KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Kansas City Chiefs coach Andy Reid was downright defiant Monday when asked about his team’s dwindling playoff hopes. They lost to the Cowboys on Thanksgiving. However, other results didn’t go as expected over the weekend.
The reigning AFC champions are 6-6 with five games left, and even if the Chiefs win it all, they still need help to get back to the postseason. Because when the Steelers lost to the Bills on Sunday, Kansas City dropped to 10th in the AFC playoff standings thanks to Kansas City’s disappointing 3-4 record against the rest of the teams.
Depending on the metric, the Chiefs have a roughly 1 in 3 chance of playing in the postseason.
“If you come to me, we’re going to go after you every game. And that’s how we do it. We’re going to tickle your tonsils every play, every game. But that’s the attitude we’re going to go in with. And you let the chips fall where they fall,” Reid said Monday.
The Chiefs are set to face the Texans on Sunday night, sitting in third place in the AFC West and all but eliminated from a team looking to win their 10th straight division title. Their focus now is on extending a playoff streak that dates back to the 2015 season, Reid’s third season as head coach, and three full seasons before Patrick Mahomes became the starting quarterback.
There is reason to be hopeful. Kansas City last went 6-6 in 2017, winning its final four games to earn a wild-card bid.
“Every season is different,” Reed said. “This is a sport of challenge. That’s what it is. When you look at it, it’s probably a microcosm of life. There’s always a challenge. … There’s a very small difference between winning and losing, so every week is a challenge, a big challenge. That’s how you approach it and you have to be ready for it.”
The biggest challenge facing the Chiefs right now is one of their own making. They have been dragged down by penalties and mental mistakes for most of the season. That includes a 31-28 loss to the Cowboys when consecutive flags went up in the fourth quarter, denying any chance of a come-from-behind victory.
Kansas City has allowed the fifth-most penalty yards in the NFL this season.
“We have to make sure we handle business with penalties and continue to hone our fundamentals and techniques,” Reed said. “I’m not saying I agree with everything or even half of it (against Dallas), but it happened. We’re not going to use that as an excuse.”
Reid also didn’t want to make excuses for Kansas City’s pass rush, which has only 22 sacks this season, more than any other five teams. Or a defense that produced 11 turnovers, better than three other teams combined.
“One or two more plays and that’s what this game is about,” Reed said. “If you look at our season, we’re one or two playoffs away, but whether it’s a penalty at a key moment, a potential turnover somewhere, a chance to create a turnover, we take care of it. If we can understand those two or three plays, we’re in a position to turn things around.”
But time is running out.
And while Reid sounded defiant about the Chiefs’ playoff jeopardy on Monday, he also understands the reality of the situation.
“There’s not going to be a lot of positive information coming in from the outside, so you have to really understand where you actually are and what opportunities are in front of you. You know, there are still opportunities,” Reid said.
___
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
