The Kansas City Chiefs are perfectly primed to rest up as the franchise eyes an unprecedented Super Bowl three-peat.
On Christmas Day, the Chiefs clinched the first seed in the AFC by dominating the Pittsburgh Steelers and securing a 29-10 victory. Patrick Mahomes torched the vaunted Steelers defense, throwing for over 320 yards with three touchdown passes – including a historic one to Travis Kelce.
The win means the Chiefs have secured home-field advantage through the postseason. Better yet, the reigning back-to-back champions can use the earned time off to reset and focus on making NFL history.
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With their win over the San Francisco 49ers back in February, Mahomes and the Chiefs became the first back-to-back Super Bowl champions since Tom Brady’s 2004-2005 New England Patriots and the AFC West franchise are looking to make history by accomplishing the first-ever three-peat. Clinching the No. 1 seed will help the AFC West franchise significantly.
The win over the Steelers comes at the end of a rough stretch of three games in 11 days. The Chiefs could now enjoy an extended rest, with their next game – their final regular season contest of the season – coming against the Denver Broncos next week.
With the AFC path to Super Bowl LIX running through Arrowhead Stadium, the Chiefs could rest their starters for the trip to Denver before enjoying a bye during Super Wild Card weekend. Chiefs head coach Andy Reid routinely rests his starters in meaningless games, so the likes of Mahomes and Kelce are likely to sit out and rest up in preparation for the postseason.
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Andy Reid traditionally rests players in meaningless games toward the end of the regular season (
Getty Images)
This means Kansas City will be fresh for the Divisional Round of the playoffs, which is expected to come on either Jan. 18 or Jan. 19 – a potential break of up to 25 days. It’s an ideal scenario for Mahomes, who has been battling a high ankle sprain in recent weeks and can now rest up and be at his spellbinding best come the playoffs.
Then, the Chiefs would simply have to win the Divisional Round contest to set up yet another trip to the AFC Championship. It would be the franchise’s seventh successive AFC title game; the Chiefs have reached the game in each year Mahomes has started, winning four.
The 15-1 Chiefs end their regular season against the Broncos at Mile High on Sunday, Jan. 5.
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