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In a very on-brand turn of events Authentic Dee Ford Jersey , the Kansas City Chiefs will enter the fourth quarter of the regular season without two of their best offensive players.For completely different reasons, Kareem Hunt and Sammy Watkins will not be playing football in Kansas City during December.Watkins, at least, might return before the New Year.But in Hunt’s case, it’s almost certain he will never again don the red and gold.The Chiefs — clinging to a one-game lead for the number one playoff seed in the AFC — now face the daunting task of playing the Baltimore Ravens and Los Angeles Chargers in a five-day stretch, with victories in both games critical to their placement in the playoffs.Andy Reid has said many times how much he likes the fight in his team. Well, during the rest of the calendar year, we’re going to find out how real that fight is. And we’re going to learn a lot more about the leadership chops of Patrick Mahomes.Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty ImagesThis week, we received new insight on this intangible in Terez Paylor’s report about Mahomes speaking to the team before the Oakland Raiders game on Sunday. Early returns are positive.But the opportunities to face adversity aren’t slowing down. Instead, they’re increasing. Now the Chiefs face a significant five-day stretch that will drastically affect the odds of a Super Bowl run.Being without Sammy Watkins — someone who is capable of separating against man coverage — is a significant loss to the Chiefs.This will be especially true against Baltimore’s excellent pass defense this Sunday. Chris Conley has done an admirable job during the last few weeks, but he is not as capable of getting open as Watkins has been. Watkins’ absence was significant before the Hunt news came out.It is even more significant now.The developmental plan for Mahomes was to surround him with as much offensive talent as possible, so the Chiefs could stress defenses and always have a favorable matchup for Mahomes to exploit — and to take pressure off Travis Kelce and Tyreek Hill. That luxury is gone. Without Watkins and Hunt, last week’s game against the Raiders was up and down;Mahomes dragged his team through the game when things were clearly off.So the real test starts now.Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty ImagesMahomes has been battle-tested in primetime... while short-handed... with poor defensive performances... and through adversity both on and off the field.Through it all, he’s somehow passed with flying colors.But now, the pressure starts to mount as teams jockey for the pole position in January, and the grind of the season starts to wear down the players. Mahomes has to be the energy for this team — and he must do so in a week where nothing good has happened. It would be easy for his team to see who’s not on the field right now, but his job is to help them not to notice — and to get his team rally around him, and play with the kind of toughness Reid thinks they have. The return of Eric Berry could help Limited Eric Berry Jersey , but until he runs out of that tunnel, Mahomes needs to elevate his play, keeping his team focused on making the AFC’s run to the Super Bowl come through Arrowhead Stadium.It might be unrealistic to expect Mahomes to be able to continue to carry this team the way he has — but so far, everything about him has been unrealistic. For his team to reach the expectations they have set for themselves, he’s going to have to continue to clear the high bars no one expected him to even attempt just 12 games into his first season as a starter.The home stretch — and the playoffs — are a different beast than what he’s seen so far.And he’ll have to face this challenge without the benefit of a safety net. If he succeeds, the floor and ceiling for his career will rise beyond our wildest expectations. KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Andy Reid sat inside an opulent suite high above the field in Arrowhead Stadium six years ago, a sparkle in his eyes and a broad smile hiding underneath his bushy, red mustache.He had just been fired by the Philadelphia Eagles after a mostly successful 14-year run highlighted by a Super Bowl appearance, and by all accounts he should have been weary and beaten. But he was instead wired and buoyant, eager to take on the vast rebuilding job of the Kansas City Chiefs.Eager to answer the critics that claimed he lost it those final years in Philly. Eager to prove to everyone that he can win the big game.Now, the affable coach with the self-deprecating sense of humor has the Chiefs one game away from playing in their first Super Bowl in 49 years.Standing in the way are the New England Patriots, a team that has ruined Reid's postseason dreams on multiple occasions, but who will have to earn their own trip back to the Super Bowl by beating the AFC's top seed on the road Sunday."I think this is big for our fans. It's big for our family," Reid said Monday. "There's a lot that goes into it, from the head coach's standpoint to the players' standpoint."There's going to be a lot of distractions here," he added. "It's important to focus on the job."It's the job Reid sought when he signed on in 2013, taking over a franchise coming off a two-win season and marked by on- and off-field misery. And getting to this point hasn't been easy Spencer Ware Jersey Salute to Service , either, with more playoff disappointments marking his first five seasons.Twice his Chiefs teams have lost by one point, and once by two, when the Steelers beat them in the divisional round at Arrowhead Stadium in a game in which Pittsburgh never scored a touchdown.Twice they've blown 18-point leads, something that has only happened two other times in NFL history.Three years ago, the Chiefs finally won their first playoff game in more than two decades only to blow their shot at the AFC title game in New England. The Chiefs trailed by 14 in the fourth quarter, but used 16 plays to score the first of two touchdowns they needed, and ultimately ran out of time."I don't get caught up in any of that," said Reid, who even after a 31-13 win over the Colts on Saturday is just 2-4 in the playoffs with Kansas City. "I'm into history — I love history — but only if it makes you better. You learn from it and move forward. That's the important thing."To be sure, Reid has had plenty of learning opportunities.He's been in 25 playoff games over the course of 20 seasons as a head coach, the most of anybody without winning the Super Bowl.In fact, his one Super Bowl appearance — when the Eagles were beaten by Bill Belichick and the Patriots in 2005 — is the fewest of any coach with 20 playoff games.That loss to the Patriots, of course, was as deflating as any postseason defeat.The Eagles trailed that game by 10 points late, but used up several precious minutes with a series of short passing plays to get the touchdown they needed. They were left with little time to march for the tying field goal, and Reid was saddled with criticism for his poor time management.It has turned out to be a criticism that has haunted Reid most of his career.His guys have never been on board with it, though. Reid has always been considered a players' coach Mitch Morse Jersey , passing on the praise and shouldering the blame, whether it was during his days as an assistant coach in Green Bay or when he was leading Philadelphia to a series of NFC title games."I've learned a ton just from being around Coach Reid," said Patrick Mahomes, the Chiefs' record-setting young quarterback. "I think he's a huge reason why we've had success this season."Reid showed against Indianapolis he's learned from past playoff failures, eschewing a conservative approach from yesteryear for a go-for-broke mentality. The Chiefs went for it on fourth down on four occasions, converted three of them, and set the tone early in a game they dominated the whole way."It's always a tough matchup against Andy," Belichick said. "I've never had the opportunity to coach with Andy, but we've competed many times, and played him in a lot of preseason games in Philadelphia and then obviously in Kansas City, and going back to when we were coordinators prior to head coaches."I've always had a tremendous amount of respect for the way he does things," he added. "He does as good a job as anybody in the National Football League. Has for a long time. Gets the most out of his players, puts them in the right position, plays very competitively always but always in a respectful way, the way the game should be played."