https://theathletic.com/3301429/2022...22-best-games/
Ranking the 10 best games of 2022.
Sheil Kapadia
The NFL released its 2022 schedule Thursday night, so we went through to identify the 10 best games.
Note that this is a completely objective exercise, so if you don’t see a game that you think should be on here, it’s because you are wrong, and I am right. Now let’s get to it.
1. Week 6: Bills at Chiefs (Sunday, Oct. 16, 4:25 p.m. ET)
Prediction: At some point in the near future, we’ll start talking about last year’s playoff meeting between these two teams as “the game that changed the modern NFL as we know it.”
Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes exchanged blows in one of the most entertaining games we’ve seen in recent years. The level of quarterback play was so high that there had to be teams watching who thought: “Could our guy compete in a game like that?”
If you played last season out 100 times, there’s a strong argument that the Bills and Chiefs win the Super Bowl as often as any other team. Of course, that’s not how it works. The Bills were left with nightmares about the last 13 seconds of regulation and the coin flip in overtime. The Chiefs lost to the Bengals in the AFC Championship. Now they’re both on the short list of Super Bowl favorites once again.
If we’re talking purely about quality of play — and specifically, quarterback play — this game has the highest ceiling on the 2022 slate.
2. Week 12: Rams at Chiefs (Sunday, Nov. 27, 4:25 p.m. ET)
Andy Reid and Sean McVay often have the same solution for solving problems: score more points.
When these two teams met in 2018, it produced one of the best games of the decade. They combined for 105 points, 1,001 yards, 14 touchdowns and 56 first downs. Mahomes and Jared Goff combined to throw for 891 yards, and the game featured four fourth-quarter lead changes with the Rams eventually landing a 54-51 victory.
Goff has been replaced by Matthew Stafford. And among the Chiefs’ four leading pass-catchers from that game, only Travis Kelce remains. But Reid and McVay are still calling the shots, and offensive fireworks are likely.
5. Week 13: Chiefs at Bengals (Sunday, Dec. 4, 4:25 p.m. ET)
They’re not booing. They’re saying “Louuuuuuu!” Lou Anarumo was one of the most inconspicuous defensive coordinators in the NFL for a while. Then he delivered an absolute gem in the AFC Championship, adjusting and dropping eight into coverage against Mahomes, Reid and the Chiefs. Kansas City’s four second-half possessions resulted in two punts (both three-and-outs), a field goal and an interception. Anarumo’s strategy was a huge reason why the Bengals got to the Super Bowl.
The Bengals should lean into the Anarumo love for this game. May I suggest a section called “Anarumo’s Army” where fans hold giant Anarumo heads in front of their faces whenever the Chiefs try to kick a field goal?
Who’s with me? Anyone? Hello?
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