KC Chiefs have varying injury concerns heading into postseason
By Matt Conner
The Kansas City Chiefs came into their road trip to visit the Denver Broncos with primarily one injury of note with the postseason also coming into view on the horizon. They left Denver with a much-longer list.
While it certainly wasn’t a pretty game for the Chiefs in Week 18, they were able to take care of business on the road against a division rival.
Despite struggling all game, the defense stepped up to deliver a game-altering play when it mattered the most with Melvin Ingram‘s forced fumble on Broncos running back Melvin Gordon. Nick Bolton scooped it up and scored after taking it back 80-plus yards for the touchdown. As for the offense, they overcome some tough penalties and Vic Fangio’s solid defensive plan to take home their 13th straight game against the Broncos—the longest such active streak of one team’s dominance over another in the NFL.
In the end, the Chiefs left Denver with a 28-24 win to run their record to 12-5 on the year—the first 17-game regular season finish. Due to their win, the Chiefs now will finish with nothing worse than the No. 2 seed in the AFC and can still reach the top spot if the Houston Texans can somehow rise above their station to knock out the Tennessee Titans. (They’ve already beaten their AFC South rivals once this year already.)
Now that the Chiefs can look directly ahead to the playoffs, they now have a better idea where they’ll be playing (at home or not at all). They also have a read on the injuries that will need to heal.
This list is longer than it was in Denver, but the injuries here are varying. Andy Reid didn’t seem too worried about some of those post-game, but these Chiefs still looked like they weren’t fully healthy in Denver. Let’s look at them all.