Kansas City Chiefs tackle Mike Pennel is out to prove the Opta supercomputer wrong after it estimated the team's chances of a Super Bowl three-peat at just 11.6%.
The Chiefs are looking to make history in the 2024 campaign, which they open on Thursday with a mouthwatering tussle with the Baltimore Ravens, who they beat in last season's AFC Championship game.
Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, Andy Reid and company are out to make the Chiefs the first franchise in NFL history to win three straight Super Bowls.
Eight teams have previously won back-to-back Super Bowls, only to fail to make the showpiece game in the subsequent season, most recently the New England Patriots in 2004 and 2005.
Ahead of the new campaign, the Opta supercomputer's predictive model, which takes into account a team's quarterback and EVE (efficiency vs expected) performance, rated Kansas City's chances of winning Super Bowl LIX at 11.6%.
They are more favoured than AFC rivals Baltimore (10.8%), but the San Francisco 49ers – who the Chiefs beat at Super Bowl LVIII and Super Bowl LIV – are favourites with a 23.9% likelihood of winning it all.
Pennel is desperate to prove the model wrong, telling Stats Perform: "Give me the opportunity to fight against the machines! I don't think we were favoured in any playoff game this year. You know what I mean?
"I'm pretty sure they're doing it off numbers, but we played them twice in the Super Bowl. We beat them twice. I guess we'll just have to get to it.
"I think we may see them again. But the NFC, they've got some tough teams out there right now. They got some teams that are ascending, Green Bay was looking good and are another dark horse.
"We'll see what Dallas is doing, how their contract situation works out. The Eagles look very, very, very solid. So we'll see how it shakes out. Remember, you've got to remain healthy to make it to the game. That's out of both teams' hands.
"We'll see what happens, but 23% to 11%? I can't agree with that. I would flip-flop that, but maybe it's calculating in the three-peat. Maybe that's what it is."
The Chiefs have made six consecutive AFC Championship games since Mahomes became their starting quarterback in 2018, winning four of those and going on to claim three Super Bowl rings.
Asked where their main competition might come from in the AFC, Pennel highlighted the Houston Texans – in their second year with C.J. Stroud leading the offense – as a major threat.
"I love the direction that Houston is going in. They're going to be formidable in the AFC. Cleveland with a healthy Deshaun Watson, we're interested to see how that looks," he said.
"Even in our division, you know, the Chargers with Jim Harbaugh, they've got a franchise quarterback in Justin Herbert. We know he'll be running the ball, but we'll see how that shakes out.
"The AFC is just getting better, man. There'll be a couple dark horses in there, but those are the two or three that I really think are going to take a leap and be competitive."
NFL: Chiefs stay perfect with OT win over Bucs
Kareem Hunt finished the game's lone overtime drive with a 2-yard touchdown run that kept the Kansas City Chiefs unbeaten with Monday's 30-24 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Hunt powered into the end zone to conclude the 10-play, 70-yard series that gave Kansas City (8-0) its 14th consecutive victory, including play-off games, dating back to last season. The veteran running back finished the night with a season-high 106 rushing yards on 27 carries.
Patrick Mahomes threw for 291 yards and three touchdowns, including two to DeAndre Hopkins in the wide receiver's first home game as a Chief, to help the defending Super Bowl champions stay perfect despite the Buccaneers forcing overtime on Baker Mayfield's 1-yard touchdown pass to Ryan Miller with 27 seconds left in regulation.
Tampa Bay (4-5) opted to kick the extra point instead of attempting a potential game-winning two-point conversion, however, and never got the ball back again after losing the coin toss to begin overtime.
The Bucs trailed 10-7 at half-time following Mahomes' 1-yard touchdown pass to Hopkins late in the second quarter, but scored 10 unanswered points in the third quarter to move ahead.
After Mayfield found Cade Otton for an 11-yard touchdown pass early in the period for a 14-10 lead, Tampa Bay's defence forced a three-and-out to help set up Chase McLaughlin's 47-yard field goal with 5:50 left in the third.
The Chiefs stormed back with a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns, however. Mahomes capped a 12-play, 70-yard drive with a 7-yard touchdown delivery to Samaje Perine to tie the game at 17-17, then later hit Hopkins for a go-ahead 5-yard strike with 4:17 remaining in regulation.
Kansas City's next possession stalled, though, to give Mayfield enough time to orchestrate a 10-play, 71-yard sequence that ended in Miller's tying touchdown grab.
Mayfield finished 23 of 31 with 200 yards and two touchdowns. Otton led the Bucs with 77 receiving yards on eight catches, while Rachaad White had a rushing touchdown for Tampa in the first half.
The Chiefs received 14 catches for 100 yards from Travis Kelce and 86 yards on eight receptions from Hopkins, playing his second game since being acquired by Kansas CIty from the Tennessee Titans on Oct. 24.
Cowboys quarterback Prescott reportedly expected to miss multiple weeks with hamstring injury
The path to the play-offs is now even tougher for the Dallas Cowboys.
Quarterback Dak Prescott will reportedly miss several weeks with a hamstring injury sustained in Sunday's 27-21 loss to the Atlanta Falcons.
The severity of the injury was determined following an MRI, and reported Monday from multiple media outlets.
Prescott is planning to get a second opinion, and the Cowboys have not decided if they will place him on injured reserve, which would keep him on the sideline a minimum of four games.
Prescott, who signed a record-breaking, $240million contract hours before this season's opener, suffered the injury late in the third quarter.
He was replaced by Cooper Rush, and the seven-year backup will get the start this Sunday against the Philadelphia Eagles.
Rush completed 13-of-25 passes for 115 yards and a touchdown against the Falcons, but couldn't rally Dallas all the way back.
The Cowboys ended up losing their third straight game to drop to 3-5, which matches the total number of losses the team had each of the last three seasons.
They now sit in third place in the NFC East, 3 1/2 games behind the division-leading Washington Commanders.
Rush has found some success as a fill-in starter for the Cowboys, though, the 30-year-old hasn't been forced into the starting role since 2022.
In six career starts for Dallas, he's gone 5-1 with 1,281 passing yards with seven touchdowns, four interceptions and an 83.6 rating.
There is some good news for the Cowboys, though, as star defensive end Micah Parsons is likely to return this Sunday after missing the last four games with a high-ankle sprain.
Cowboys quarterback Prescott expected to miss multiple weeks with hamstring injury
The path to the play-offs is now even tougher for the Dallas Cowboys.
Quarterback Dak Prescott will reportedly miss several weeks with a hamstring injury sustained in Sunday's 27-21 loss to the Atlanta Falcons.
The severity of the injury was determined Monday following an MRI.
Prescott is planning to get a second opinion, and the Cowboys have not decided if they will place him on injured reserve, which would keep him on the sideline a minimum of four games.
Prescott, who signed a record-breaking, $240million contract hours before this season's opener, suffered the injury late in the third quarter.
He was replaced by Cooper Rush, and the seven-year backup will get the start this Sunday against the Philadelphia Eagles.
Rush completed 13-of-25 passes for 115 yards and a touchdown against the Falcons, but couldn't rally Dallas all the way back.
The Cowboys ended up losing their third straight game to drop to 3-5, which matches the total number of losses the team had each of the last three seasons.
They now sit in third place in the NFC East, 3 1/2 games behind the division-leading Washington Commanders.
Rush has found some success as a fill-in starter for the Cowboys, though, the 30-year-old hasn't been forced into the starting role since 2022.
In six career starts for Dallas, he's gone 5-1 with 1,281 passing yards with seven touchdowns, four interceptions and an 83.6 rating.
There is some good news for the Cowboys, though, as star defensive end Micah Parsons is likely to return this Sunday after missing the last four games with a high-ankle sprain.
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