For most, the Kansas City Chiefs' playoff hopes went down the drain in Week 14's loss to the Houston Texans, which dropped Andy Reid's team to 6-7 on the season.
Needing to win out to have any chance, Kansas City stumbled at the first hurdle and now needs some serious help from other teams, along with winning out, for the rest of the year.
Many have put a line through the Chiefs' playoff hopes, but the fact is, the AFC kings aren't out of it yet, despite looking anything but a playoff-caliber team.
NFL.com's Ali Bhanpuri has crunched the numbers ahead of Week 15, and with a win, the Chiefs' chances of making the playoffs improve to 16 percent, but that drops to a one percent chance with a loss.
“Kansas City, on the other hand, can only qualify for the postseason as a wild card," Bhanpuri writes. "All three AFC slots are technically still open to them, but the Chiefs have already lost to the three current wild-card holders (Chargers, Bills and Texans). So while the Eagles recorded the L in Week 14's finale, the Chiefs were the real losers.”
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Chiefs still alive in playoff hunt
The fact that the Chiefs aren't out of the playoffs is rather stunning, and for a team that has lost four of its last five games, there is an inevitable feeling that Kansas City will miss the postseason for the first time in the Patrick Mahomes era.
As Bhanpuri points out, the Chiefs' season essentially comes down to Week 15.
Beat the Los Angeles Chargers, and you have a 16 percent chance of making the playoffs; lose, and it is just about officially done.
Granted, right now, most are done with the Chiefs as a playoff hopeful, and they don't look like a team that will suddenly turn things around, but betting against Mahomes and Kansas City isn't for the faint-hearted.
So, until they are officially eliminated from contention, they'll always be lurking with playoff intent.
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