The Kansas City Chiefs staved off the doomsayers for at least one more week after coming from behind to beat the Colts in Week 12. The unfortunate part is that now they'll have to turn around and play the Cowboys on a short week. This game has major implications for both teams as far as the playoffs are concerned.
Louis Riddick of ESPN was asked by Dan Patrick if the Chiefs are done if they lose to Dallas on Thursday. His answer is one that Chiefs fans expected but still aren't going to like hearing.
"Well, then they need help [to get into the playoffs]," Riddick said on The Dan Patrick Show. "The Chiefs just got to win out and they got to control their own destiny. They've got to win out... I think if they lose, then it's not in their hands anymore. So then it's just 50/50. The Chiefs have to control everything now from here on out, and the only way they can do that is by winning every game."
Louis Riddick sends obvious but important message to Chiefs
This isn't all that surprising given the hole the Chiefs have put themselves in this season but it's most definitely time for the team to lock into gear and do what they've done for the past eight years or so, which is win the games they need to. Their schedule isn't a cakewalk by any means but it's not difficult to see them winning out either.
K.C. will play the Cowboys, Texans, Chargers, Titans, Broncos, and Raiders to close out their 2025 regular season and three of those games will take place at Arrowhead, where the Chiefs have been phenomenal this year. Sure, they're getting the Cowboys and Texans at the worst time but those are still winnable games.
Riddick's message makes perfect sense though. If the Chiefs win out, that'd put them at 12-5 and that'd still give them a shot at winning their 10th straight division title. If they lose one more game, making the playoffs as a wild card will become trickier because they already lost games to the Bills, Chargers, and Jaguars, who will hold those tiebreakers over them (well, at least for now with the Chargers, as they'll play again in a few weeks).
The message is clear: The Chiefs can't afford another loss or their streak of consecutive playoff appearances will end at 10.