Red-hot Chiefs see Reid’s plan pay o≠

kansas city, mo.» There was no “Eureka!” moment in the Kansas City Chiefs’ remarkable turnaround.

No moment of clarity, no major shake-up in scheme or personnel. The Chiefs didn’t abandon the running game when star tailback Jamaal Charles got hurt or stop blitzing when premier pass rusher Justin Houston went down.

Rather, they stuck to their convictions behind the steady leadership of veteran coach Andy Reid, and it paid off with a franchise-record 10 consecutive victories and a return to the playoffs after a one-year absence.

“Andy said the key was to keep focused on the next opponent, and that’s what he did,” said Chiefs owner Clark Hunt. “We got that first victory and I really think that lifted the team spirit. We went to London, had a good experience and won that game, and the team took off from there.”

The Chiefs (11-5) clinched a wild-card berth with one game left, then beat the Oakland Raiders on Sunday to secure the AFC’s No. 5 seed. They play Saturday at Houston (9-7), the team they beat in their season opener before they lost five straight games.

“Clearly when you’re 1-5, you’re not thinking about the playoffs or Super Bowl. You’re thinking about getting a victory,” Hunt said. “Once you start stringing victories together, I was optimistic we could carry it all the way to the end and make the playoffs.”

Even during the doldrums, though, nobody in the Kansas City locker room seemed to lose hope. For good reason too. The Chiefs weren’t far off.

Those first six games included five opponents that have since qualified for the playoffs, so it wasn’t as if they were losing to bad teams. They had the Broncos beaten in Week 2 before allowing two late touchdowns, the decisive one on a fumble return, and had the Bears beaten a few weeks later before they allowed a late touchdown pass in a one-point loss.

“I’ve been on a lot of teams that they never would’ve gotten this far,” defensive tackle Mike DeVito said. “At 1-5, guys would’ve been thinking about going home. ... So this team is very mature, and it really speaks to Coach Reid and the philosophy and culture that he brings in here. There’s a system, and guys follow by the system and it works.”