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KANSAS CITY, Mo. \u2014 The Kansas City Chiefs earned a much-deserved extended rest after their Christmas Day rout of the Pittsburgh Steelers, which capped an unbeaten stretch of three games in 11 days and clinched them the No. 1 seed in the AFC playoffs.<\/p>\n
That extended rest? Well, it can be just about as long as Chiefs coach Andy Reid wants it to be.<\/p>\n
The Chiefs (15-1) face the Broncos in their regular-season finale next weekend, a game whose kickoff remains up in the air. But it will be at least 10 days after their 29-10 win in Pittsburgh, a nice rest for a weary team whose bye was back in Week 6.<\/p>\n
But with nothing to play for in that game, Reid could conceivably give some of his most important players the entire week off ahead of the playoffs. And now that the Chiefs have a first-round bye, that means they wouldn\u2019t face anybody until at least Jan. 18 in the divisional round, meaning a full 24 days between games.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been almost 10 weeks of football, grinding on this short schedule at the very end of the year,\u201d Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes said. \u201cWe\u2019ll see how Week 18 goes \u2014 who plays, who doesn\u2019t play. That\u2019s up to Coach. But having this break, getting healthy, getting ourselves ready for the playoffs, it was super important, especially with the guys we have banged up.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Chiefs dominated the Steelers without four-time All-Pro defensive tackle Chris Jones, who was resting his sore calf on Wednesday. They also have not had cornerback Chamarri Conner, who has been out with a concussion, or D.J. Humphries, the former Pro Bowl left tackle who appeared in one game for Kansas City before straining his hamstring.<\/p>\n
All of them figure to be healthy for the playoffs. The same for guys who have been dealing with minor injuries, such as right tackle Jawaan Taylor, who played against the Steelers despite straining his hamstring the previous week against Houston, and running back Isiah Pacheco, who dinged up his ribs in the win in Pittsburgh.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt will definitely help with some of the guys that are banged up, to get guys back, freshened up a little bit,\u201d said Reid, who has rested important players in Week 18 in the past, including last season against the Chargers. \u201cI think it will be a positive for us.\u201d<\/p>\n
The trick is to decide exactly how much rest to give everyone.<\/p>\n
For those dealing with injuries, that full 24-day span without a game could be exactly what they need. For others, it might be too long between games, and getting at least a half of play against the Broncos would help prevent some rust from setting in.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was just talking to my family about it,\u201d Chiefs cornerback Trent McDuffie said. \u201cMy rookie year, we were able to get, you know, all home games, and you just can\u2019t be out (on the road) in the playoffs. I mean, I\u2019m excited to go out there. I know we got the first round, you know, off, but I mean, I can\u2019t wait to play now.\u201d<\/p>\n
What\u2019s working<\/strong><\/p>\n The Chiefs won the Super Bowl last season with a wide receiver group that \u2014 outside of Rashee Rice \u2014 was lacking in dynamic ability.<\/p>\n But with the trade for DeAndre Hopkins, the return of Hollywood Brown from an injury and the emergence of rookie Xavier Worthy, the Chiefs have gone from a position of peril to one of profound strength.<\/p>\n What needs help<\/strong><\/p>\n The Chiefs have struggled to the run the ball consistently the past few weeks. Pacheco gained just 18 yards on six carries before hurting his ribs against Pittsburgh, and Kareem Hunt was held to 20 yards on nine carries \u2014 a 2.2-yard average.<\/p>\n Stock up<\/strong><\/p>\n Worthy has smashed through the rookie wall, just as Rice did at this point last season, and has proven to be more than a speedster. He had eight catches for 79 yards and a touchdown Wednesday, giving him at least five catches in each of his past five games.<\/p>\n Stock down<\/strong><\/p>\n Pacheco has not been the same after missing more than two months to injury. He has been held to 55 yards rushing or fewer in each of his past five games, and he\u2019s averaging just 2.7 yards per carry over his past three.<\/p>\n Injuries<\/strong><\/p>\n There were no significant injuries sustained against the Steelers.<\/p>\n Key number<\/strong><\/p>\n 77 \u2014 Travis Kelce caught his 77th touchdown pass, breaking a tie with Hall of Famer Tony Gonzalez for the Chiefs record. Kelce finished with eight catches for 84 yards and a score against Pittsburgh, making him the third tight end in NFL history with at least 1,000 receptions. Gonzalez had 1,325 and Jason Witten had 1,228 while Kelce has 1,004 and counting.<\/p>\n Next steps<\/strong><\/p>\n The Chiefs get the long weekend off before deciding who will play in Denver in their regular-season finale.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" KANSAS CITY, Mo. \u2014 The Kansas City Chiefs earned a much-deserved extended rest after their Christmas Day rout of the Pittsburgh Steelers, which capped an unbeaten stretch… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":20940,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20939","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl"],"yoast_head":"\n