NFL Playoff Picture Week 15: Kansas City Chiefs' Scenarios

The playoff scenarios for the Kansas City Chiefs are pretty simple heading into Week 15. They can either win their last three games while receiving a tiny bit of help, or win two of their last three and pray as hard as they can.

Kansas City fans shouldn’t even worry about the latter scenario. A ticket to the playoffs with another loss is about as likely as simultaneously winning the lottery, being struck by lighting and attacked by a shark. The Chiefs just need to win out.

On the bright side, Kansas City has won (and lost) all the right games this season to gain a good position in tiebreakers. If they win out, they’ll have the head-to-head tiebreaker on the Miami Dolphins, Buffalo Bills, San Diego Chargers and Pittsburgh Steelers. Winning out would also leave the Chiefs with an 8-4 record in the AFC.

The only remaining Wild Card contender that has an opportunity to top that are the 7-6 Houston Texans. The Chiefs need them to lose just one of their final three games. The Texans’ remaining schedule puts them on the road against the Indianapolis Colts, followed by home games against the Baltimore Ravens and Jacksonville Jaguars.

So this Sunday, nobody will be cheering harder for the Colts than Chiefs fans. It may be a little awkward considering Indy has eliminated Kansas City from the playoffs in four of the last six times they’ve made it, but I’m sure KC fans will take a bone from whoever will throw it to them.

Most importantly, the Chiefs have to take care of business at home against the Oakland Raiders, on the road against the Steelers, and at home again versus the Chargers. The ice-cold Chiefs need to get hot now.

And somebody, anybody, needs to give Andy Reid and Alex Smith some tips on how to operate a two-minute drill. Kansas City has had several opportunities to comeback in losses this season, but most attempts have been a mix of sad, frustrating and confusing.

The Chiefs can beat any team and lose to any team. Reid needs turn them back into the squad that won seven of eight against a gauntlet of playoff contenders, because it’s do-or-die time from here on out for Kansas City.

Aaron Charles is a Kansas City Chiefs writer for www.rantsports.com. Follow him on twitter @aaroncharleskc or add him to your network on Google