There’s plenty of reason to cheer in the Kansas City Chiefs locker room.
A 29-10 Christmas Day blowout of the Pittsburgh Steelers improved their record to 15-1 and clinched the AFC’s No. 1 ranking in their quest for an unprecedented third straight Super Bowl championship. They can rest key players in next week’s regular-season finale before bowing out in the first round of the postseason.
So if you’re Andy Reid, you really only have to do one thing: play Santa Claus for your post-game speech. That’s exactly what he did on Wednesday. Because of course he did.
Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce wore NFL-branded Santa jackets to get the postgame celebration started. Then Reid followed in full uniform, much to the delight of the Kansas City locker room.
“Merry Christmas,” Reid said, his voice muffled by his Christmas beard. ‘I’m proud of you guys. Proud of you. For the time being, you get home advantage.’
Indeed they do. It was a season full of questions about the Chiefs after close game after close game. But few can reasonably challenge Kansas City’s credentials at this point.
They are now 15-1 and will not finish the season worse than tied for the best record in football. The last-second victories are a thing of the past. They beat the Browns 21-7 in Week 15, the Texans 27-19 in Week 16 and now the Steelers by 19 points on Christmas. The wins over the Steelers and Texans came against other AFC playoff teams.
Wednesday’s dominant win over Pittsburgh was coming into view. And the 15 wins are a new franchise record.
Once again, there’s plenty to cheer about in Kansas City.
