‘We’re not pulling off’: After clinching AFC West, KC Chiefs have plenty to play for
Division titles used to be the aim, back when they were a thing of rarity here in Kansas City.
And now: Well, what else you got?
The Chiefs won a sixth straight AFC West division championship with Sunday’s home win against the Pittsburgh Steelers, a feat recognized with the usual T-shirts and hats but without too lively of a celebration.
A team that has reached back-to-back Super Bowls does not typically place a division crown at the top of its list. That’s for starters. But more apparent, there is a heck of a lot still a stake before the playoffs arrive. The Chiefs occupy the No. 1 seed in the AFC with two games to play, but their grip on it isn’t tight, with trips to Cincinnati and Denver set to close out the regular season.
“We’re not pulling off. We’re going to keep going,” coach Andy Reid said. “This is a very important game against a very good football team. We have to make sure we get ourselves prepared for that.
“We don’t have a cushion there like years past. A couple of the years past, we had a little bit of a cushion there. That’s not the way it sits this year.”
Not in the least. The Chiefs are the only AFC team with 11 victories, but the Titans are 10-5. And with that head-to-head win in Week 7 in Nashville, the Titans hold the tiebreaker should the two teams finish with identical records.
The Titans close with a home game against the Dolphins and a trip to the Texans — an easier slate than the Chiefs, who will be on their way to AFC North-leading Cincinnati this weekend.
In those years past to which Reid alluded, when there was an opportunity to rest starters and glance one eye toward the postseason, he did that. And he will again.
This just isn’t that. Not yet.
There’s still a chance it could be in the Chiefs’ Week 18 finale, though. If they beat the Bengals on Sunday, and the Titans lose to the Dolphins that afternoon, the Chiefs will have the No. 1 seed clinched.
And that’s of even greater significance this season. With the addition of a seventh playoff team in each conference, only the top seed earns a coveted first-round bye.
“You want to go play and play well,” Reid said. “That’s what we’ve got to go do. It’s a good football team that we’re playing.
“We’re not going to sit guys and all that. That’s not where we’re at. We’re not in that position.”
This story was originally published December 27, 2021 at 1:30 PM with the headline "‘We’re not pulling off’: After clinching AFC West, KC Chiefs have plenty to play for."