The Kansas City Chiefs weren’t in the most celebratory mood last Christmas, when they fell at home to the Las Vegas Raiders in a sloppy 20-14 loss. This Christmas was a different story. On Wednesday, the Chiefs dominated the Steelers in Pittsburgh with a wire-to-wire 29-10 win.
The Chiefs were feeling the holiday spirit after the game, head coach Andy Reid most of all. He strolled in the away locker room wearing a full-on Santa suit to lead his signature “How ’bout those Chiefs” chant.
“Proud of you, dudes,” Reid-as-Santa said. “For the present, you get home-field advantage.”
It wasn’t the first time Reid has dressed as Santa. In fact, Patrick Mahomes thinks his coach “first the role perfectly” even as the quarterback noted, “he’s kind of getting skinny for the Santa [suit.]”
Nor was it the first time his team has earned home-field advantage in the postseason.
Kansas City improved to a franchise-best 15-1 with the victory, locking up the No. 1 seed in the AFC for the fourth time in the last seven seasons. That means the Chiefs will get a first-round bye and are guaranteed to host their divisional-round contest and, if they win, the AFC Championship Game.
Reid’s “present” might not be as fancy as the gifts Mahomes got his offensive linemen this year, but it’s something everyone on the team wanted. The two-time defending Super Bowl champions are 10-2 at Arrowhead Stadium with Mahomes as their starting quarterback. Both of their losses came in overtime of the AFC title game, first during the 2018 season against Tom Brady and the New England Patriots and then during the 2021 season against Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals.
The Chiefs will close out the regular season next week at Denver and will then get a week off before they begin their quest to become the first NFL team to win three Super Bowls in a row.
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