One fan base certainly won’t be happy with this decision
With the AFC’s No. 1 seed already in tow, Kansas City Chiefs coach Andy Reid has made a relatively easy decision entering his team’s regular-season finale against the Denver Broncos.
On Wednesday, Reid was asked what his plans are regarding his starters for Sunday’s game. The Chiefs clinched the No. 1 overall seed for the AFC playoff by virtue of their 29-10 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers on Christmas Day. Reid confirmed that several starters will be given the day off, including quarterback and three-time Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes.
“It wasn’t a hard decision,” Reid said. “I’ve been through it before. … It gives the other guys an opportunity to grow.”
Reid’s decision will impact several franchises. The Broncos need a win in order to qualify for the playoffs for the first time since 2015. The Dolphins need a Broncos loss and a win over the Jets in Week 18 to make the playoffs. The Bengals need to beat the Steelers and also need the Broncos and Dolphins to lose their respective games.
Reid’s decision is obviously understandable, but it is in stark contrast to what Hall of Fame coach John Madden did late in the 1976 season, when his Raiders hosted the Bengals with the No. 1 seed already locked up. A Bengals win would have put Cincinnati in the playoffs while eliminating the Steelers, who had beaten the Raiders in the previous two AFC Championship games.
Despite the prospect of helping eliminate his chief rival, Madden played his starters, who defeated the Bengals while giving the Steelers a playoff berth. The decision didn’t come back to haunt Madden. It was the exact opposite, as the Raiders dethroned the Steelers in that year’s AFC title game en route to the franchise’s first Super Bowl win.
“That’s the worst thing that you can say about someone, that they lost on purpose,” Madden once said in an NFL Films documentary. “Just for the sake of the organization, just for the sake of football, just for the sake of what’s right, you’ve got to go win.”
That’s exactly what the Chiefs will try to do on Sunday, just not without Mahomes and some of their other key players.
