AFC West: Chiefs will earn top seed with win over Falcons
The Chiefs have all but clinched the No. 1 seed in the AFC. All they need to do is beat the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday.
The defending Super Bowl champions are finalizing yet another outstanding season. They clinched the AFC West earlier this month and sport the best record in the NFL at 13-1.
Kansas City coach Andy Reid spoke to reporters Wednesday and said complacency is not in the Chiefs’ DNA as he simply described his team’s approach to its final two regular-season games.
“We’re going to try to play the best football we possibly can and anything less than that is unacceptable,” he said.
The Chiefs have won six consecutive games by one possession, a first in NFL history. They sport the league’s second-highest scoring offense at 31.1 points per game and its eighth-best scoring defense, allowing 22.1 points per game.
Wide receiver Tyreek Hill leads the NFL with 15 touchdown receptions and tight end Travis Kelce needs 60 receiving yards to break George Kittle’s single-season tight end record of 1,377.
Quarterback Patrick Mahomes has a league-high 4,462 passing yards to go with 36 TDs and five interceptions, and is a frontrunner for the NFL MVP.
But the Chiefs aren’t resting on their laurels.
“I just know if we win this week, then we’ll kind of control our own destiny,” Mahomes told reporters. “So that’s all you have to do is you have to keep winning games and usually that stuff kind of works out on its own.”
Something to celebrate
For the fifth consecutive season, the Broncos won’t qualify for the NFL’s postseason. But that doesn’t mean they don’t have something to celebrate. Linebacker Bradley Chubb and safety Justin Simmons were honored earlier this week as Pro Bowl selections.
Chubb missed most of the 2019 season with a torn ACL, but returned to post 7.5 sacks. Simmons has 89 tackles, four interceptions and seven pass deflections.
“Very deserving,” Broncos coach Vic Fangio told reporters Wednesday. “In the case of Justin, it was a two-year body of work. I thought he played really well last year … he should have made it last year. His good play carried over into this year and he got recognized for it.”
In Bradley’s case, Fangio said “very, very deserving and extra special for him in that he’s coming back from an ACL. He was an A-plus patient in his rehab.”
Setting records
Chargers rookie quarterback Justin Herbert can reach several milestones Sunday against the Broncos. He needs 219 passing yards to become the fourth rookie quarterback to eclipse 4,000. He would also become the second quarterback in NFL history to reach the 4,000-yard mark in his first 14 starts, joining Patrick Mahomes.
His next TD pass will be his 28th, a rookie record. His next multi-TD pass game will be his 10th, which would establish a record for rookies as well.
Contact reporter Sam Gordon at sgordon@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BySamGordon on Twitter.