Patrick Mahomes has admitted that the decision to play him or not in NFL Week 18 will lie with Andy Reid, with the Kansas City Chiefs set to take on the the Denver Broncos.

The festive period brought about a tricky schedule for the Chiefs, who played three times in 11 days, including on Christmas Day. The Super Bowl champions, however, used it as an opportunity to show their worth, winning all three games against the Cleveland Browns, Houston Texans, and Pittsburgh Steelers.

This impressive run has seen them clinch the No. 1 seed in the AFC Championship, ensuring they receive a first-round playoff bye, giving the Chiefs some important rest bite following a hectic period.

This also means that their next meaningful game is not until the second half of January, which could allow Reid to make some changes heading into their Week 18 game on January 5 against the Broncos. One of those changes could see Mahomes rested before the pressure ramps up later in the month.

As far as the quarterback is concerned, no decision has been made yet – and whatever his coach does decide to do, he will respect it. “That’s completely up to Coach,” Mahomes replied to being asked whether he would be rested in Week 18 after the festive win over the Steelers .

“If Coach wants me to go out there and play I’ll play. If he doesn’t, I’ll sit back. I have full confidence that Coach Reid knows what he’s doing.” Mahomes has unsurprisingly more than played his role in the Chiefs’ impressive run in recent weeks and hailed the efforts of all of his teammates on Wednesday.

“It showed the toughness of the team, and I think we got better as the games went on,’’ Mahomes said. “The guys, they’re mentally tough and they’re physically tough, and we played some really good football teams, some hard-fought battles, and the guys came away with three wins.

“That No. 1 seed is important. It’s like winning a playoff game, and so I was happy to get that done.’’ Reid – who celebrated Wednesday’s win by dressing up as Santa Claus in the locker room – was happy to have banked the No. 1 seed but is keeping his feet firmly on the floor ahead of taking on the Broncos.

“We are going to celebrate this, but then we are going to get right back on it,” he told reporters. “We have got a good Denver team that we are going up to play and we have got the playoffs coming up, so we have got to make sure we stay sharp throughout here.”