AFC West

Sam Mellinger: The case for Browns as Chiefs’ most serious threat in the AFC

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Cleveland Browns could have beaten the Chiefs last year, in the playoffs, and then everything we’re talking about in the football world would be so different. This is easy to miss, tempting to dismiss. For a lot of reasons. The most obvious: The Chiefs beat the Browns, 22-17, and did not lose until an offensive line on life support met a pass rush on superpowers in the Super Bowl. Other reasons: Patrick Mahomes’ only playoff losses are against a seven-time Super Bowl-champion quarterback, he missed the last 20 minutes with concussion symptoms and, let’s just be real here…