ARNIE STAPLETON
AP Pro Football Writer
The biggest question facing the Kansas City Chiefs as they resume their quest to become the first team ever to win three consecutive Super Bowls is whether 3 1/2 weeks' rest will result in too much rust.
Patrick Mahomes and most of Kansas City's other stars last played on Christmas Day, when they walloped the Pittsburgh Steelers to secure the AFC's top seed and lone first-round bye.
The Chiefs (15-2) rested their regulars in their season finale at Denver and the Broncos ended an eight-year playoff drought with an emphatic 38-0 win, delivering Andy Reid's first shutout in his 12 seasons as Chiefs head coach and handing him just the fourth overall of his 26-year NFL head coaching career.
That also marked the second-biggest blowout of a Reid-coached team, behind only a 42-0 whitewash at the hands of the Seattle Seahawks in 2005 while he was coaching the Philadelphia Eagles.
That may have stung Reid and the Chiefs a bit but it hardly mattered — and maybe their prolonged break won't, either. Reid is 29-5 in his career after a bye, including 7-1 in the playoffs following rest in Round 1, 3-0 with Philadelphia and 4-1 with Kansas City.
The Chiefs matchup in the divisional round will be on Saturday against the Houston Texans at 3:30 p.m. at GEHA Field at Arrowhead. The Texans won over the Chargers 32-12 this past weekend to advance to the divisional round.
The last home date for Kansas City was against Houston back on Dec. 21. The Chiefs won that one 27-19.