Reid, Chiefs falls short of AFC Championship quest

In terms of Kansas City Chiefs history, 1993 appeared to be a pivotal year.

Prior to the 2015 season, Kansas City hadn’t won a postseason contest since that year.

Glendale Community College product Andy Reid propelled the Chiefs past a crucial barrier when Kansas City defeated host Houston, 30-0, on Jan. 9 in the AFC wild-card round.

On Saturday, the head coach had similarly hoped to advance his team to its first conference championship appearance since 1993.

That pursuit will have to wait until at least next season, as the fifth-seeded Chiefs fell to the defending Super Bowl champion New England Patriots, 27-20, in the divisional round.

With the defeat, Kansas City concluded the year with a 12-6 record, which is the most wins for the team since 13 victories in 2003.

After the contest, Reid spoke of the tough defeat serving as a valuable learning tool.

“This [game] gives us a great example of where we need to be,” Reid said during the postgame press conference. “This is a good experience for us. That’s the way we’ll take it, we’ll learn from our mistakes and how you go about your business if you want to continue to play in the postseason. I’m proud of my guys. They battled like crazy this year and they came up a little short. We’ll be a better team for it next year.”

Much like the season, Kansas City needed to dig itself out of a sizable hole.

When New England kicker Stephen Gostkowski converted a 40-yard field goal with 10:20 remaining in the contest, the Patriots took a 27-13 lead.

Even though quarterback Alex Smith was intercepted on Kansas City’s next drive, the Chiefs forced a three-and-out from the Patriots.

Kansas City took over at its 20 with 6:29 remaining.

In perhaps the most important possession of the game, Kansas City drove 80 yards on 16 plays, dinking and dunking down the field. The main drawback to the scoring drive that ended with a one-yard touchdown run from Charcadrick West was its timing.

When West scored Kansas City left only 1:13 on the game clock as the Chiefs’ final drive was marred with unnecessary huddles, short passes over the middle of the field, sideline confusion and questions regarding clock management.

Kansas City attempted an onside kick that was recovered by the Patriots, who then picked up a first down two plays later to end the game.

“We went hurry-up offense – you do that normally when you’re down two scores and so time was of the essence,” Reid said of the lengthy drive. “We got down to the one-yard line and we end up going backward and we end up punching it in there, too.”

Even though his team came out on top, New England Coach Bill Belichick felt Reid and Kansas City pushed the Patriots to the limit.

“I thought we played hard today,” Belichick said. “Kansas City is a good football team and we have to give coach Reid and his staff and that team a lot of credit. They’re tough, they’re resilient and they’re going to battle you all the way until the last minute, the last second, which they did today. I have all the respect in the world for Andy and the Kansas City Chiefs.”

The loss ends perhaps the most brilliant comeback in Kansas City history as the Chiefs started the season 1-5, but won 10 consecutive games to close out the regular season and earn a playoff berth.

Kansas City then became the first team in NFL history to win a playoff game after starting the season 1-5 with a 30-0 pasting of Houston. The victory was the 11th consecutive for the squad, which marked the longest winning streak in franchise history and etched Reid and 2015 into the franchise’s record books.