The Kansas City Chiefs are preparing to face the Cleveland Browns at Arrowhead Stadium in the divisional round of the playoffs. These two teams didn’t play each other during the NFL’s regular-season and haven’t played since the 2018 NFL season. Both teams have changed quite a bit since then too.

To learn more about Kansas City’s opponent, we spoke with managing editor Jeff Risdon over at Browns Wire and asked him a few questions.

Chiefs Wire: Can you give Chiefs fans an idea of just how much the wild-card win meant to Cleveland Browns fans and the organization?

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Jeff Risdon: Oh man, it was surreal. It had been since 1994. That’s a very long drought for a place where football is the runaway top sport. Doing it against Pittsburgh made it even more special, because the Steelers have pounded the Browns for far too long and been fairly obnoxious in doing so, too. I’m from Cleveland originally, so about half of my Facebook feed is people either living there now or from there. It was like a remote access party. My family went crazy, even the ones who don’t really watch football. I won’t say it was as special as the Cavs winning the title in 2016 or the Indians making it to the World Series in 1995, but the civic pride and reaction were pretty darn close.

Chiefs Wire: What do you think was the secret to the Browns’ success against the Steelers and will they be able to replicate it in Kansas City?

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Jeff Risdon: I think the Browns caught a Steelers team that didn’t take the game seriously and made them pay dearly. I don’t expect the Chiefs to be so unprepared or nonchalant, not at all. However, the Browns did also play really well too, and they do have the ability to replicate the precision, the balance and the pressure they applied last week. It just won’t be nearly as easy or pervasive.

Chiefs Wire: How important is Kareem Hunt to what the Browns do offensively and will the Chiefs be seeing a lot of him on Sunday?

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Jeff Risdon: Hunt finished the season poorly after a great start. He topped 40 yards rushing in a game just once in the final eight games and he struggled to make that first tackler miss. Hunt even lost some reps to D’Ernest Johnson down the stretch. However, Hunt played much better last Sunday, and he’s always a threat as a receiver out of the backfield. The Browns have been pretty consistent in giving Chubb the majority of the carries, and they played exactly one snap together all year. Hunt will get around 10 touches. I don’t see the Browns caring too much that he came from Kansas City or might have any extra juice for the game in facing his old team.

Chiefs Wire: The Chiefs are allowing 17,000 people in the stadium for the playoffs as they have all season, do you expect a large turnout of Browns fans even with the ongoing pandemic?

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Jeff Risdon: It’s great that so many fans can attend. Cleveland is capped at 12,000. I don’t think many will travel for the game other than maybe to tailgate. There are Brown Backers (it’s an official organization) all over the world so I’m sure they will represent. And they’re among the most intelligent football fans and least homer-y of visiting fan bases, by and large.

Chiefs Wire: Kevin Stefanski wasn’t initially a head-coaching hire that was widely praised. What do you think helped turn his first year into such a successful season? What are some of his strengths and weaknesses as a head coach?

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Jeff Risdon: I cannot praise Stefanski enough. The calming influence, the professionalism, the preparation, the attention to detail for all 11 guys on every play, it’s all light years beyond what the Browns had with Freddie Kitchens, Hue Jackson, Mike Pettine, Rob Chudzinski and the cavalcade of coaching ineptitude that precedes him. Stefanski is very good at asking his best players to do what they do best, and often. He’s crafted an offense around what Baker Mayfield does well, things like play-action, bootlegs, designed rollout passes where he has options at multiple levels. There’s also a much greater sense of being a team rather than a collection of talented players. He’s not perfect. Stefanski still reminds us from time to time he’s a rookie head coach, notably when he’s playing with a lead late. He’ll go up-tempo when he should be killing the clock, trying to be too smart. Many Browns fans would like him to be more aggressive around midfield and on 3rd-and-short, too.

Chiefs Wire: What’s your prediction for the game? Do you think the Browns have what it takes to take out the reigning Super Bowl champions?

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Jeff Risdon: I think this is going to be fun. I do think the Browns will score a lot of points on the Chiefs. The Browns OL is going to give the Chiefs problems. But the Browns’ biggest weakness is safety play in coverage, and that’s a very bad recipe for facing Mahomes, Kelce, Hill et al. The Browns have to take advantage of every opportunity. I think they’ll come close to it but not close enough. The Chiefs are really good and they’ll show it. Chiefs win by eight.