TL;DR
- Kansas City Chiefs at 5-5, likely out of AFC West contention for first time in nine seasons.
- Playoff spot now in serious jeopardy; a full game out of wildcard spot.
- Head coach Andy Reid believes season is not lost and team knows what to fix.
- Significant winning streak is essential for Chiefs to salvage their season and make playoffs.
The Kansas City Chiefs find themselves in an unusual situation, particularly after Patrick Mahomes became the starting quarterback.
At 5-5 after the 22-19 loss to the Denver Broncos, the Chiefs can just about kiss goodbye any chance to claim the AFC West for the first time in nine seasons, but perhaps even more worrying is that Kansas City's playoff spot is now in serious jeopardy.
Many are jumping on the Chiefs for the loss on Sunday, and the doom and gloom around this team as it pertains to their playoff life is everywhere.
But for head coach Andy Reid, inside the four walls of the building, it's not the end of the world.
“We're not quite as negative as the outside world is,” Reid said. “So, we know what we need to clean up, and we need to do it. But the guys, they get it. Some of these guys [have] been through some pretty good seasons, and this one, this isn't like this one's lost.
We need to address some of these matters promptly, and it's clear we must prioritize handling that situation immediately.
More: Patrick Mahomes perfectly sums up Chiefs loss to Broncos with 2 words
Chiefs playoff chances slim
With the loss to the Broncos, the Chiefs are now three games out of first place, and more concerning, are now a full game out of a wildcard spot, which belongs to the 6-4 Jacksonville Jaguars, who also own the tie-breaker over the Chiefs, having beaten them earlier in the year.
So, there's that.
For The Chiefs to salvage their season, a significant winning streak is essential. Any aspirations for the division title have vanished; the focus is now solely on securing a playoff spot and determining how Kansas City will achieve that.
That in itself feels like a tall order, but as Reid says, the season isn't lost, despite many thinking it is.
As long as you maintain faith, you retain hope, and regardless of their standing, the Chiefs possess ample belief.
More Chiefs news:
- Chiefs fans won't like Andy Reid's 3-word message on Broncos loss
- Travis Kelce makes Chiefs history with 84th TD catch vs. Broncos
- Is Travis Kelce playing today? Chiefs TE off to slow start vs. Broncos
- Chiefs' RBs currently rank worst in key stat of any backfield this century