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Let’s Argue: Melvin Gordon to be elevated within 2 weeks

Our Mark Gunnels takes on all your hot takes, wacky predictions and unpopular opinions.

Denver Broncos v Tennessee Titans Photo by Silas Walker/Getty Images

Welcome to this week’s edition of Let’s Argue!

Let’s Argue is a returning weekly series that looks at hot takes, unpopular opinions, wacky predictions and more from Kansas City Chiefs fans.


“Revenge games” don’t happen during the regular season.

Big picture-wise, I agree with this.

There’s no question Patrick Mahomes and company want to win this game against the Cincinnati Bengals. We all know what happened last year, and as a competitor, you don’t want to lose to the same team three times in a row.

In that same breath, if the Chiefs were to come away victorious Sunday, the Bengals still have the bragging rights for winning in last year’s AFC Championship game. If they meet in the playoffs and the Chiefs end up winning that one, then the narrative changes for good.

Nonetheless, the Chiefs' ultimate goal is winning the Super Bowl. So, whether they get revenge on the Bengals or not doesn’t matter if the season ends without the Lombardi trophy.

Patrick Mahomes may not win the MVP with a loss to Cincinnati.

This is one I can’t get behind because there are too many variables at play.

First of all, no matter what sportsbook you look at, Mahomes is the clear MVP favorite as of Friday. The former MVP has a sizable lead when it comes to passing yards and passing touchdowns. He’s actually on pace to break Peyton Manning’s season-single record for passing yards.

The quarterbacks behind Mahomes in the race are Jalen Hurts, Tua Tagovailoa and Josh Allen.

For argument’s sake, let’s say the Chiefs lose but Mahomes throws for 300-plus yards with three or four touchdowns. I don’t think a performance of that magnitude drops him in the race despite losing.

What I will say is if the Chiefs lose while Jalen Hurts plays well in a win over the Tennessee Titans, and Tua Tagovailoa looks good in a win over the San Francisco 49ers, the gap would begin to close.

On the flip side, if Mahomes delivers a win while putting up numbers, the MVP debate may be over — and why is that?

The Chiefs last five opponents are the Houston Texans, Seattle Seahawks, Las Vegas Raiders and Denver Broncos (twice).

Expect to see Melvin Gordon soon.

With running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire on injured reserve, there is a real possibility Chiefs fans will get to see Melvin Gordon soon.

If another back goes down because of injury, I would fully expect Gordon to be activated, just as we saw with Ronald Jones.

Bring Orlando Brown Jr. back as the team’s left tackle.

As we all know, general manager Brett Veach and left tackle Orlando Brown Jr. were unable to agree on a long-term deal this past offseason.

Therefore, Brown decided to bet on himself and play under the $16.7 million franchise tag. At this point in the season, the three-time Pro Bowler hasn’t performed at the level many had hoped.

This is not to say he’s playing badly, but, considering the type of contract he desires, I don’t see Veach and company going beyond what they initially offered in the summer.

To be fair, there are still six regular season games left and the playoffs. So, there’s still an opportunity for Brown to flip the script, but at the very least, I expect the Chiefs to franchise tag him again for next season.

Quality left tackles just don’t grow on trees.

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