There’s been a lot of talk lately about the Kansas City Chiefs making a strong push for the playoffs.
Currently, Kansas City holds the five-seed in the AFC playoffs, by virtue of their 8-5 record and a handful of tiebreakers over other AFC teams. That five-seed guarantees a game against the winner of the weakest division in the AFC, the AFC South. The South has been a mess all year, with Houston, Jacksonville, and division-leading Indianapolis all competing to lock up the South and be what will likely be the only playoff team coming from the division.
As pundits begin discussing where the Chiefs could wind-up as far as the playoff standings go, some have suggested that should Denver falter, the Chiefs could very well wind up the winners of the AFC West and the potential three-seed in the AFC playoffs.
The question is, do Chiefs fans really want that? A division title would likely mean the Chiefs face the Pittsburgh Steelers or New York Jets in the playoffs. Both of these teams give plenty of reason for Kansas City to worry about losing a record 9th straight playoff game. Alternatively, the five-seed has plenty of potential for Kansas City to break that streak.
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As of this writing, the Chiefs will travel to Indianapolis to play the Colts in a wildcard playoff game. This would be the second such trip in Andy Reid’s tenure as the head coach of Kansas City, after the disastrous meltdown of a game in 2013. Indy has been something of an enigma this year; wunderkid Andrew Luck has played terrible football this year, often looking lost and confusing many who believed Luck was ready to take the next step in his career.
The Colts, despite having an offense filled with talent, have struggled mightily behind a makeshift line that let Luck take one too many shots. After dealing with injuries all year, Luck’s season hit its nadir when he lacerated his kidney against Denver in Week 9.
Should Indianapolis hang on to their division lead and make the playoffs, it still remains to be seen whether the Andrew Luck that takes the field (assuming he’s healed up by then) will be the man who almost single-handedly willed the Colts back against the Chiefs in the 2013 playoffs, or the Andrew Luck that has often looked like the third or fourth best quarterback in his own division.
Another potential matchup for Kansas City at the five-seed is a playoff game against Houston, who can take the AFC South lead this weekend with a win against the Colts. Of course, the Chiefs beat Houston in week 1, but in recent weeks the Houston defense has really come on and started winning games for a Texans squad that still doesn’t have a long-term answer at quarterback. Sure, Kansas City beat the Texans once this year, but can Alex Smith and the offense succeed twice against J.J. Watt and one of the league’s best defenses?
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Those are the two likeliest matchups Kansas City will face in the playoffs, but they aren’t the only ones. Should Jacksonville keep on the pace it has set in recent weeks with strong offensive performances, they could very well take control of the South and host a game against the Chiefs in January.
This may be ideal for Kansas City, because despite playing with much improvement, Blake Bortles is just the kind of inexperienced QB the Chiefs defense can feast on, and the Jags aren’t exactly an imposing force on the defensive side of the ball themselves.
Ultimately, all three matchups the Chiefs could potentially face with the five-seed are winnable games. There are different reasons why each of these games could be won by Kansas City, but the fact remains, should the Chiefs keep pace and win the five-seed, they stand a very good chance of winning the franchise’s first playoff game since Jan. 1994.