Chiefs, Eagles need to take care of business, Colts face must win

Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes knows the Chiefs control their own destiny heading into the final regular season game against the Oakland Raiders

Los Angeles (AFP) - The Kansas City Chiefs take the field with everything to play for as the final Sunday of the NFL regular season is filled with complex playoff scenarios.

The defending champion Philadelphia Eagles are one of six bubble teams – along with the Minnesota Vikings, Baltimore Ravens, Pittsburgh Steelers, Indianapolis Colts and Tennessee Titans – who face now or never situations.

Kansas City have two paths to the postseason. A win over the Oakland Raiders clinches the AFC West for the Chiefs along with home-field throughout the AFC playoffs.

A loss, however, means the Chiefs need a combination of losses by the Los Angeles Chargers, New England Patriots and Houston Texans to avoid falling to the fifth seed and a road trip in the wild-card playoff round.

“We want to make sure that we’re staying here the rest of the way out,” quarterback Patrick Mahomes said of securing home-field advantage. “We know that if we can come together and play like we know we can, then we can make a run at this thing.”

Chiefs head coach Andy Reid wants his team to just focus on executing their game plan in their regular season finale.

“Let your personalities show and go play. That’s the most important thing,” he said. “If you get caught up in everything, that becomes an issue and then you’re not yourself.”

A couple of things have to happen for the Eagles to get back into the postseason.

The Eagles must beat Washington on the Redskins’ home field on Sunday, and the Vikings must lose to the Chicago Bears.

The Eagles have won two in a row and four of their past five games to stay in contention.

They stayed alive by beating the Houston Texans 32-30 on Jake Elliott’s 35-yard field goal on the game’s final play last weekend and now they are just trying to key on what they can control.

“The biggest thing is we have to take care of business,” said Philadelphia defensive tackle Fletcher Cox.

“We have to win this game right here in order to get into the postseason and that’s what’s really most important to this locker room right now,” Cox said.

Quarterback Nick Foles, who will get his fifth start of the season, has been as effective so far as he was last season when he led Philadelphia to a Super Bowl victory.

In last week’s win, Foles threw for a franchise-record 471 yards, but he was not the Eagles’ quarterback the last time they faced Washington.

Carson Wentz was at quarterback, but he has since been sidelined with a back injury.

Elsewhere, the Los Angeles Rams are focused on beating San Francisco and maintaining the second seed in the NFC standings and a first-round bye.

In order for the Rams to stay in control of their destiny, they have to beat the 49ers or, if they lose, hope the Bears lose to the Vikings.

The Rams will leave nothing to chance, so don’t expect any looking ahead to the playoffs.

“It’s very important for us to come out ready to go,” Rams head coach Sean McVay said. “To be able to wrap up the division – try to stay unbeaten in the division this year would be a great accomplishment.”

Pro Bowl running back Todd Gurley’s availability is uncertain for the Rams. He sat out last week with a knee injury and he’ll be monitored this week before a decision is made.

- Winner take all -

The situation will be straightforward when the Colts face the Titans at Nissan Stadium in Nashville. The winner punches their ticket to the playoffs. The loser is out.

“One of the things I mentioned to the team today is, I said, ‘Hey, guys, this is a playoff game. We’ve been in that mode since we were 1-5, so that’s to our advantage,’” Colts first-year head coach Frank Reich said.

Both teams are 9-6, but Colts quarterback Andrew Luck has owned the Titans since he entered the league.