Kansas City Chiefs coach Andy Reid sounded downright defiant Monday when asked about his team’s dwindling playoff hopes, which took a hit not only last week amid a Thanksgiving loss to the Cowboys but over the weekend when other results didn’t go their way.
The reigning AFC champions are 6-6 with five games remaining, and even if the Chiefs win them all, they’ll still need help to return to the postseason. Because when the Steelers lost to the Bills on Sunday, that dropped Kansas City to 10th in the AFC playoff pecking order, thanks in part to a disappointing 3-4 record against the rest of the conference.
Depending on the metrics, the Chiefs have a roughly 1-in-3 chance of playing in the postseason.
“If you’re coming to me,” Reid said Monday, “we’re going to go after you every game, and that’s how we roll. We’re going to tickle your tonsils on every play, every game. But that’s the attitude we’re coming in with, and then you let the chips fall where they may.”
The Chiefs are third in the AFC West as they prepare to play the Texans on Sunday night, and are nearly eliminated from their pursuit of a 10th consecutive division title. Now, their focus is on extending a playoff streak that goes back to the 2015 season, the third with Reid as the head coach, and three full seasons before Patrick Mahomes became the starting quarterback.
There is reason for hope: The previous time Kansas City was 6-6 was 2017, and it won its last four games to earn a wild-card bid.
“Every season is different,” Reid said. “This is a sport of challenges. That’s what it is. It’s probably a microcosm of life as you look at it. There’s always challenges. … There’s such a small margin between winning and losing that every week is a challenge, a major challenge. That’s how you have to approach it, and you have to be ready for it.”
The biggest challenges the Chiefs are facing right now are of their own making. They’ve been dragged down by penalties and mental mistakes throughout much of the season, including in their 31-28 loss to the Cowboys, when a series of flags during the fourth quarter prevented them from having a chance to pull off a comeback victory.
Kansas City has allowed the fifth-most penalty yardage in the NFL this season.
“We have to make sure we take care of business with the penalties, keep working our fundamentals and techniques,” Reid said. “Not saying I agree with all of them, or half of them (against Dallas). But they took place. We’re not going to use that as an excuse.”
Nor was Reid willing to make any excuses for the Kansas City pass rush, which has produced just 22 sacks this season, a total that is better than just five other teams. Or a defense that has produced 11 turnovers, a total better than three other teams.
“You’re one or two plays away and that’s what this game is,” Reid said. “You look at our season, we’re one or two plays off, and we take care of that — whether it’s a penalty at a crucial time, a possible turnover somewhere, or having a chance to create a turnover — we are right in position where if we can figure out those two, three plays, you flip this around.”
Time is running out, though.
And while Reid sounded defiant about the Chiefs’ playoff peril Monday, he also understands the reality of the situation.
“You’re not going to hear a lot of positives from the outside coming in,” Reid said, “so you have to make sure you understand where you really sit, and the opportunity you have sitting in front of you. You know, there’s still opportunities.”
Reporting by The Associated Press.
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