Chiefs clinch the AFC’s No. 1 seed with triumph over Falcons

The Kansas City Chiefs refuse to play on the first weekend of the NFL’s postseason.

For the third year in a row, the Chiefs will get a week of rest in the playoffs before starting their Super Bowl run at home in the divisional round. They clinched the top seed in the AFC on Sunday with the resilient 17-14 win over the Atlanta Falcons — an accomplishment that comes with the conference’s only postseason bye week.

The Chiefs also won their 14th regular season game — the most any Chiefs team has ever won in a single season. Three other seasons have ended with a 13-3 record; the 1995, 1997, and 2003 season— but until now, none have ended with more.

Chiefs fans might be relieved that the team won’t finish at 13-3. The mark seems to be a cursed result: all three of those seasons ended with home playoff losses in the first game of their playoff runs. They will finish at either 14-2 or 15-1, depending on the outcome of an insignificant Week 17 contest against the Los Angeles Chargers.

It’s the fourth time Chiefs head coach Andy Reid has earned a postseason bye week as the Chiefs head coach — and his second time earning the AFC’s top seed. He has a total record of 3-2 in the seasons he has a bye week during Wild Card weekend.

It’s safe to infer that Reid will rest starters in Week 17. He did so for Week 17 games in the 2013, 2017 seasons — and toward the end of 2018.