Latest comments from Chiefs HC Andy Reid suggest at least two starters will play in Week 18 vs. Broncos
With the No. 1 seed in the AFC already locked up, the Kansas City Chiefs are expected to rest some starters in Week 18's match against the Denver Broncos. Unfortunately, not every starter will have the luxury of having the day off. Part of that is due to the NFL's roster rules. The team simply does not have […]
With the No. 1 seed in the AFC already locked up, the Kansas City Chiefs are expected to rest some starters in Week 18's match against the Denver Broncos.
Unfortunately, not every starter will have the luxury of having the day off. Part of that is due to the NFL's roster rules. The team simply does not have enough players to field an alternate roster without starters.
The other part is that the team actually considers things like streaks, career milestones, and contract incentives for its players. Chiefs HC Andy Reid confirmed on Wednesday that the team does take all of that into account when determining who will and will not suit up in Week 18.
“Yeah, sure, I look at those," Reid said. "Like we did with Chris (Jones) last year. Sure, we look at all of that, for sure. We want the guys to be able to reach them if it is reachable.”
With that in mind, there are two starters who fans should expect to see action against the Broncos in Week 18.
Chiefs can keep Creed Humphrey's consecutive start streak alive
A little-known fact about Humphrey is that he's been an absolute ironman to start his NFL career. Back in Week 15 against the Cleveland Browns, Humphrey passed former Chiefs CB Brandon Carr for sole possession of the second-most consecutive starts to kick off a career in franchise history. Right now, Humphrey is sitting at 67 consecutive starts, only behind former Chiefs LB Gary Barbaro, who started 101 consecutive games to begin his NFL career. All the Chiefs need to do with this one is put Humphrey out there as the starting center for the first snap of the game. They did this just last season, rotating in some backup offensive linemen after the first offensive series for Kansas City.
Chiefs WR DeAndre Hopkins has a reachable contract incentive
Just as Chris Jones had sack incentives with money on the line in Week 18 last season, Chiefs WR DeAndre Hopkins has what Andy Reid will likely consider an achievable contract incentive. He needs one more touchdown during the regular season to hit a $500K contract incentive. Kansas City doesn't need to start Hopkins to help him get that, but they can definitely use him in their red zone packages. Even if they opt to simply give Hopkins the $500K incentive, they should still use him in the red zone packages as a decoy, given that his contract incentive is public knowledge.
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