A warning has been sent to Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs.
A warning from an unexpected source.
The College Football Playoff.
The four teams in the new format of the playoff that received a bye in the first round, all subsequently lost in the next round.
Oregon, Georgia, Boise State and Arizona State, all conference champions, all lost in the quarterfinals, after having more than three weeks of rest.
Andy Reid‘s Chiefs now find themselves in a similar situation, after having last played on Christmas Day, locking up the one seed and first round bye.
He has already announced Mahomes and other significant impacts starters such as Travis Kelce and Chris Jones will be sitting out and resting in their Week 18 game against the Denver Broncos.
A game that means nothing to the Chiefs and everything to the Broncos.
If Denver wins, they are in.
If they lose, then they will be hoping to get help elsewhere.
Mahomes will now be going over three weeks (about 25 days) without seeing any game action, until the divisional round of the playoffs.
It’s the age old question of rest versus rust.
However, this isn’t anything new to Mahomes and Kansas City.
Reid has been through this before with his players and doesn’t seem too worried.
“I’ve been through that before, so I’m not too worried about all that,” Reid told reporters during the week.
“It gives the other guys an opportunity here to grow and you can use everybody.”
One former NFL player said that resting that long still carries risk, and would normally impact just about any other team, except the two-time defending Super Bowl champions.
“Definitely a danger,” Jason Bell told talkSPORT in an exclusive interview.
“It’s something that head coaches are sitting at their desk worrying about, thinking about all day, but when you have a veteran team like the Chiefs, players that have been in that situation before, they know how to handle it, you as a head coach, you lean on that.
“You lean on your veterans.
“They understand how to prepare and get ready for the moment, but there’s still a risk because you get out there and maybe in that first quarter it’s just not flowing the right way.
“That might be too late to turn it on and get it right, so yes, it is hard, it is something they worry about, but as a leader, as far as the head coach, you have to lean on your veteran leaders in the locker room to make sure that doesn’t happen.”
When asked if he thinks it’s something Reid does worry about, even if he won’t admit it, Bell isn’t buying it.
“I don’t think he’s worried about that,” Bell said. “Overall, a lot of teams do have to, but not them.
“The thing is they figure out how to turn it on in the playoffs in the tournament.
“That’s when they get hot, they’re playing their best football now and they’ve been in this situation before.
“They know what it feels like to come off of some rest and have to perform, so they’re aware of what they have to do mentally and physically to get ready and they’ve showed us that all season.”
The Chiefs have been in this spot before, they aren’t worried about whatever perceived risks are out there.
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talkSPORT will bring you live coverage across Week 18 with a double header featuring the Cincinnati Bengals @ Pittsburgh Steelers and the Minnesota Vikings @ Detroit Lions