Kansas City Chiefs coach Andy Reid has been here before.
It was the final week of the 2008 season and the Philadelphia Eagles needed the Oakland Raiders, who were 13-point underdogs at the time, to beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and they also needed the Houston Texans to beat the Chicago Bears, in order to make the playoffs.
It was improbable and unlikely, similar to the situation the Chiefs find themselves in right now.
But both of those things happened that Sunday afternoon, which meant the Eagles just had to take care of business in their late afternoon game against the Dallas Cowboys.
Reid and the Eagles did just that by beating the Cowboys 44-7 to earn a wildcard spot in the 2008 playoffs, and they made it all the way to the NFC Championship game that season.
On Monday, Reid spoke about that moment back in 2008 when he realized the Eagles were back in control of their playoff chances.
"They had it on the scoreboard out in the stadium before the game and I heard the place kind of erupt before we went out," Reid recalled. "That put it back in our hands to make sure we had to take care of business."
The Chiefs need a similar result on Sunday as they take on the San Diego Chargers, who are in control of their playoffs chances by needing just a win over the Chiefs on Sunday to get in.
The Chiefs need a win and both the Baltimore Ravens and Houston Texans to lose in order to get in the playoffs for the second consecutive season, something they haven't done in 20 years.
"We're still in the hunt," Reid said. "There is obviously a lot of hard work that goes into a season and you hope you're one of the teams at the end there that has an opportunity.
Kansas City Chiefs vs the Pittsburgh Steelers on December 21, 2014
"We need help now. Not only do we need to take care of business this weekend, but we need some other people to do the same thing for us to get in. If you get in, then anything goes."
The Chiefs get the good fortune of playing at home this weekend against the Chargers, whom they haven't swept a season series from since 2003. The Chiefs won the first matchup in San Diego 23-20 on a 48-yard field goal by Cairo Santos with 21 seconds remaining.
"It'll be a great weekend at Arrowhead," Reid said. "It's Fan Appreciation Day. It gives us an opportunity to give back to our fans for their loyalty. We love seeing that stadium full of red and giving these teams an opportunity to come in there and play against that."
