Playoff Scenarios: Who Will The Chiefs Play?
John Rieger-USA TODAY Sports
The Kansas City Chiefs are locked into being the number five seed in the playoffs regardless of what happens later today in its game against the San Diego Chargers but there are a number of scenarios that will decide which team the Chiefs face in the opening round of the playoffs next weekend.
KC face three possible opponents:
Indianapolis Colts
Cincinnati Bengals
NewEngland Patriots
There are three games and eight scenarios that Chiefs fans should keep an eye on this afternoon.
The Bengals will take on Ravens, the Patriots will face the Bills and the Colts will host the Jaguars.
For weeks, it seemed that the Chiefs were destined to play the Colts, however there are now some likely scenarios that could end up sending Kansas City to Cincinnati or even New England.
The Chiefs will face the Colts if:
-New England, Cinci and Indy all win
-New England and Cinci win and Indy loses
-New England wins and Cinci and Indy lose
-Cinci wins and New England and Indy lose
-New England, Cicni and Indy all lose
The Chiefs will play Cinci if:
-New England and Indy win and Cinci loses
-New England and Cinci lose and Indy wins
The Chiefs will play NewEngland if:
-New England loses and Cinci and Indy win
While anything can happen in the NFL, particularly in Week 17, chances are the Colts will take care of business at home against the feisty Jaguars. If we assume that Indy will win, we are left with the following scenarios:
The Chiefs will face the Colts if:
-New England, Cinci and Indy all win
The Chiefs will play Cinci if:
-New England and Indy win and Cinci loses
-New England and Cinci lose and Indy wins
The Chiefs will play NewEngland if:
-New England loses and Cinci and Indy win
I would say all of the above scenarios are pretty likely. New England should be able to handle Buffalo but the Pats haven’t been the same since losing TE Rob Gronkowski. Still, if New England wins, the Chiefs won’t be going to play the Patriots.
I think the two most likely scenarios are all thee teams winning their games (Chiefs would play Indy) or New England and Indy winning and Cinci losing (Chiefs would play Cinci).
The Ravens can still get into the playoffs so you have to believe they will be going hard after Cinci.
It should be a crazy day in the NFL.