Chiefs need help to make the playoffs. Good news? Andy Reid has been there before
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Andy Reid recalled 2008 Eagles run to show playoff hope can require outside help.
- Chiefs sit 6-7 and need a Chargers win plus multiple opponent losses.
- If ties align, Chiefs could finish 10-7 and chase deep playoff opportunity.
After losing their seventh game of the 2025 NFL season against the Houston Texans on Sunday night, the 6-7 Kansas City Chiefs aren’t dead in the water, but they officially need help.
For Andy Reid, it’s not the first time.
In 2008, Reid’s 10th season leading the Philadelphia Eagles, his team sat 8-6-1 after a Week 16 loss to Washington. Their playoff hopes were on life support.
In Week 17, Philadelphia’s only path to the postseason involved the Houston Texans beating the Chicago Bears and the Oakland Raiders beating the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the early slate. Only then would Philadelphia’s late-afternoon game against the Dallas Cowboys matter.
Both happened.
With new life, Reid’s Eagles routed Tony Romo’s Cowboys 44-6 later that afternoon, clinching the NFC’s final Wild Card berth. Philadelphia then beat the No. 3 Minnesota Vikings and stunned the No. 1 New York Giants on the road before ultimately falling to the Arizona Cardinals in the NFC Championship Game.
That’s where the 2008 Eagles’ story ended, but it’s an easy lesson to remember: It ain’t over ’til it’s over.
Reid tried to make sure his Chiefs understood that point Sunday night after their latest gut punch.
“I mean, you hate for it to come down to that,” Reid said, “but I have learned over the years that anything’s possible. So I communicated that to the guys. They’re down in the dumps after the game — they put their heart and soul into that thing and we came up short.
“But at the same time, you’ve got to pick yourself up and get yourself going again. Hope is always a good motivator there. So yeah, I think our guys realize that. I mentioned it to them after the game — not that that’s what they wanted to hear at that particular time. They were still very upset about what just went on. They wanted to win that game, obviously.”
The current playoff scenario
The Los Angeles Chargers defeated the Eagles on “Monday Night Football,” which wasn’t a good start. Now, the Chiefs' unlikely road to the postseason has to begin with a win against the Chargers on Sunday as part of four wins to close the season. After that first result, KC would be 7-7 looking up at LA at 9-5
Over the Chargers’ final three games, they would need to drop at least two — and if it’s only two, one of them would have to be against the Denver Broncos in Week 18 for tiebreaker purposes. Kansas City may find itself rooting for the New England Patriots to keep winning so Denver still has something meaningful (the AFC’s No. 1 seed) on the line against the Chargers.
Meanwhile, the Indianapolis Colts — now without quarterback Daniel Jones — would have to lose at least two games down the stretch. The Colts are reportedly working out Philip Rivers on Tuesday.
There is also an even more unlikely but simpler path in which the nine-win Bills, nine-win Chargers or eight-win Texans collapse and fail to reach 10 victories.
Kansas City needs help and plenty of it. But as Reid knows better than anyone, if you can find a way into the dance, there’s no telling how far you can go.
This story was originally published December 8, 2025 at 3:10 PM.
