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Chiefs rest Jamaal Charles, Alex Smith, other impact starters in Week 17

Andy Reid is taking no chances coming into the postseason. (MCT via Getty Images) The Kansas City Chiefs go into Week 17 as the only playoff team whose
Doug Farrar|
Chiefs rest Jamaal Charles, Alex Smith, other impact starters in Week 17
Chiefs rest Jamaal Charles, Alex Smith, other impact starters in Week 17

Andy Reid is taking no chances coming into the postseason. (MCT via Getty Images)

The Kansas City Chiefs go into Week 17 as the only playoff team whose postseason circumstances can't be improved or lessened by this Sunday's results. As such, head coach Andy Reid made it clear through this week that you would see quite a few backups in today's game against the San Diego Chargers.

"As far as what I do with the team, I’m going to have them practice just like we’re going to play the San Diego Chargers, which we are, but at the same time, I’m going to work some guys in," Reid said on Christmas Eve. "Most of them I’ve already worked in. I’ll figure out by the end of the week exactly how I’m going to work it, but they’re all going to practice. They’re all going to do their thing. Every position is going to do their thing. Then, we’ll just kind of break it up and, you know, mix and match.”

Well, when the Chiefs' inactive report came out, it read like a Pro Bowl roster -- quarterback Alex Smith, running back Jamaal Charles, receiver Dwayne Bowe, linebacker Tamba Hali, linebacker Derrick Johnson, offensive tackle Branden Albert and defensive lineman Dontari Poe will all be on the sideline when the Chiefs and Chargers kick off.

It's good news for the Chargers, who come into this game knowing that if they win, they'll be in the postseason because the Miami Dolphins and Baltimore Ravens lost their season finales.

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Doug Farrar
DOUG FARRAR

SI.com contributing NFL writer and Seattle resident Doug Farrar started writing about football locally in 2002, and became Football Outsiders' West Coast NFL guy in 2006. He was fascinated by FO's idea to combine Bill James with Dr. Z, and wrote for the site for six years. He wrote a game-tape column called "Cover-2" for a number of years, and contributed to six editions of "Pro Football Prospectus" and the "Football Outsiders Almanac." In 2009,  Doug was invited to join Yahoo Sports' NFL team, and covered Senior Bowls, scouting combines, Super Bowls, and all sorts of other things for Yahoo Sports and the Shutdown Corner blog through June, 2013. Doug received the proverbial offer he couldn't refuse from SI.com in 2013, and that was that. Doug has also written for the Seattle Times, the Washington Post, the New York Sun, FOX Sports, ESPN.com, and ESPN The Magazine.  He also makes regular appearances on several local and national radio shows, and has hosted several podcasts over the years. He counts Dan Jenkins, Thomas Boswell, Frank Deford, Ralph Wiley, Peter King, and Bill Simmons as the writers who made him want to do this for a living. In his rare off-time, Doug can be found reading, hiking, working out, searching for new Hendrix, Who, and MC5 bootlegs, and wondering if the Mariners will ever be good again.

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