Chiefs are No. 1 (seed): Mahomes and Co. nab top spot for 3rd time in franchise history
The Chiefs are a top seed in the AFC playoffs for the third time in club history, and now they’ll look to accomplish something that did not happen on the first two occasions.
Win a game.
The Chiefs locked up the No. 1 seed with Sunday’s 35-3 victory over the Oakland Raiders and receive a first-round bye in the postseason along with No. 2 seed New England Patriots. Those teams get next weekend off as the NFL playoffs begin with the wild-card round.
The current playoff system — each conference has four division winners and two wild-card teams — started in 2002, but the AFC and NFC have fielded six-team seeded brackets since 1990. The Chiefs were the top-seeded team in 1995 and 1997 with the AFC’s best record but failed to win a playoff game each time.
In finishing 12-4 and winning the AFC West for the third straight year the Chiefs, as the top seed, are assured of not leaving Arrowhead Stadium for the postseason. If they win a divisional-round game, set for Saturday, Jan. 12, at 3:35 p.m., they’ll play host to the AFC Championship Game on Jan. 20..
Kansas City has never played host to an AFC or AFL title game.
Since winning Super Bowl IV, the Chiefs had appeared in one AFC title game, losing at Buffalo after the 1993 season.
They’ve only won two playoff games at home in their history. Under Andy Reid, the Chiefs are 1-4 in playoff games, including 0-2 at Arrowhead Stadium. The home losses have come in each of the last two seasons.
That was then.
“We’ve been in this situation before,” Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce said. “And we’ve learned from it. Well go out there and give these fans and this city everything we’ve got.”
The AFC playoff bracket started falling into place mid-Sunday afternoon when the Patriots defeated the New York Jets to lock up a first-round bye.
The Patriots and Texans, who defeated the Jaguars, could have moved up in the race for playoff positioning. But they needed at least a Chiefs loss, and that didn’t happen. The Texans are the No. 3 seed.
The AFC North winner was decided when the Ravens defeated the Browns. Baltimore is the No. 4 seed.
The Los Angeles Chargers are the No. 5 seed and will play at Baltimore. The Indianapolis Colts are the No.. 6 seed and will play at Houston in the wild-card round.
This story was originally published December 30, 2018 at 7:07 PM.