now lost all four of their games decided by seven or fewer points this season. Sunday's 28-21 loss to the Bills wasn't as close as the final score indicated, but after Buffalo's Matt Prater booted a 52-yard field goal attempt off the uprights to keep"
Week 9 produced multiple upsets that left each of the top-five Super Bowl favorites with at least two losses, a rarity not seen since 2010. Four high-ranked teams — the Chiefs, Colts, Packers and Lions — all suffered defeats, while the Eagles were the only top-five team on bye. The Chiefs' loss to the Bills continued a troubling trend in one-score games, with Kansas City dropping all four contests decided by seven or fewer points this season. The results increased uncertainty about true title contenders and shifted FPI probabilities, prompting closer attention to roster depth, late-game execution and coaching decisions.
Read at ESPN.com
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