The Kansas City Chiefs’ Path To The Playoffs
Nov 24, 2013; Kansas City, MO, USA; San Diego Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers (17) throws a pass against the Kansas City Chiefs in the first half at Arrowhead Stadium. Mandatory Credit: John Rieger-USA TODAY Sports
2. Go 4-3 Against The “Non-Bad” Teams
The Chiefs have seven games remaining against teams with a .500 record or better. Those games are:
Week 7 at San Diego (5-1)
Week 10 at Buffalo Bills (3-3)
Week 11 vs Seattle Seahawks (3-2)
Week 13 vs Denver Broncos (4-1)
Week 14 at Arizona Cardinals (4-1)
Week 16 at Pittsburgh Steelers (3-3)
Week 17 vs San Diego Chargers (5-1)
This is where things get a little more challenging. Four of these seven games are on the road. Four of the seven games are against teams that currently only have one loss. Even the three home games are pretty brutal, consisting of the two teams that played in the Super Bowl last season and the 5-1 Philip Rivers lead Chargers. Are the Chiefs capable of winning any of these individual games? Yes, I believe so. However, in order to be a playoff team I believe that KC will need to have a winning record in these seven games.
The first of these games is this coming Sunday in San Diego. While it isn’t necessarily a “must win” game, a loss shrinks the Chiefs margin for error. Suddenly, having to go 4-3 in these seven games becomes having to go 4-2 in the remaining six. If you factor in the four games against the losing teams you are talking about going 8-3 over the rest of the season and if KC loses this Sunday then they have to go 8-2 in the final ten games. There simply is very little margin for error. That’s why KC can’t afford any more games like the opener against Tennessee or the loss at San Francisco where KC could have/should have won if they had simply had a better game plan or execution. The other side of that is if KC can win on Sunday, then they just need to go 3-3 in the remaining six games on this list. That suddenly sounds a lot less daunting.
While these first two points cover all of KC’s remaining games there is one more factor to consider. Which brings us to number three…….