Whoever is in charge of the NFL schedule committee that generates the league’s game schedules every year, definitely made it as difficult as possible for the Kansas City Chiefs during the final stretch of the regular season.
It’s been a wild season for Kansas City so far with almost every game coming down to the wire as the Chiefs find just enough magic to pull off a series of close wins to boast a 12-1 record through the first 14 weeks of the season. Kansas City is on pace for its best regular season finish in franchise history and has the AFC West and a playoff berth locked up with their sight keyed in on taking home-field advantage in the playoffs as the AFC’s top seed.
It doesn’t get much simpler than that except for the gauntlet that awaits the Chiefs over the next 10 days. Kansas City will play three of their final four matchups in that span. Two of the three are on the road. After the Chiefs wrap up their road visit with the Cleveland Browns on Sunday, Kansas City will return home to play the Houston Texans on Saturday, December 21, before heading back on the road to play the Pittsburgh Steelers four days later on Christmas.
Quarterback Patrick Mahomes voiced his displeasure with being forced to play that many games in such a short period.
“It’s not a good feeling,” he remarked. “I’m excited to play on Christmas to hopefully get back from what we did last year (losing to the Las Vegas Raiders 20-14). [But] you never want to play this many games in this short of time. It’s just not great for your body but at the end of the day, it’s your job. You’re a professional (and) you have to come to work and do it.”
The NFL season takes a toll on the players’ bodies each week, which makes playing three games in less than a week and a half a genuine test of endurance and perseverance. Defensive tackle Chris Jones spoke on the team’s upcoming schedule after the win over Las Vegas on Black Friday and says teams in Kansas City’s situation should be afforded a late-season bye week.
“Listen, man, this is one thing I’m doing this offseason, is going to the NFLPA,” said Jones. “Especially with us having, like, three games in a 10-day span, that we’re mandatory to have a bye, a late bye week, you know what I mean?
“If a team has somewhat of a schedule like that, that they have a mandatory late-season bye. Like, we don’t need a Week 4 bye. What are we getting the bye for? You know what I mean?” he asked. “Then, if you’re accounting for how far we go in the previous season, we went to the championship in the last three to four years, then it’s like, we don’t need a Week 4 bye. Give it to us in Week 8, or Week 10 something like that.,” he explained.
“Because, with our schedule, it’s kind of awkward, to say the least. We play three games in 10 days, then we got a Christmas game coming up, four days after that we got another game, you know what I mean? So I think that’s a conversation to be had this offseason.”
Kansas City received their bye week in Week 6 but Jones’ point is pretty clear. Three games in 10 days is excessive without the proper amount of rest and recuperation the players need to return to the field. After Sunday, back-to-back short weeks will disadvantage the Chiefs. The most brutal stretch will be after their Week 16 matchup against the Texans because they’ll have three days to prepare before flying out to Pittsburgh to play the Steelers.
The Chiefs have been battle-tested before, during their run to multiple Super Bowls, but if they come away with a winning record over these next three games without any significant injuries, then the run to Super Bowl 59 might be a cakewalk in comparison.
