The Kansas City Chiefs had another remarkable season with a 14-3 record and winning the AFC West for a seventh straight year. Though many experts believed the division would be really competitive, Patrick Mahomes’ team dominated again over the Chargers, Raiders and Broncos.
However, two of those three losses for the Chiefs came against top contenders in the AFC: Bills and Bengals. In fact, Buffalo owned the tiebreaker over Kansas City, but the Monday Night game at Cincinnati changed the entire scenario after the cardiac arrest of Damar Hamlin. That matchup was cancelled.
So, the big question for many fans is what happened with the Chiefs followingall the adjustments made by the NFL towards the playoffs. Read here to find out why they won’t play in the Wild Card round.
Why the Kansas City Chiefs don’t play in the Wild Card round?
The Chiefs will not play in the Wild Card round of the playoffs because they earned a bye-week as the No.1 seed in the AFC. Though normally the win-loss record determines which team rests during the first round, the cancellation of the Bills-Bengals game produced changes. The owners and the league approved winning percentage as the first criteria.
However, home-field advantage is not guaranteed for the Chiefs throughout the playoffs. The adjustments by the NFL owners to the rules after Damar Hamlin’s incident confirmed that the AFC Championship Game will be played at a neutral site if Buffalo (13-3) and Kansas City (14-3) won in Week 18. That indeed happened. So, if both teams advance to the AFC title game, that matchup won’t be in Kansas City.
If any other team faces the Chiefs in a possible AFC Championship Game, then Kansas City will host that game. There are no other scenarios in which the game will be moved to a neutral site. Cincinnati were the team affected, because they could have had a shot at the No.2 seed. The Bengals would have to travel to Kansas or maybe Buffalo in that scenario of an AFC Championship Game.