There’s no place like ... the road when it comes to Andy Reid’s Chiefs
Homefield advantage doesn’t exist in the NFL this season. With the Chiefs’ 32-29 victory over the Saints in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome Sunday, the collective home team record for teams across the league fell to 110-109-1.
Two games remained to be played by the time the Chiefs had finished, but you get the point. There’s a chance that home teams will finish with a losing record for the first time in NFL history.
One reason seems obvious—the lack of fans in stadiums because of COVID-19 restrictions. There were about 3,000 fans at the Saints game. About 15,000 fans regularly attend Chiefs home games. Coaches have spoken about the lack of noise favoring the visitors.
But that doesn’t spoil what the Chiefs accomplished this season now that the team’s road portion of the schedule has ended.
The Chiefs finished 8-0 away from Arrowhead Stadium. That’s a first for the franchise. They were 7-0 in 1966, in the AFL days. Kansas City finished 11-3 that year and played in the first Super Bowl.
Only the Chiefs own a perfect road record, and Andy Reid embraced that.
“We’re proud of that,” Reid said. “It’s different when you’re on the road. It’s unfamiliar territory. They had a couple people here. Not many. There probably was as much red as black and gold.”
Reid makes himself comfortable on the road. His Chiefs teams now stand 44-20 in road games since he took over in 2013. In seven of his eight seasons, the Chiefs finished .500 or better away from home.
The Chiefs’ lone loss this season came at Arrowhead to the Raiders in Week 5. But don’t let that road record fool you into believing the Chiefs want to play anywhere but home during the playoffs.
The No. 1 seed in the AFC bracket wasn’t clinched on Sunday, although the Chiefs moved one step closer in improving to 13-1. The Steelers stand 11-2 and play at Cincinnati on Monday Night Football.
Homefield advantage in the playoffs this season means one fewer possible game. The NFL postseason expands to seven teams for each conference this year, and only the top seed gets a bye. Seeds 2-7 face off in the first round, and the top seed wouldn’t play on the road.
The Chiefs’ next game away from Kansas City would be the Super Bowl in Tampa.
A case can be made that the Chiefs’ most impressive victories were on the road. By the time they finished Sunday, they’d played four teams in the AFC and NFC playoff picture: the Bills, Dolphins, Saints and Buccaneers.
All on the road.
“It’s all mentality,” quarterback Patrick Mahomes said. “You have to come in with the right mentality. You know it’s going to be in a dogfight no matter who you’re playing. We do a good job with that mindset, knowing not everything is going to be pretty.”
The Chiefs’ 13 victories so far this season also matches a franchise record. The Chiefs went 13-3 in 1995, 1997 and 2003. They suffered first-round playoff defeats each time.
But the last perfect road team was different. Those Chiefs went to Buffalo and defeated the Bills for the AFL championship.
This story was originally published December 20, 2020 at 8:26 PM.