Adam Schefter outlines Chiefs' playoff outlook after clinching No. 1 seed in AFC
The Kansas City Chiefs had a very merry Christmas when they took care of business against the Pittsburgh Steelers. With that, and their 15-1 record, the Chiefs locked up the No. 1 seed in the AFC for the playoffs.
On the Thursday after Christmas, ESPN’s Adam Schefter appeared on Get Up. There, he broke down Kansas City’s playoff outlook after clinching the first overall seed.
“It’s amazing how much criticism this team has received this year,” Adam Schefter said. “How much scrutiny the Chiefs are [getting] with the number one seed locked up. So, what this means is a few different things. It means that they now don’t have to play anybody who’s hurt in the last regular season game against Denver.”
Now, the Chiefs have the potential for a long layoff. They’ll have a long week off before going into the final week of the regular season, which the result doesn’t matter. After that, it’s another week off before they’ll begin playoff action. That can be difficult to manage but with injuries to Chris Jones and Patrick Mahomes, it should be a major leg up in getting healthy.
“I don’t think they’re going to rush Chris Jones back from his calf strain before he’s ready,” Schefter said. “The option if they want to get Patrick Mahomes ready from that high-ankle sprain that looked like it’s really affecting him the last couple of weeks, to get ready for the opening round playoff game. They can do that.”
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For Adam Schefter, what was potentially more important than the time off was the path that it gave the Chiefs. Because of how the standings are working out, Baltimore and Buffalo will likely need to play first, meaning Kansas City dodges play both of them.
“And they’re locked into the number one seed and right now it looks like they won’t have to play both Baltimore and Buffalo because those two teams seem destined to be the two and three seeds right now. So, the Chiefs next get a huge game — let’s take a look at the playoff view right now. Buffalo wins on Saturday, the top four seeds could essentially be locked in and you can see where two and three could potentially be on a collision course. The Chiefs are the one seed,” Schefter said.
“All they have to do to reach the Super Bowl in New Orleans is win two home games in Kansas City. Good luck to the team that thinks it’s going to go into Kansas City and beat the Chiefs there when they’re well rested. It can be done absolutely. They’re not a perfect team, but it is going to take a great game from somebody to dethrone the Chiefs and prevent them from going to another Super Bowl in the attempt to try and get that three-peat.”
Next week, Kansas City will be playing the Denver Broncos. It’s a game that the Chiefs don’t need but one that the Broncos are going to need to try and position themselves for the playoffs.