Whoever said that the two constants in life were death and taxes obviously never watched Patrick Mahomes play football in December.
That’s because the Kansas City Chiefs have been a near lock to thwart their opponents during the final month of the calendar year over the past half-decade. And now Kansas sportsbooks can capitalize.
It appears that Andy Reid’s squad is poised to make another December run, with the Chiefs Super Bowl odds (+450) and AFC odds (+230) ranking second behind only the Buffalo Bills, who are +400 and +200, respectively.
According to data collected by BetKansas.com from StatMuse.com, we found the records of every NFL team in December over the last 5 years to find the best to worst teams during the last month of the NFL season.
Best NFL Teams in the Month of December Since 2017
Who Thrived (and Dived) in December
Though not all NFL teams played the same number of games during the month of December since 2017, it’s clear that the Chiefs are the class of the league in that month.
We found that the Chiefs (at 20-3) have the NFL’s best record in December since 2017, by far, with No. 2 Green Bay (16-5) and the Baltimore Ravens and Dallas Cowboys (18-6 and 15-5, respectively) chasing Mahomes and company.
Rounding out the top five were Reid’s former employer, the Philadelphia Eagles, who have gone 15-7 in December over that span.
The anti-Chiefs were the Las Vegas (and Oakland) Raiders, who posted a .304 winning percentage during December from 2017 onward.
Other non-luminaries in December were the Washington Commanders and Cleveland Browns, who sported matching .318 winning percentages during December. The the New York Giants and Jets, along with the Houston Texans, posted a .348 winning percentage during December over the past five years.
Why the Kansas City Chiefs Thrive in December
A chief reason why Kansas City has dominated its foes over the past half a decade, both in December as well as in other months of the NFL’s calendar, rests on the rocket-powered right arm of their sixth-year gunslinger.
Mahomes is once again the class of the NFL at QB, leading the league in passing yards (2,936) and passing touchdowns (25), while ranking second in the league in QBR (78.6), per ESPN. Mahomes' NFL MVP odds officially leaped over Eagles QB Jalen Hurts (+340) and Bills QB Josh Allen (+500) after Sunday's win over the Jacksonville Jaguars as well.
The former Texas Tech Red Raider is on pace to finish 2022 with the highest completion percentage of his career (66.9%), while his 78.6 QBR would be the highest since his sophomore season in 2018 if it holds up.
The 2018 NFL MVP would need to boost his TD total to match Peyton Manning’s NFL record of 55 in 2013, as he’s currently on pace for 47 scores through the air this season. Stay close to this site for more records Mahomes could break across Kansas NFL betting this season.
Other noteworthy Chiefs besides Mahomes that have helped spur the team’s half-decade run (both in December and across the NFL calendar) are tight end Travis Kelce, who leads the team in receiving yards (740) and touchdowns (8), as well as receivers JuJu Smith-Schuster (615 yards and 2 touchdowns this year) and Marquez Valdes-Scantling (441 yards and one touchdown).
Other than Kelce (who has 767 receptions and 9,746 yards in his nine-year KC career), most of Mahomes’ go-to targets in the passing game have come and gone through Arrowhead Stadium’s natural grass playing surface over the past five years.
The lone consistent across Kansas sports betting apps, for Reid and company, has been their ability to outscore whoever lines up against them, especially once the calendar flips forward to December.
