A countdown of Andy Reid’s worst playoff losses with the Chiefs

Win streaks in the regular season only to self-destruct in the postseason is becoming a Kansas City Chiefs tradition.

It’s no secret that the Kansas City Chiefs are known for winning plenty of playoff games only to be sent home early in the first round of the playoffs. Chiefs fans have been drug through the dirt for decades as their team struggles to move forward. How many times can they do this? Just ask Cleveland Browns fans.

The first playoff win since 1994 was in 2015 when the Chiefs dominated the Brian Hoyer led Houston Texans in the Wild Card. Hoyer alone gave up six turnovers to the Chiefs defense in a brutal showing by the Texans. Winning their first playoff game in over two decades had fans excited. Only to be brought back down to earth when the Chiefs lost to the New England Patriots the very next week.

Head Coach Andy Reid brought the team it’s first win of the postseason in over 20 years, but he’s also lost his fair amount. Since coming to Kansas City in 2013, Reid has taken the team to the playoffs all but one year. In that span, the Chiefs have gone 1-4, losing the first game of the playoffs 3 times. No matter the personnel or location, the team can’t seem to move forward.

Here are the worst playoff losses under Andy Reid.

3. Kansas City Chiefs @ Indianapolis Colts

The first year under Reid the Chiefs turned things around from a year ago going 2-14. Reid led the team to nine straight wins to kick off the season and end at 11-5. It looked promising as the Chiefs traveled to Indianapolis and held a 28 point lead in the third quarter. That came shattering down as Colts quarterback Andrew Luck led his team in a comeback to defeat the Chiefs by one point.

One of the worst playoff comebacks in NFL history as Luck literally picked up a fumble from Donald Brown and carried it across the goal line. The next drive the Luck threw a 64-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver T.Y Hilton. Even with two interceptions in the second half, the Chiefs failed to slow down the Colts and advance to the next round of the playoffs.

Chiefs lose 45-44

2. Pittsburgh Steelers @ Kansas City Chiefs

The Chiefs finished the season 12-4 earning the number two seed in the playoffs. Earning a first-round bye and having home field advantage against the Pittsburgh Steelers wasn’t enough though. Steelers kicker Chris Boswell outperformed the entire Chiefs offense with six field goals on the night.

Steelers running back LeVeon Bell ran the ball down the Chiefs throats for 170 yards. Wide receiver Antonio Brown was contained for a large portion of the night excluding the pass when Justin Houston was lined up over him. While the Steelers offense wracked up the yards, they couldn’t reach the end zone.

The Chiefs offense was dysfunctional with dropped passes, lack of a run game, missed throws, and poor blocking. Quarterback Alex Smith had whopping 172 yards on the night. They had a chance to tie the game up and send it into overtime on a two-point conversion but a holding call against Eric Fisher killed the play. The Steelers blocked their next attempt and ran out the clock.

Chiefs lose 18-16

1. Tennessee Titans @ Kansas City Chiefs

This has to be the worst loss in the Reid era. Understanding that the team allowed a bigger comeback to the Colts, at least the Colts were a good team. The Tennessee Titans are a mediocre team that barely skated into the playoffs on luck. When you look at the Titans team, there is nothing that scares you the least bit.

Hosting another home game, the Chiefs were thought to have this one in the bag by just about everyone. They even went to halftime with a 21-3 lead. After halftime, the momentum switched and the Chiefs couldn’t score a single point for the rest of the game. The Titans, however, made it look easy. Starting with a ridiculous play where quarterback Marcus Mariota threw a pass to himself.

The Titans run game couldn’t be stopped as Derrick Henry trampled all over the Chiefs defense. Defending a passing game that was non-existent, the Chiefs couldn’t get off the field to give their offense a chance. When the offense was on the field, they were making their own mistakes with dropped balls, poor blocking, and missed throws.

The poor game by the referee’s made this game even more frustrating with multiple questionable calls. Two of which were forward progress calls on plays that could have been turnovers for the Kansas City defense. It seemed like every time the Chiefs had a momentum swing, it was taken away due to bad calls.

This game is worse than the Colts game in the sole fact that the Titans were a bad playoff team that shouldn’t have made it and the Chiefs had their best personnel since Reid got here. Tight end Travis Kelce and defensive end Chris Jones suffering injuries weren’t ideal but it’s not enough to warrant a comeback either. Execution and coaching on both sides of the ball was a disaster and the Chiefs let us down yet again.