On Monday, the Kansas City Chiefs began preparing for their Thanksgiving Day trip to face the Dallas Cowboys at AT&T Stadium, raising the question that always comes with playing on a short week: how they’ll get everyone healthy and ready to go.
This is especially problematic for the offense, which ran an incredible 92 offensive plays in Sunday’s 23-20 overtime win over the Indianapolis Colts.
“Guys are banged up,” offensive coordinator Matt Nagy acknowledged to reporters on Tuesday. “It’s [usually] the second day — which is today — that guys get the most sore.”
Since the Cowboys also played on Sunday, both teams will be playing on a short week. And while it isn’t ideal, head coach Andy Reid recognizes that it’s all part of the deal when a team plays on Thanksgiving or Christmas.
“I mean, it’s an honor to be asked to play on those days,” noted Reid. “It means you’re doing — or have done —halfway decent, right?”
In fact, the Chiefs will play on both of those holidays this season. It will be the third straight year the team has played on Christmas Day — the fourth if you count the team’s 2022 Christmas Eve matchup.
“It’s not a lot of games being played [on] either one of those two days,” said Reid, “so that’s why I think that’s the way you have to approach it. I can’t tell you I’m greatly excited about short weeks — but I mean, that’s part of this thing. So we get [the guys] ready, and they go play.”
When quarterback Patrick Mahomes spoke on Tuesday, he left the usual impression: if need be, he’s ready to go out there and play on any day of the week. Mahomes never gets too far away from the kid who grew up watching his hometown team play every fourth Thursday — and now, he’s able to play with the big men he watched on TV through sleepy eyes on Thanksgiving afternoons.
“I think the kid in me wants to be able to go out there and play on Thanksgiving — and find a way to win,” he admitted. “Obviously, it’s a short week, so we’re grinding in here right now — getting the whole game plan in [place] and making sure everybody’s prepared and ready to go. But I think we’re excited to get to go out and play on Thanksgiving against a really good football team — with the whole world watching.”
But not only do the athletes need to get their bodies ready, but coaches must prepare a game plan on the same short schedule.
“I mean, in two more days, they’re back out on the field with the possibility of a lot more plays,” explained Nagy. “So we have to make sure that there’s that balance [between] giving them what we see with Dallas and letting them understand what we’re doing — so that in the end, [they’ll] be able to play fast.”
For defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, there’s always a worry that you can’t plan for everything the team might face.
“When you get a full week,” he observed, “I think you can try to find a weakness — [to] put something different in.”
But in this kind of situation, that’s harder to do.
“Have we put some wrinkles in?” asked Spagnuolo. “Yeah, we kind of prepared for this a little while ago — but I don’t think you can get the full allotment of what you would like to have.”
In the days to come, this can lead to some second-guessing.
“What’ll be interesting,” remarked the coordinator with a smile, “is after the game, saying, ‘Oh, if we had had time, we could have put this in,’ you know — but I hope that doesn’t happen.”
But since every Kansas City game is now very close to a must-win, let’s hope these are the things that do happen:
- The team is healthy and prepared.
- The game plan is good enough.
- Mahomes can achieve another one of his childhood dreams.
- The Chiefs will be 7-5.
In Chiefs Kingdom, that will make for a happy holiday.
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