Andy Reid Sends Strong Message to Unhappy Chiefs Players After Week 12

It isn't a secret that the Kansas City Chiefs' Week 12 victory over the Carolina Panthers was too close for comfort. The defending Super Bowl Champions struggled to create separation from the lowly Panthers, needing a 31-yard field goal from kicker Spencer Shrader as time expired to pick up the 30-27 win at Bank of America Stadium.

While notching the 10th win of the campaign was nice, there's plenty to be disappointed in when it comes to the Chiefs' performance. The Panthers are among the NFL's worst teams and there's no reason why the game should've been decided by a last-second field goal.

Unsurprisingly, Kansas City's players felt demoralized by how close Sunday's showdown was, resulting in head coach Andy Reid attempting to lift his team's spirits with a post-game speech.

Chiefs News: Andy Reid Addresses Players Followin Win vs. Panthers

Nobody would've blamed Reid for berating his players after barely defeating the NFC South's bottom-dwellers. That isn't the 66-year-old coach's style, though, and he'd much rather reassure his players than break them down, according to Pete Grathoff of The Kansas City Star.

"I won't want to see anybody hanging their head, men," Reid told his players after Sunday's win. "This league is crazy. That's the way this thing goes... Nothing's given to you and you're getting their best shot."

"We've got some things we've got to clean up. But we keep it rolling here... Winning is the important part right here. And you guys beared down and got it done."

While it's easy to be disappointed with how small the final margin was, it isn't difficult to agree with Reid here. Rarely is a team's performance ever flawless and the fact that the Chiefs now have 10 wins — one fewer than last season's total — is something that should be celebrated.

At the same time, the Week 12 encounter should never have been that close. The Chiefs were double-digit favorites over the Panthers on most sportsbooks leading up to the game and all signs pointed to them likely covering the spread when the former was up by 11 points at halftime.

After the Panthers cut the lead to four with a late third-quarter touchdown, wideout DeAndre Hopkins restored the Chiefs' 11-point lead with his fourth touchdown of the season less than four minutes later. Carolina then hit a 33-yard field goal early in the final frame before running back Chuba Hubbard scored a one-yard TD followed by a two-point conversion to tie the game at 27 with 1:46 remaining.

Fortunately, disaster was avoided as Shrader stepped up by sinking the game-winning kick in just his second outing with the Chiefs. The down-to-the-wire victory should serve as a reminder to Kansas City that it can't underestimate any of its opponents, regardless of the former's Super Bowl aspirations.

That's just the nature of the NFL.

Reid's players will have the opportunity to prove that they learned from their mistakes during Week 13's clash with the rival Las Vegas Raiders. The impending Black Friday showdown is shaping up to be a lopsided affair as the Chiefs are currently 13.5-point home favorites over the Raiders on FanDuel Sportsbook.

Odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.