Andy Reid reveals Chiefs' 'wake-up call' ahead of Super Bowl run

Chiefs head coach Andy Reid spoke with reporters on Monday, revealing that his club's 20-14 Christmas Day loss to the Las Vegas Raiders at home ultimately helped Kansas City complete a run to Super Bowl LVIII. 

"I think that was a good wake-up call for us," Reid said about the defeat against the Raiders, per Myles Simmons of Pro Football Talk. "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." 

As noted by the Associated Press (h/t ESPN), the Raiders became the first NFL team since 2000 to win a game without completing a pass after the first quarter. In that contest's second quarter, Las Vegas' Bilal Nichols scooped up a fumble and returned it for a touchdown before Jack Jones delivered a pick-six seven seconds later. 

The Chiefs fell to 9-6 in Week 16 but haven't lost since. As of Monday afternoon, DraftKings Sportsbook listed Kansas City as a 1.5-point underdog for the Super Bowl LVIII matchup against the San Francisco 49ers on Feb. 11. 

"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," Reid added about the Raiders game. "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." 

Interestingly, DraftKings listed Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes as the overall betting favorite at +120 odds to claim Super Bowl MVP honors. That would suggest the outlet believes Mahomes and his teammates will hoist the Vince Lombardi Trophy on the second Sunday of February.