Andy Reid Says Chiefs Got a ‘Good Wake-Up Call’ with Week 16 Loss to Raiders

The Kansas City Chiefs faced a shocking loss to the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 16, but it is ultimately a game that head coach Andy Reid believes was good for the team.

According to Pro Football Talk’s Myles Simmons, Reid said the loss gave the Chiefs a spark heading into the end of the season and the playoffs.

“I think that was a good wake-up call for us,” Reid said. “They came out with great emotion. Antonio had them ready to go. But that emotion was the thing that jumped out at you, that they played with. I think it gave our guys a nice little — for [lack of] a better term — a wake-up call, that we need to step things up here, that things aren’t just going to fall in our lap. And so, we’re taking everybody’s best shot, and here’s a team that went through some adversity and they stepped up and were able to present themselves like they did.

“We were able to learn from it and move on. I felt all along, though, we had the ability to do that. We just, like I said, we needed a little kick in the tail there.”

After the 20-14 loss, the Chiefs won their final two games of the regular season and are now on their way to a second-straight Super Bowl, getting past the Miami Dolphins, Buffalo Bills and Baltimore Ravens on their way.

Compared to the last three Chiefs teams to reach the Super Bowl, this year’s squad has not looked nearly as dominant as in years past. Kansas City has dealt with injuries and adversity all year, but now it has been rewarded with another Super Bowl appearance.

If the Chiefs manage to get past the San Francisco 49ers and win a second-straight Super Bowl, that December loss against the Raiders could be looked at as the game that sparked their late-season surge.

The Chiefs will have their hands full against the 49ers in a few weeks, though. San Francisco, the NFC’s top seed, has been dominant most of the year and has looked like a Super Bowl-caliber team from Week 1.

If the Chiefs defeat the 49ers in this year’s Super Bowl, they will be the first team to win back-to-back Super Bowls since the New England Patriots did it in 2004 and 2005.