The Kansas City Chiefs are headed to the postseason for the ninth consecutive time, but this time they’ll begin their journey as the No. 3 seed.
With nothing to play for, the Chiefs will likely bench most of their starters to give them all an extra week to rest and heal from any nagging injuries.
That includes quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported will not start in Kansas City’s Week 18 game against the Los Angeles Chargers.
With the Chiefs locked into the No. 3 seed, Patrick Mahomes will not play in Sunday’s regular-season finale vs. the Chargers and Blaine Gabbert will instead start.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 3, 2024
This is the smartest move for the Chiefs, as they’re a Mahomes injury away from being unwatchable at this point in the season.
It will also give the Chiefs’ backups some opportunities to get quality regular-season snaps ahead of the playoffs.
Kansas City shouldn’t be taking victory laps for being able to bench their starters, though, as they’ll finish at best with 11 wins this season, which would be the fewest in the Andy Reid era since 2017.
The Chiefs’ playoff seed is also Reid’s worst since 2017 when Kansas City finished as the No. 4 seed.
The offense as a whole has been uncharacteristically bad this season, even with stalwarts like Mahomes and tight end Travis Kelce still playing fairly well.
The pass-catchers outside of Kelce have dropped a considerable number of passes and the running game has just been OK with Isiah Pacheco
Yet, the Chiefs still won the AFC West and head to the postseason with an experienced group that won the Super Bowl just a year ago.
Depending upon the outcome of a few games in Week 18, the Chiefs will either play the Buffalo Bills, the Miami Dolphins, the Houston Texans, the Indianapolis Colts, or the Pittsburgh Steelers.
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