Improbable Series of Events Sends KC to Play-Offs

A Christmas gift comes late for the Kansas City Chiefs, courtesy of the Cincinnati Bengals, the Tennessee Titans and the Denver Broncos. All those teams had to lose for the Chiefs’ win against Jacksonville to be enough to get them into the play-offs. Kansas City beat the Jacksonville Jaguars 35-30 at Arrowhead Stadium, then watched the scoreboard. Tennessee was the first to fall. The Titans lost badly to the New England Patriots 40 to 23. Cincinnati appeared ready to play the spoiler. Bengals kicker Shayne Graham missed a 39-yard field goal with eight seconds remaining in regulation to allow the Pittsburgh Steelers to rally in overtime and win 23-17. It came down to a game in Denver. The Broncos blew a 13 point lead, but rallied late to tie their game against the San Francisco 49ers. San Francisco won with a field goal in overtime. The Chiefs travel to Indianapolis Saturday to play the Colts in the first round of the AFC play-offs. 49ers coach Mike Nolan quipped that if Chiefs’ Head Coach Herm Edwards got a postseason bonus, “I want half of it.”