The Kansas City Chiefs’ playoff hopes are officially in serious jeopardy if they don’t win out the remainder of their schedule.
At 6-6, the Chiefs are the ninth seed in the American Football Conference playoff picture and their next opponent, the Houston Texans, are right in front of them in the standings.
This week has huge playoff implications as the season winds down, and this is uncharted territory for the Chiefs and their fans. The Chiefs are usually a top-seeded team by now, but this team doesn’t have the same look or feel as other teams during the Patrick Mahomes era.
Mahomes has never missed the playoffs and he’s doing everything in his power to keep that streak going. He knows if the team makes the postseason, it’ll be because they won out and got some help from other teams along the way.
The best way for the Chiefs to win out is to ensure the offense is firing on all cylinders. To do that, Kansas City needs to keep feeding their top receiver Rashee Rice.
Rice has been excellent since returning from his six-week suspension in Week 7, catching 42 of 59 targets for 486 yards and five touchdowns as well as five carries for 20 yards and a score on the ground.
Rice is Kansas City’s X-factor down the stretch, according to ESPN’s Nate Taylor.
“After missing the first six games while serving a suspension, Rice has been a difference-maker for quarterback Patrick Mahomes,” Taylor wrote Tuesday. “Alongside tight end Travis Kelce, Rice will need to continue to elevate his play, in particular his ability to gain yards after the catch, to keep the Chiefs' playoff hopes alive. Mahomes will likely need to rely even more on short passes to Rice because Kansas City is dealing with numerous injuries along its offensive line.”
Brutal injuries to the offensive line may be what causes the Chiefs to come up short if they can’t right the ship. Standout rookie left tackle Josh Simmons, who missed several games with a personal issue, suffered a fractured and dislocated wrist against the Dallas Cowboys on Thanksgiving and will be out indefinitely.
Even worse for Simmons, he vowed to be with the team for the rest of the season following his month-long absence. Right tackle Jawaan Taylor left the same game with a triceps injury and star guard Trey Smith suffered an ankle sprain.
It’s a tough road ahead for Kansas City, and it starts with a huge matchup at home against the Texans in Week 14.