Kansas City Chiefs clinch playoff spot for fifth time in six years

The Kansas City Chiefs clinched their spot in the postseason on Sunday with an overtime win at home over the Baltimore Ravens.

At this point, it would have been a major surprise if the Kansas City Chiefs somehow failed to make the postseason. Given their spot atop the AFC coming into Week 14, with only four more games to play, the Chiefs have been in the driver’s seat for a postseason spot for quite some time. However, that shouldn’t change the fact that it’s still newsworthy—and a big deal—when the team officially cements its place in the playoffs.

On Sunday, the Chiefs punched their ticket to the postseason with a win over the Baltimore Ravens. The game was a bit too-close-for-comfort, but in the end, the Chiefs got the job done and survived their first overtime game of the year to earn their 11th win. In doing so, the Chiefs officially claimed one of six spots on the AFC’s side to play in January.

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For a team with Super Bowl hopes, the postseason can now seem like a given—some automatic bid bestowed—as if the regular season is just a series of hoops to jump through before getting to the real thing. Ever since Andy Reid first became head coach in K.C. six years ago, it definitely seems that way. Winning is normal in Kansas City, and Clark Hunt’s statement after the game celebrates that fact.

"“I want to congratulate the team, Coach Reid and his staff on a hard-fought win today against a very good Baltimore Ravens football team, and I also want to congratulate the team on qualifying for the playoffs,” said Chiefs Chairman and CEO Clark Hunt following the game. “This is a tremendous achievement for Coach Reid – making the playoffs in five out of six years with the Chiefs.”"

But here’s what is also true. The Chiefs were the NFL’s worst team, the franchise picking first overall in the draft, as recently as 2012. In the six full seasons before Andy Reid’s arrival, the Chiefs averaged less than five wins per year (4.8). Even if you round up that means the Chiefs, on average, went 5-11 every season before Reid arrived for six years.

If the Chiefs win two of their next three games over the Oakland Raiders, Seattle Seahawks and L.A. Chargers, the Chiefs will average exactly 11 wins per year in Andy Reid’s tenure. That flips the entire script on its head—a team that averaged 5-11 before Reid now averages the exact opposite at 11-5. One means an early draft pick and a miserable fan base. The other equals an exciting season and an engaged fan base.

It’s always a healthy exercise to stop and reflect on one’s life on a regular basis, to stop and look over the sum of one’s family and friends, vocation and experiences, health and travels. It allows us all to not fall prey to the short-sightedness that keeps us from being thankful. While it’s easy to complain about recent postseason issues, blown losses and the like, the reality is that it wasn’t so long ago that the postseason was a dream—that it would take two regular-season win totals to even reach double digits.

Andy Reid’s arrival turned the whole franchise on its head and created a winning culture. Here’s hoping we never get tired of making the postseason and forget the fact that it’s a real achievement of its own—one worth stopping and celebrating even as we hope for bigger things to come.

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