If you're a Kansas City Chiefs fan, the numbers don't look good. Of course, Peyton Manning's career stats look very good to great against every single team in the NFL. But against the Chiefs, in particular, Manning is superb.
To get to the point, Manning has lost to the Chiefs just once in 13 career starts against them -- a lone blemish from 11 years ago when the Indianapolis Colts lost at Arrowhead on October 31, 2004. In case you need the math, that's a .923 win percentage.
Manning's career mark of 12-1 against the Chiefs is the most impressive versus an opponent. Sure, he's never lost to some teams, but he's also never played them as many times as the Chiefs. This includes the Cleveland Browns (7-0), Arizona Cardinals (3-0), Tampa Bay Buccaneers (3-0), Detroit Lions (4-0) and Minnesota Vikings (4-0).
It's even worse when you consider Manning's career record against other teams. Manning is 6-7 against the Miami Dolphins and has managed a .500 record against the St. Louis Rams and Carolina Panthers in his career. His struggles against the New England Patriots is well documented (6-13), but even the pitiful Jacksonville Jaguars, who played in same division in the AFC South for several years with Manning, beat the surefire Hall of Famer 25 percent of the time.
Even in that lone win for the Chiefs, Manning threw for 472 yards and five touchdowns with one interception, including two scoring strikes each to Marvin Harrison and Reggie Wayne. The Chiefs were fortunate that the Colts defense was so pitiful on that day, allowing Kansas City 45 points in a shootout of potent offenses. As good as Manning was, Trent Green looked just as sharp through the air (389 yards, 3 touchdowns and 0 interceptions) as Priest Holmes dominated with 225 yards of total offense and another 3 touchdowns.
Sunday's game pitting the Chiefs against the Denver Broncos is unlikely to match 2004's results, even if the Chiefs win, given the stout defensive units on each side.