Chiefs plan to rest key starters in Week 18 with No. 1 seed locked up, leading to unprecedented layoff

The Kansas City Chiefs took care of business on Christmas and locked up the No. 1 seed in the AFC with their victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers. Now that they’ve secured the top spot in the conference, coach Andy Reid will elect to rest key starters in K.C.’s Week 18 regular-season finale against the Broncos in Denver, according to CBS Sports NFL insider Jonathan Jones. 

Accounting for the first-round bye that comes with the No. 1 seed, this break will total roughly 24 days of rest for various players on the defending champions’ roster.

“Twenty-four days of rest is almost unheard of in the NFL, but for some of Kansas City’s starters that’s what they’ll be getting,” Jones said on Sunday’s edition of “That Other Pregame Show” on CBS Sports Network. “The Chiefs are expected to rest key starters until their playoff game, and that would include Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce and Chris Jones. Several other starters will either be inactive or won’t play, and the team is going to work through that this upcoming week as they make that official.”

With this break, members of the Chiefs will not play again until the weekend of Jan. 18, when they host their divisional-round matchup. As Jones notes, that extended layoff will lead to some “intense practices for starters who are resting,” as Reid will look to keep them sharp. 

This isn’t unheard of when it comes to Andy Reid-led teams. When his clubs have secured playoff seeding, he has routinely rested his key players in the ensuing week, particularly at quarterback. He did so with Alex Smith in 2013 and 2017 and also with Mahomes in 2020 and 2023. That said, having nearly a month in between games will provide a different challenge than those previous situations. 

This break should be particularly useful for Mahomes, who has been playing through an ankle injury. Star defensive lineman Chris Jones also missed the Christmas matchup due to a calf injury he has been nursing. 

Meanwhile, the Chiefs electing to hold out key players could also have ramifications across the AFC playoff landscape. Kansas City’s Week 18 opponent, the Denver Broncos, simply needs to win the regular-season finale to punch its ticket to the playoffs. If Reid does, in fact, rest players, that playoff push becomes that much easier.