Yesterday, Kansas City fans were treated to what will likely be their biggest win of the season when the Chiefs knocked off the formerly undefeated Green Bay Packers. With the win, the Chiefs remained alive in the AFC West divisional race, along with the other three teams in the division.
The Chiefs currently sit at 6-8, two games back from the Broncos. The Chiefs round out 2011 by playing the Raiders (7-7) and the Broncos in week 17. The Chiefs require some help to sneak into the playoffs, but not nearly as much as it would seem.
The Chargers play the very tough Detroit Lions next week, and the play the Raiders in week 17. The most likely scenario for a Chargers loss, which the Chiefs require to have a chance of making the playoffs, comes this weekend. The Chargers have been making a nice late season run, so this may be the most unlikely part of the scenario. The Chiefs need the Chargers to lose one game to catch them. The Chiefs split the division series with the Chargers, and by winning out, they would hold the tie-breaker over the Chargers due to their divisional record.
The other nugget of help that the Chiefs need is for the Bills to find a way to beat Tim Tebow and the Broncos. At first glance, it seems a little ridiculous to think that such heresy is possible, but the Bills aren’t likely to mail it in against a quarterback as hyped as Tebow. On a good day, Ryan Fitzpatrick can pick apart any defense in the league, and the Broncos aren’t built to win in comeback style, despite recent trends that suggest otherwise. It’s unlikely, but the Broncos could drop their game against the Bills. Then, the Chiefs would need to beat the Broncos in week 17, one of the few parts of this scenario that they have control over.
Obviously, the Chiefs also need the Raiders to lose a game, but they play the Chiefs next weekend. Once again, the Chiefs control this aspect of their last playoff scenario, and the Raiders have been struggling to find wins, including losing a heart-breaker to the Lions on Sunday.
There’s still a lot of life left in Kansas City. There’s a lot of moving parts in their playoff scenario, but they also have the benefit of closing out their season by playing two divisional games. Their current divisional record (2-2) has afforded them the opportunity to win all of their divisional tie-breakers which is the only thing that’s keeping them on life-support. Is it a long shot? Hell yes it is, but would you have believed going into week 15 that they could actually beat the Green Bay Packers?
No. Not a chance.
Despite an incredible number of injuries, the Chiefs are still fighting, even after losing their head coach. Two days ago, I would have given Romeo Crennel only an outside shot of being hired as the Chiefs next head coach, but if he’s able to get the Chiefs into the playoffs, they have to hire him… right?
