After defeating the Pittsburgh Steelers 29-10 on Christmas Day, the Kansas City Chiefs improved to 15-1 and secured the No. 1 seed in the AFC.

With two games remaining, the Buffalo Bills can’t get any better than 14-3, putting KC on top even if they lose their regular season finale and finish the year with a 15-2 record.

With home field advantage secured for the playoffs, the Chiefs will have little motivation to risk injury to their star players when they host the Denver Broncos in Week 18. Granted, it would be a long break for the starters if they didn’t play between December 25th and January 25th 18/19, but coach Andy Reid has been hesitant to risk injuries to his starters in recent seasons.

“The Chiefs will almost certainly rest their starters in Week 18 as part of a nearly month-long break that will help the team get fit before their next game in the divisional round of the AFC playoffs,” said Chiefs’ John Dillon Wire Broncos Wire this week.

“With so many starters suffering from injuries, including quarterback Patrick Mahomes and defensive lineman Chris Jones, it would be misconduct to send key players onto the field while the No. 1 pick has already been determined.”

As Andrew Mason of DenverSports.com pointed out on Twitter/X, KC has been anchored in the playoffs four times under Reid. All four times, Reid rested his starting quarterback in the team’s regular-season finale.

Kansas City has been tied to its playoff spot before the regular season finale four times under Andy Reid:

2013: Rested starting QB (Alex Smith)
2017: Rested starting QB (Smith, gave Mahomes the first start)
2020: Rested starting QB (Mahomes)
2023: Rested starting QB (Mahomes)

— Andrew Mason (@MaseDenver) December 25, 2024

Other Chiefs stars like defensive lineman Chris Jones and tight end Travis Kelce also appear to be taking a break in Week 18 against Denver.

The Broncos need one more win (or a draw) to secure a spot in the NFL playoffs. Denver could get the job done on Saturday against the Cincinnati Bengals – which would make the Chiefs game irrelevant – but if the Broncos make a mistake in Week 17, a game against Carson Wentz in Week 18 would (on paper) improve Denver’s chances, to get to the postseason.