Andy Reid names Chiefs’ six playoffs captains

The Kansas City Chiefs have identified their six playoff captains, as head coach Andy Reid explained on Monday. Reid allows the team to vote on the captains for the playoffs each season. There are two captains on special teams, two on defense and two on offense.

“Both our kickers (Harrison Butker and Dustin Colquitt) are the special teams captains,” said Reid. “Tyrann (Mathieu) is one of them on defense. Hitch (Anthony Hitchens), Kelc (Travis Kelce) and Pat (Mahomes) are on offense.”

Reid continued.

“I leave that up to the team to pick, and we do that for playoffs — playoff captains. And that’s how we roll throughout the playoffs.”

The list is not all that surprising based upon some of the things we have learned throughout the season. Hitchens and Mathieu serve as the defense’s primary communicators — they set everyone in place prior to each play.

“The two guys back there that really unwind it for us and get everybody lined up are really Hitch and Tyrann,” said defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo back on November 7. “They embrace those roles, and they’re really good at it. They’re cerebral players. They can slow the game down within the game and help everybody else out. So, it’s been good.”

At 30, Kelce is the elder statesman of a very young team, and Mahomes is the obvious choice as the team’s quarterback and leader.