The first round of the NFL postseason kicks off this weekend with Wild Card Playoffs in both the AFC and the NFC conferences — but the reigning Super Bowl champs will not be playing a game.
The Kansas City Chiefs clinched the No. 1 seed in the AFC following their 2024 Christmas victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers.
“I thought it was a full-team performance. Defense stepped up, offense stepped up [and] everyone had their imprint on the game,” quarterback Patrick Mahomes told reporters after the game. “I told my pregnant wife [Brittany Mahomes] I was going to get the No. 1 seed, so we can have the baby.”
The No. 1 seed pick does not have to play in a Wild Card game. (Meaning in the NFC, the Detroit Lions also have a bye week.) The other top seven teams in the conference will take the field, while the Chiefs and the Lions get what is best described as a hard-earned day off. For Patrick, it is also when his wife is due to give birth to their third baby.
The Chiefs will play the winner of one of the Wild Card games later this month in a divisional playoff round. The divisional winners eventually face off in an attempt to advance to the conference championship, which, of course, determines the NFC and AFC teams that will play in the 2025 Super Bowl.
Super Bowl LIX will be held in New Orleans on Sunday, February 9, and the Chiefs are hoping to make history and win a third consecutive Lombardi trophy.
“To win one is extremely difficult, to win two back-to-back like the Chiefs have done — as we know in the history of the sport — nearly impossible,” retired quarterback Tom Brady said during a September 2024 Fox Sports broadcast. “To win three in a row? There is a reason why no one has done it. To put three of those together … with drafting last, a very hard schedule, all the turnover in free agency, guys continuing to be motivated, it is a big challenge.”
Brady, 47, added, “Fortunately, they have a tremendous coach in Andy Reid [who] doesn’t ever look backward. He is not going to say, ‘Hey, because we were great last year, we’re going to be great again this year.’ He holds those guys accountable. But to win it all again is a momentous task.”
During the last regular season game and head of the divisional round, Reid made the decision to sit out a number of top starters including Patrick, 29, Travis Kelce, Chris Jones and more. Backup quarterback Carson Wentz started the January 5 away game against the Denver Broncos that ultimately ended in a 38-0 Chiefs’ loss, eliminating the Cincinnati Bengals and the Miami Dolphins from the playoffs.
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