Broncos Pick ‘Em: Which remaining team in the playoff has the best chance to knock off the Chiefs?

For a sixth-straight year, the Kansas City Chiefs are in the AFC Championship Game.

For a sixth-straight year, the majority, if not all, of Broncos Country will be pulling for Patrick Mahomes, Andy Reid and the Chiefs to not win it all.

Among the other three remaining teams, who has the best shot at taking down Kansas City?

Is it the AFC’s No. 1 seed Baltimore Ravens?

Or the San Francisco 49ers, who are the No. 1 seed in the NFC?

What about the 12-5 Detroit Lions?

All three remaining teams have a better record than the Chiefs. But which one has the best shot at taking them down?

The DNVR Broncos Crew breaks it down.

All odds below are courtesy of bet365.

Which playoff team has the best chance at beating the Chiefs?

Zac: 49ers — The good news for Broncos Country is the Ravens, Lions and 49ers are all capable of beating the Chiefs.

The Ravens are the most complete team left in the playoffs with MVP-frontrunner Lamar Jackson leading the offense and Baltimore having the best defense in the NFL. Led by the fiery Dan Campbell, the Lions are America’s darling.

But the 49ers have the proven formula to beat Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs.

In Super Bowl LV, when Mahomes suffered his first double-digit loss of his career as the Buccaneers destroyed the Chiefs 31-9, Tampa Bay’s pass rush was relentless. Shaq Barrett and Tampa’s pass rush pressured Mahomes on 29 of his 56 dropbacks, which is a Super Bowl record.

Constantly pressuring Mahomes without blitzing him is the formula to taking the Chiefs down. With Nick Bosa — arguably the best pass rusher in the NFL — along with Pro Bowler Javon Hargrave, Arik Armstead and Chase young, the 49ers have the best opportunity to replicate the Buccaneers’ formula.

An added bonus for San Francisco and Kyle Shanahan is they’ve been to the Super Bowl recently, while the Ravens and Lions have not.

Henry: All of them — The Chiefs are the worst team left in the playoffs. They aren’t all that close to the other three semifinalists, either.

The 49ers have an All-Pro in every position group except quarterback.

The Lions have a combination of speed and strength that is uncommon, plus a front-seven that can make offenses think.

The Ravens have an MVP at quarterback leading arguably the best offense in the league with arguably the best defense in the league backing him up.

The Chiefs have a great quarterback, and almost nothing else.

Patrick Mahomes bailed the Chiefs out in their first two games. He can’t beat the Ravens alone, though, and he wouldn’t be able to beat the Lions or 49ers either.

RK: The Ravens — Please, for the love of God, save us, Lamar.

Lamar Jackson is the best player in the NFL this year, no doubt about it. Because Josh Allen couldn’t get it done, there is only one team left in the playoffs with a player dynamic enough to match Patrick Mahomes.

As all Broncos fans know, Mahomes has the ability to make miraculous plays out of plays that seem completely dead in the water, and it has simply never been more important to be able to pull off those miracles in the playoffs. With all due respect to Jared Goff and Brock Purdy, they aren’t in the same stratosphere as Mahomes in this category, or really any category for that matter. Lamar is, though.

Jackson also has the best supporting cast around him, a team that beat the Lions 38-6 and beat the Niners 33-19. The Ravens have a beastly running game, a vicious pass rush, a strong secondary and, as we covered, a miracle-working quarterback.

If Mahomes gets past Baltimore, I fear he’ll coast to his third ring in the Super Bowl

Picks Picks Picks

Chiefs @ Ravens (-3.5)

Zac: Chiefs.

Hank: Ravens.

RK: Chiefs cover.

Chiefs-Ravens total points over/under 44.5

Zac: Under.

Hank: Over.

RK: Over.

Lions @ 49ers (-7)

Zac: Lions.

Hank: Lions.

RK: Niners.

Lions-49ers total points over/under 51

Zac: Over.

Hank: Under.

RK: Over.

Leaderboard

Last Week

Zac: 2-2

Hank: 2-2

RK: 1-3

Overall

Hank: 116-100-5

Zac: 115-101-5

RK: 105-111-5