7 Chiefs Players Are Officially Inactive For Week 18 Game
01/05/2025 03:28 PM
Week 18 does not matter to the Kansas City Chiefs, who are 15-1 and have already wrapped up the No. 1 seed in the AFC.
As a result, Kansas City will rest several key starters. The Chiefs will have a bye during the first round of the playoffs next week, meaning these players will get plenty of rest before the divisional round two weeks from now. Kansas City unveiled its inactive list a short time ago, and it's a star-studded group.
Quarterback Patrick Mahomes, tight end Travis Kelce and defensive tackle Chris Jones, the Chiefs' three biggest stars, are all out today. Offensive tackle Jawaan Taylor, running back Isiah Pacheco, defensive end George Karlaftis and cornerback Trent McDuffie also will not dress.
A to Z Sports' Charles Goldman noted that other Chiefs starters will dress, but won't play. That means the Denver Broncos have the door wide open to get the win and secure a playoff berth.
Denver has not made the playoffs since 2015, the year it won Super Bowl 50. If the Broncos (9-8) can't win against a skeleton crew this afternoon, they don't deserve to be in the postseason.
As for the Chiefs, they'll enjoy the time off after playing non-stop since their bye in Week 6. They could use some rest after their struggles to even get to Denver this weekend.
"It's just going to be nice getting guys healthy,'' Mahomes said following the team's win over the Pittsburgh Steelers on Christmas Day. "I think this was the earliest [regular-season] bye I've ever had just in general. To kind of have this grind of whatever it is -- I think we had our bye Week 6 -- so it's like almost 10 weeks of just football and grinding and then this short schedule at the very end of the year.
"We have some guys banged up, and to get them back healthy now and we'll see how Week 18 goes and who plays and who doesn't play. That's up to Coach [Andy Reid]. But even getting this little break, getting back healthy and then getting ourselves ready to go for the playoffs, it was super important.''
The Chiefs and Broncos will kick off at 4:25 p.m. ET.
Related: The Chiefs Are Huge Underdogs In Their Week 18 Game
