Andy Reid keeps building weird little corners of NFL history, and his latest one is a good reminder of why his teams are always part of the conversation in big spots.
When the Chiefs head to Seattle on Sunday night, Reid will carry a 6-1 record as Kansas City’s coach against defending Super Bowl champions into the matchup. It’s the kind of stat that sounds niche until you realize just how often Reid has turned those games into wins.
That track record fits the broader picture, too. Reid enters with 312 regular-season and playoff wins, and over 28 seasons and 442 games, he’s stacked up plenty of records that don’t always make the front page but say plenty about how consistently his teams show up.
Two of those oddball marks have already grown this season. The Chiefs are 17-2 in indoor games with Patrick Mahomes starting after a 30-27 win over the Las Vegas Raiders at Allegiant Stadium in Week 4. Then came Sunday’s 22-6 victory over the Los Angeles Chargers, which pushed Reid to 23-5 in post-bye games while coaching the Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles.
Now comes another test in one of those “What is his record in games played against [insert specific situation]?” categories.
The Chiefs visit the Seahawks at 7:20 p.m. CT on NBC, and the question is how Reid fares against defending champs.
The answer: very well.
Since his head-coaching career began in 1999 with Philadelphia, Reid has coached in 18 games against the defending champions and gone 11-7 overall. That includes a 10-5 mark in the regular season and 1-2 in the playoffs.
One of the most striking examples came in 2008, when Reid’s Eagles saw the defending-champion New York Giants three times. Philadelphia went 2-1 in those games, losing 36-31 at home, winning 20-14 on the road, then beating New York 23-11 in the NFC Divisional round before falling 32-25 to the Arizona Cardinals in the NFC Championship Game.
His Chiefs run against reigning Super Bowl winners has been even stronger. Since 2013, Kansas City is 6-1 in that setting, with the lone loss coming last season in a 20-17 home defeat to the Eagles.
The first win in that stretch came in 2014 against Seattle, when the Chiefs won 24-20 on a 4-yard Knile Davis touchdown run with 14:31 left. Jamaal Charles piled up 159 rushing yards and two touchdowns, Alex Smith completed 11 of 16 passes for 108 yards, and Tamba Hali and Dontari Poe each registered a sack of Russell Wilson.
Kansas City later put together five more wins over defending champions, including a pair of victories over the Denver Broncos in 2016, 30-27 and 33-10. The Chiefs also beat the New England Patriots 42-27 in 2017 and 23-16 in 2019, then handled the Los Angeles Rams 26-10 in 2022.
Whether Sunday night in Seattle fits the pattern is still to be determined. But if the numbers tell you anything, it’s that Reid’s teams usually know how to rise when the opponent carries the crown.
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Chiefs Are Giving Arrowhead A Very Different Offseason Role
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The appeal for Kansas City fans is as much about the setting as the activity. Instead of football on the field, Arrowhead will host gamers looking for a full-day experience inside one of the NFLs most recognizable venues, and the setup gives the team another way to keep the building connected to the community between seasons. The Chiefs have left room for more of the events details to unfold, but the concept alone shows how they are trying to make Arrowhead feel like more than just a football stadium. [Read more 🡒]