How the Chiefs are handling their playoff bye week. (It’s not like a typical bye)
Before the Chiefs departed for their regular-season off-week in early November, coach Andy Reid delivered a message that has become ingrained with his coaching philosophy.
“Get away from the game,” he told his players. Clear your mind. Spend time with family. Whatever. Just don’t occupy yourself with football.
But this time? With a postseason bye? That message wasn’t delivered.
Yes, the Chiefs have another week off, their prize as the AFC’s No. 1 seed.
But it’s not like that bye.
The Chiefs aren’t entirely getting away from the game this week. In fact, they’ll still practice on some days, and they’ll watch film on others. In short, it’s not time off but rather time for preparation.
Even if they don’t know exactly what — or whom — they’re preparing for.
“Even looking back on last year and going into this week, we still practice. It’s not like the regular bye in the season where you kind of take days off and not do anything,” Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes said. “We’re still practicing and even practicing pretty fast, faster than probably normal.”
They will work on themselves — with an eye on others.
Four others.
A twist of the new playoff format, the Chiefs have four possible AFC Divisional Round opponents — the Colts, Browns, Ravens and Titans — as they spend the weekend as spectators. They will play the lowest remaining seed alive in the AFC.
It makes preparing for the next game a little complicated. The Chiefs have faced just one of those teams (Ravens) this year, though they did see the Titans twice last season, including the playoff meeting. The Chiefs already have assistant coaches scouting some of those teams.
“We’ve already kind of started that process,” Reid said.
And it will continue throughout the week — and into the weekend with the chance to watch every playoff game live. It’s possible the Chiefs will not know their opponent until completion of the final game of Wild Card Weekend late Sunday night.
“I’ll probably watch every game,” Chiefs safety Tyrann Mathieu said. “I’ll probably say a couple of those teams, we’ve been familiar with. We’ve played those guys in the past. I think right now, going into the postseason, every team is who they is. They are who they are. It won’t be anything new or different.”
The Chiefs, on the other hand, might be a bit different. To a certain extent.
They opted to rest the majority of their starters in Sunday’s season finale, a move that essentially gives their top players a double bye. They could go 20 or 21 days between actual games.
That obviously provides a physical break from the grueling demands of a sport, and Mahomes said he hopes it offers him a fresh arm and his receivers fresh legs. Maybe more deep shots, he said.
But the real advantage, he emphasizes, is elsewhere.
For one week, the mental grind was gone. And that’s an opportunity afforded only by utilizing the double bye. A year ago, they had a playoff bye, but they needed to win in the season finale to earn that, and they got right to work.
In Week 17 this time, they took something of an actual break, other than Mahomes throwing some passes to the likes of Travis Kelce and Tyreek Hill.
“I think physically, we’ll be fine,” Mahomes said. “It’s having that mental break (that) I think will really rejuvenate everybody — ready to go, ready to be at work every single day and be the best possible player they can be for the team.”
This story was originally published January 5, 2021 at 12:32 PM with the headline "How the Chiefs are handling their playoff bye week. (It’s not like a typical bye)."