These Week 16 games could impact Chiefs’ hopes for a first-round playoff bye
There is a chance that by the end of the NFL’s Week 16 games, the Chiefs will be locked into their seed for the playoffs.
If the Patriots beat the Bills, the Texans lose at Tampa Bay and the Chiefs tie the Bears, the No. 3 seed would be Kansas City’s. That seems highly unlikely, but that is one of the many possible postseason scenarios for the Chiefs, who have won the AFC West.
As it stands now, the Ravens (12-2) have the top seed, followed by the Patriots (11-3), Chiefs (10-4) and Texans (9-5).
Depending on what happens over the final two weeks of the season, the Chiefs could land in any of the top four spots.
This weekend’s games should bring clarity to the Chiefs’ playoff seeding, and none is bigger than the Kansas City’s game against the Bears.
But let’s take a closer look at three games not involving Kansas City that could impact the Chiefs place in the AFC postseason field.
Bills at Patriots
This game is Saturday in Foxborough, Massachusetts. The Bills (10-4) have an outside shot of winning the AFC East, but it would take winning their final two games (at Patriots and home vs. Jets) and having the Patriots lose twice (they end with a home game against Miami).
From the Chiefs’ perspective, a Bills victory would be huge. The New York Times shows the Chiefs currently have a 22% chance of getting a bye. A Bills victory kicks those chances up to 45%. If the Chiefs win in Chicago, those chances shoot to 75%.
That’s because victories by the Bills and Chiefs would give New England and Kansas City identical 11-4 records, and the Chiefs hold the tiebreaker thanks to the win at Gillette Stadium earlier this month.
BOTTOM LINE: Chiefs fans should root for the Bills.
Texans at Buccaneers
This is also a Saturday game. The Texans need help to get a bye, but they can jump the Chiefs and into the third seed with a win over Tampa Bay and a Chiefs loss in Chicago. Houston holds the tiebreaker over Kansas City thanks to a win at Arrowhead Stadium earlier this year.
The third-seeded team likely would avoid a divisional-round meeting with the Ravens in Baltimore. If the Buccaneers (7-7) defeat or tie the Texans, the Chiefs can sew up no worse than the No. 3 seed in the AFC playoff field with a win over the Bears.
BOTTOM LINE: Chiefs fans should root for the Buccaneers
Ravens at Browns
Cleveland, a preseason darling, has seen its season go off the rails. The Browns have a 6-8 record, but one of those victories came at Baltimore in September. Baltimore has a two-game lead over the Chiefs for the top spot in the AFC playoff field, but the Chiefs hold the tiebreaker on the Ravens. That’s because of a win over Baltimore.
The Chiefs, however, have just a 1% chance of being the AFC’s top seed, according to PlayoffStatus.com. But if the Bills, Browns and Chiefs win this weekend, Kansas City’s chances of being seeded first increase to 14%.
Baltimore plays host to the Steelers in the season finale, so if Chiefs fans want to dream big: two Chiefs wins, two Ravens losses and one Patriots loss would get Kansas City home-field advantage through the playoffs.
BOTTOM LINE: Chiefs fans should root for the Browns
This story was originally published December 18, 2019 at 10:48 AM.
