Is two seed out of play for Kansas City Chiefs in 2019?

By Chris Clark | Nov 18, 2019

DENVER, CO - OCTOBER 17: Quarterback Patrick Mahomes #15 of the Kansas City Chiefs leads his team onto the field before a game against the Denver Broncos at Empower Field at Mile High on October 17, 2019 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Justin Edmonds/Getty Images) /

Before the 2019 NFL season began, most football fans would have expected the Kansas City Chiefs to likely claim one of the top two seeds for postseason play. That might not be the case anymore.

After a tumultuous season filled with injuries, inconsistent play, and undisciplined football, fans are now seeing a much different picture. With six games left, can the Kansas City Chiefs still claim the number two seed headed into the playoffs?

The Chiefs began the season with four wins and zero losses. That’s likely what most football fans would have expected.

Even in those wins though, most could see that the revamped defense had a long way to go and that injuries were having a major impact. Unfortunately, the Chiefs dropped their next two games. Even worse, those games were lost to AFC opponents. After a 4-2 start, Chiefs Kingdom had reason to be concerned.

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In addition to Steve Spagnuolo’s defense struggling to find their way, the injury bug seemed to bite in almost every game on both sides of the ball. Key players like Tyreek Hill, Eric Fisher, and Chris Jones have missed time this season, not to mention the league’s most valuable player, Patrick Mahomes, missed games with a knee injury.

Each injured player has missed significant time, but thankfully, most have made their way back to playing healthy football. A loss to the Packers without Mahomes was expected and yet a win over the Vikings with backup Matt Moore was a bit unexpected.

With the return of Mahomes last Sunday against the Titans, confidence was again raised that victory was indeed imminent. Unfortunately, a subpar football game ensued and the superior Chiefs team put another one in the loss column to an AFC opponent.

Now, as the playoff picture begins to take shape, Chiefs Kingdom is left wondering where their talented but inconsistent team will end up in the playoff seeding. Looking at the rest of the AFC playoff teams, is there still a chance to grab the number two seed?

As it sits right now, the Patriots, Ravens, Texans, Chiefs, Bills, and Raiders are in, in that respective order. That means that Kansas City is sitting at the number four seed looking in on the top two teams who have one and two losses, respectively.

The number three seed Texans have already beaten the Chiefs, which currently solidifies their place above them. As the rest of the season plays out, it’s imperative that the Chiefs play their best football as they get into the final stretch. Considering that Kansas City plays lights-out and finishes 11-5, let’s look at where those other playoff teams finish.

In year two of the Raiders’ Jon Gruden experiment, his mad scientist-like rebuild appears to be paying off. After posting a 4-12 record last season, Gruden currently has his team sitting at 5-4 and on the heels of Kansas City for a shot at the division title.

With one of those losses already coming at the hands of the Chiefs, it’s not likely they’ll grab the division title this year. Even so, they could still firmly lay hold of the number sixth seed, possibly finishing with a record of 10-6.

The Bills appear to be a pedestrian yet solid team and currently have a pretty good shot at fighting for the number five spot. Looking at their schedule, they could also finish 10-6 like the Raiders. Their advantage over the Raiders should be that they finish with a better record in conference play. Things then get a little more interesting with the Chiefs and Texans.

The schedule appears to lighten up for the Chiefs, while it gets more difficult for the Texans.

The Chiefs can’t overlook any teams at this point, but their toughest opponent will be the Patriots in Foxboro in December. The Texans, on the other hand, still have to face the Ravens, the Patriots, and a reinspired Ryan Tannehill-led Titans team twice.

The Texans will be fortunate to escape that gauntlet at 2-2, but could easily go 1-3 and 10-6 overall on the season. Depending on how each team finishes in the AFC, the Texans or Bills could exchange places at the five and six spots.

Right now, it’s pretty clear that the one-loss Patriots and two-loss Ravens are battling for that top spot in the seeding. The Ravens have beaten the Patriots and appear to be gaining steam heading towards the postseason.

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While the Patriots defense is still brutally staunch, their schedule in this part of the season certainly becomes more of a test. As they face four current playoff teams, it’s not hard to imagine that they could go 12-4 to finish.

A 12-4 campaign from the Ravens would put them at the number one seed and the Patriots at the number two seat, based on their head to head matchup.

So where does this leave Kansas City in the shuffle? They’ll likely stay in the three to four seed rankings. They are fully capable of making the number three seed, but cracking the top two is a bit of a stretch.

Because they have a good chance to win the division, getting in that second-tier would appear to be an accurate prediction based on an 11-5 or 10-6 finish. At this point, there’s still a lot of good and crucial games left.

As long as this team can establish a true identity, they can still secure a home playoff game and then be a force to be reckoned with in Baltimore or New England the week after. Ultimately, this is likely a best-case-scenario look at how this season could finish.

The adversity that this team has faced so far could be the impetus that puts them over the top this season. Here’s to hoping that Chiefs Kingdom has 2019 as a wild and memorable season to talk about for years to come.

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