Streaking Chiefs keep focus steady
KANSASCITY, Mo.— TheChiefshave reached the precipice of theNo. 1 seed in the AFC and a coveted first-round bye with a nine-game winning streak that includes some heavy hitters with Super Bowl aspirations of their own.
The Bills and theBucs. The Saints and the ’Fins.
So while records alone suggest the Chiefs finally get a breather to finish off the regular season, facing the losing Falcons and the Chargers next week — both at Arrowhead Stadium — both Chiefs coach Andy Reid and Falcons counterpart Raheem Morris are in agreement that Sunday’s game could be far tighter than the more-than-10-point spread.
“We have to maximize ourselves against a team that’s playing hard,” Reid said.
“These games they’ve lost, over half of them have been in the fourth quarter. They’re taking teams right to theend there.”
Besides, the Chiefs (13-1) tend to play everyone down to the wire. They’re the first team in NFL history to win six straight one-score games, blowing big leads in some of them, rallying in others and going toe-to-toe in the rest.
The Falcons (4-8), meanwhile, have generally been on the short end of those games.
They lost by a point to the Cowboys andLions. By a field goal to theChargers.
All told, seven of their 10 losses have been by a single possession, and the remaining three came against division leaders in the Packers, Seahawks and Saints.
“Alot of people, youropponentmostly, they will tell you how the guys really go out thereandfightevery singleweek. Our games are exciting. Our games are fun to watch,” Morris said.
“Haven’t gotten the results that we wanted in all of them, but these guys really go out there and they fight their butts off.”
“Yes, we made some mistakes from a coaches’ standpointanda players’ standpoint,” Morris continued, “but I don’t think anybody is pointing fingers at each other. I don’t think you’d point blame. Lastweek, we talkedabout that a littlebit. We talked about blamingMattRyan and someof those typeof things. We just don’t dothat as a team. We goineachweekand try tofigure outwhat’s necessary todoto try to get a win. I think the guys really do a nice job of resetting.”
Playoffscenarios: The easiestway for the Chiefs to get the No. 1 seed is a win. But they also can clinch if the Steelers lose or tie, Bills lose, or if they clinch the strength-of-victory tiebreaker over one of those teams and tie the other.
“It’s a lot of pressure. Alot of different teams are trying to get that No. 1 seed,” Chiefs safetyTyrannMathieu said.
“We have a pretty good football team coming in here, an offense that’s pretty explosive.
“That’s all I’m focused on, theFalcons, and howwe can beat the Chargers.”
Ringingthebell: TheChiefs lost rookie running back ClydeEdwards-Helaire for the restof theregular season afterhehurt his hip last week in New Orleans. That meansLe’VeonBell, whoalso gotbanged up against the Saints, is poised to take on the majority of snaps against the league’s 28th-ranked run defense.
SeemeinSt. Louis: Falcons linebacker Foye Oluokun, a native of St. Louis, was a Rams fan before the team moved from his hometown to Los Angeles. Many of his friends soon began to root for the Chiefs after the Rams’ departure, and he hopes to have his father and a few others amongthe limited capacity atArrowhead Stadium on Sunday.
“The Rams owners kind of disrespected our fan base,” Oluokon said, “so a lot of people didn’t stay Rams fans.”