AFC playoff picture shaken up, but goal remains same for Chiefs: win and be rewarded
Two weeks remain in the NFL season and the Chiefs, who visit Seattle on Sunday Night Football, can still choose their own playoff adventure.
Beat the Seahawks, and the Chiefs will be one step closer to their primary objective: the top seed in the AFC with homefield advantage.
The Chiefs could have emerged from the weekend having clinched a home game in the division round but lost the opportunity with a gut-wrenching one-point loss to the Los Angeles Chargers on Thursday.
The outcome left both teams with 11-3 records. The Chiefs own the tiebreaker advantage over the Chargers and remain the only AFC team that is guaranteed the top seed by winning out.
The Seahawks had a chance to clinch a playoff spot on Sunday but lost at the 49ers 26-23 in overtime to fall to 8-6. Seattle needs to win one of its final two games to gain the playoffs.
After visiting Seattle, the Chiefs end the regular season against the Oakland Raiders at Arrowhead Stadium. The Chargers play host to the Baltimore Ravens on Saturday night and close the season at Denver.
The AFC West winner is likely to be a top two seed, which ensures a week off in the playoffs and a home game in the divisional round.
The division runner-up is headed to the No. 5 seed, making it a wild-card team, and that makes the playoff path more difficult. There is no week off and play would start on the road in the wild-card round.
And there was movement in the AFC playoff picture with this weekend’s results.
The Pittsburgh Steelers’ 17-10 victory over the Patriots on Sunday dropped New England to the third seed and elevated the Houston Texans, who beat the Jets on Saturday, to the second seed. The Patriots failed to clinch a playoff berth with the loss.
Against Seattle, the Chiefs figure to have safety Eric Berry at fuller strength. Berry played last week for the first time since the 2017 opener, when he suffered a torn Achilles. He logged 30 snaps but none in the second half as the Chargers mounted their comeback.
Berry said he didn’t want to push his return and he and the Chiefs stuck to a pregame plan. There were no setbacks, suggesting more playing time for him at Seattle.
The details
Who: Chiefs at Seahawks
When/where: 7:20 p.m. Sunday at CenturyLink Field, Seattle
TV/radio: (NBC Ch. 41); KCFX (101.1 FM)
Line: Chiefs by 2 1/2
This story was originally published December 16, 2018 at 10:11 PM.