KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Chiefs' well-deserved bye week won't just be all fun and games.
Chiefs head coach Andy Reid told media during his weekly press conference that the extra week off will be used for a combination of rest and hard work.
"They get a couple days off here to rest up and get back," Reid said. "We got a little bit of the flu and cold stuff going through our team right now; We'll be able to get rid of that and kind of get back fresh here come Thursday."
Kansas City will host one of three potential opponents in the AFC Divisional playoff game at Arrowhead Stadium: the three-seed New England Patriots, the four-seed Houston Texans, or the five-seed Buffalo Bills. The Chiefs have played both Houston and New England but not Buffalo. Practically the entire team will be watching Wild Card Weekend to see who next's opponent will be. But, the Chiefs will prepare for all three teams should they play Kansas City.
"I think just staying focused is the biggest thing. Obviously, Coach Reid does a good job of preparing us and giving us the right amount of time off, but at the same time keeping us in the building and keeping us [prepared] for whoever we get to play," Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes said Monday. "I think the biggest thing this week is making sure that we're fundamentally at the right point. As the season goes on, you start losing some of the fundamentals. Having this week [off], you can kind of go back, look at ourselves and really focus on the fundamentals."
The Chiefs finished the regular season with six consecutive wins and are entering the playoffs playing extremely well. They know that positive momentum at this time of the year could help power them through a deep run in the playoffs and hopefully to the Super Bowl. Reid was especially proud of the way his team battled during their 31-21 victory over the Los Angeles Chargers at Arrowhead Stadium.
"I appreciated the way our guys handled it [and] the way they came out and played [against the Chargers]," Reid said. "They easily, if you're not mentally tough enough, they could have a setback there. Our guys didn't do that. They powered through. I had a chance to meet with them this morning and congratulated them on that.
Kansas City's next game will be played at Arrowhead Stadium on Sunday, Jan. 12 at 2:05 p.m. The Chiefs host the AFC Divisional playoff game and will now only need two wins to reach the Super Bowl instead of three wins had they started their playoff push in this weekend's AFC Wild Card round.
