Entering the week with the top seed and the bye locked up, Andy Reid opted to rest many key starters on both sides of the ball. The second-stringers played well early, but the Chargers pulled away in the second half to win 38-21.
Kansas City got the ball to start, and Chad Henne led the offense down in under four minutes and found Byron Pringle for six to give the Chiefs an early lead.
The Chargers responded with a TD of their own, and then KC again drove down and Darwin Thompson hit pay dirt from a yard out.
Thompson scored again early in the fourth quarter.
Despite resting starters, two Chiefs still went down with injuries, as Willie Gay and DeAndre Baker left the game. Gay was able to limp off with assistance, but Baker had to be carted off, and one can only hope it simply looks worse than what it actually is.
With the night game being an NFC matchup, the AFC playoff field is now set.
- No. 1 Kansas City Chiefs – Bye
- No. 7 Indianapolis Colts at No. 2 Buffalo Bills
- No. 6 Cleveland Browns at No. 3 Pittsburgh Steelers
- No. 5 Baltimore Ravens at No. 4 Tennessee Titans
Looking ahead to the divisional round, Kansas City has four potential opponents – Tennessee, Cleveland, Baltimore, or Indianapolis.
If Indianapolis upsets Buffalo, they will travel to Arrowhead. If Buffalo wins, eyes will turn to the AFC North matchup.
If Cleveland beats Pittsburgh for a second consecutive week, then the Browns will come to KC. If both the Bills and Steelers win, the Chiefs will play the winner of the Baltimore-Tennessee game.
Out of those four potential opponents, the Chiefs only played one this season, beating the Ravens 34-20 all the way back in week 3 in Baltimore.
No matter what happens on Wild Card weekend, the Chiefs will be resting up and awaiting an opponent.
