The Kansas City Chiefs beat the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday night, clinching their ninth AFC West title in a row in the process. Backup kicker Matthew Wright converted a 31-yard field goal to give the Chiefs the victory. KC now sits at 12-1.
As head coach Andy Reid alluded to, winning the AFC West again is an awesome achievement. However, he made it clear that his team must keep its foot on the gas pedal as the season comes to a close.
Via ESPN:
βIt’s early in the year here, so we’ve still got [four] games left,β Reid said. βSo when I say this, we’re not just putting the tent up right here and calling it a day. We’ve got to keep playing and playing aggressively.
βWe’re playing some real good football teams that are trying to get themselves into the playoffs, so they’re going to be hungry and attacking and so we’ve got to make sure we keep doing it.β
While the Chiefs have had six games this season that came right down to the wire, Reid is βproudβ of the defending champs for their resiliency:
βEvery year is a little bit different on how we’ve gotten there, but I’m proud of our guys who are just hanging in there,β Reid said. βWe have so many tight games, more so than some of these other years. The guys keep hanging in there and feeling like good things are going to happen and they keep battling.β
Reid does make a valid point. The Chiefs still face four solid clubs to finish the campaign β the Cleveland Browns, Houston Texans, Pittsburgh Steelers, and Denver Broncos. If KC is going to pull off the three-peat, they will need to keep up the consistency and head into the playoffs with all the momentum possible.