{"id":40841,"date":"2025-12-29T23:35:38","date_gmt":"2025-12-29T23:35:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=40841"},"modified":"2025-12-29T23:37:21","modified_gmt":"2025-12-29T23:37:21","slug":"why-chiefs-will-play-starters-still-standing-in-season-finale","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=40841","title":{"rendered":"\ud83d\udc49 Why the Chiefs Will Still Play Their Remaining Starters in the Season Finale \u2014 and What They Know \ud83d\udc40"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/figure>\n

<\/p>\n

KANSAS CITY, Mo. \u2013 Andy Reid has never been one to hide information. So, Pete Carroll, get ready for the full allotment of Chiefs starters in the season finale.<\/p>\n

At least the starters still standing.<\/p>\n

Reid confirmed on Monday he plans to do everything he can to beat the Raiders in Las Vegas, where the Chiefs conclude the season on Sunday (3:25 p.m. CT, CBS\/KCTV, Channel 5, 96.5 The Fan). And given the choice of benching a veteran on the last year of his contract in favor of more experience for younger players returning next season, Reid will approach this week just like he did last week.<\/p>\n

\"travis<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cWe want to win the football game,\u201d Reid said after the 20-13 loss to Denver. \u201cNumber one, you want to win the football game. And I really don’t care who’s in. That’s a primary goal. And so, we came up short. But again, gave a good effort there in doing that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reid didn’t change his mind over the weekend. On Monday, he said the only veteran likely to miss the game will be due to injury. Pro Bowl guard Trey Smith has been battling an ankle sprained in two places since Nov. 23.<\/p>\n

\"trey<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThe only one I think is questionable there would be Trey,\u201d Reid explained Monday afternoon. \u201cHe kind of pushed through that ankle, and he would probably push through this game, too, but I’m most likely going to hold him back a little bit. That thing’s been bugging him for a while.\u201d<\/p>\n

Should Smith miss this week, Mike Caliendo is his likely replacement. Caliendo has started four games this season for Smith, including the first Raiders game on Oct. 19, when Smith was out due to a back injury.<\/p>\n

\"creed<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Humphrey owns impressive starting streak entering finale<\/h3>\n

Center Creed Humphrey (97 games including playoffs) is the only Chiefs veteran with a significant starting streak entering Sunday’s game.<\/p>\n

As Reid has said several times, the Chiefs are already playing several young players due to injuries across the team \u2013 most notably at both offensive-tackle positions, where Chu Godrick and rookie Esa Pole have each made their first NFL starts this month.<\/p>\n

\"jalen<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Veterans getting majority of snaps<\/h3>\n

But at most of the other positions at which the Chiefs have a choice between veteran and a youthful option \u2013 including wide receiver — Kansas City leaned toward the veteran route.<\/p>\n

While wide receiver Jalen Royals got his first NFL start last week, he wound up playing only five total snaps. Other young players and their snap counts included linebacker Cooper McDonald (21), Zacch Pickens (19), Kevin Knowles (six), running back Brashard Smith (six), tight end Jared Wiley (five) and linebacker Jeffrey Bassa (four).<\/p>\n

\"jeffrey<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KANSAS CITY, Mo. \u2013 Andy Reid has never been one to hide information. So, Pete Carroll, get ready for the full allotment of Chiefs starters in the season finale.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":40842,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40841","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-kansas-city-chiefs"],"yoast_head":"\n\ud83d\udc49 Why the Chiefs Will Still Play Their Remaining Starters in the Season Finale \u2014 and What They Know \ud83d\udc40 - Breaking News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=40841\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\ud83d\udc49 Why the Chiefs Will Still Play Their Remaining Starters in the Season Finale \u2014 and What They Know \ud83d\udc40 - Breaking News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"KANSAS CITY, Mo. \u2013 Andy Reid has never been one to hide information. 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