The season hasn’t started yet and Jim Harbaugh is already slated to be the pallbearer of Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs’ 3-peat run. The AFC Championship game was an unforgettable memory, but this time, it’s the other Harbaugh brother who might prove a nuisance to the Chiefs. By some miracle, they won the Super Bowl without a good receiver core last year. Can they do it again with Justin Herbert and Jim Harbaugh standing in his way?

Well, Colin Cowherd thinks that the Chiefs are in heaps of trouble this year. One of the reasons is that the Chiefs have one of the toughest regular season schedules and also, there are a lot of road games. The Chiefs’ defense is not what it was last year with L’Jarius Sneed gone. Take a look at what Cowherd had to say about the Chief’s dilemma.

“I’m going to take the Chiefs under 11.5,” said Cowherd on The Herd with Colin Cowherd. “With [Jim] Harbaugh in the division, with [Justin] Herbert, you’re going to lose one of those games. They [Chiefs] lost L’Jarius Sneed, their top corner. Harrison Butker comments Rashee Rice’s legal troubles. This is still a wide receiver core that I would never trust. This was a bad team in the middle of the season 10 to week 14. Again, they’ll be fine eventually, but they’re aging at key spots like Travis Kelce. The division is better. I see them as a 11-6 team, 10-7, but I do not see them as top of the AFC 12–13-win team.”

Cowherd is right to a certain extent. L’Jarius Sneed helped the team win two Super Bowls. Rashee Rice carried the receiver core on his back last season, but now, he’s slated to miss a couple of games due to the legal trouble that the team is in. Also, the Chiefs are opening against the Ravens in the regular season this year. The season opener is supposed to be a difficult game for Patrick Mahomes and his convoy.

Though last year when the teams played against each other, Chief’s defeated the Changers 31-17. Chiefs’ had 483 yards versus Chargers’s 358 yards. Mahomes scored 4 touchdowns compared to Herberts 1.

While Cowherd was talking about the Chargers, it’s a bit relevant to take a detour and talk about the Ravens for a second. They have Derrick Henry in their arsenal now. It will be an uphill battle, to say the least. If the Chiefs start their season with a losing game, things might be difficult in the future.

As if one Harbaugh wasn’t enough, the younger Harbaugh brother will become a thorn in the bush for Patrick Mahomes, especially with the return of Justin Herbert.

Is Justin Herbert a problem for the Kansas City Chiefs?

There’s a sad news coming in for the Chargers’ side of football. Apparently, Justin Herbert is hurt again. While practicing, Herbert suffered an injury to his plantar fascia on his right foot. He is placed on contingency, but he might make it back to the field sooner than expected. The Chargers had an announcement to make about Herbert.

“Doctors have recommended approximately two weeks in a boot, followed by a graduated return to play protocol, with the expectation that he will be ready for the start of the regular season,” the Chargers announced. it looks like Herbert will make a speedy recovery and be ready for Week 1 against the Las Vegas Raiders.

However, Jim Harbaugh has his pedal to the metal and doesn’t want Herbert’s injury to affect the training camp. “Full steam ahead,” Harbaugh said. “The preparation, the work continues. He’s not on the field in the practice, but he’s in the meeting room, the training environment.”

Two weeks in a boot is fine, but only if Herbert makes a complete recovery by the time regular season starts. Their season starts with a game against the Raiders, a heated rivalry that gets uglier every time they meet each other.

The Kansas City Chiefs go play against the Chargers in week 4 for the first time. Later down the line, Patrick Mahomes and his Chiefs will go against the Bills and the Panthers (away games). They will return to Arrowhead in the next game against the Raiders (week 7 and 12), which is another heated rivalry, and finally go against the Chargers at home in week 13.

By the time the Chiefs get to week 13, they will be bruised and battered, having played against teams like the 49ers, the Chargers twice, the Raiders twice with Bengals and Ravens also trying to stop them.

The odds are against Patrick Mahomes this year. Do you agree?