Kansas City, Mo. ? As everybody’s schedule shapes up today, Kansas City’s biggest stumbling blocks to a playoff berth figure to be Cincinnati and the New York Jets.

Of course, that could totally change in the next week. Before their fourth-quarter collapse on Sunday in Cleveland, when they let the next-to-worst offense in the NFL score twice in the final nine minutes for a 31-28 overtime win, the Chiefs were on the verge of taking the lead in the AFC wild-card chase.

Now they find themselves bunched near the bottom of a five-team pack of contenders. At 7-5 with four games to play, the Chiefs are tied with the Jets, Bengals, Jacksonville and Denver.

Everybody has two at home and two on the road. The Jets seem to have a big advantage with four opponents whose collective record is 17-31. After facing three straight 5-7 teams (Buffalo, Minnesota, Miami) Chiefs coach Herm Edwards’ former team finishes at home against the 2-10 Oakland Raiders

Jacksonville’s road looks toughest. The Jaguars sandwich meetings with division leaders Indianapolis (10-2) and New England (9-3) around a trip to Tennessee (5-7), which has won three in a row behind rapidly maturing rookie quarterback Vince Young.

Then in the regular-season finale, in a match that could well decide the final wild-card berth, the Jaguars are at Kansas City.

Cincinnati’s final four opponents are 24-24. The Bengals are home against the Raiders, on the road at Indianapolis and Denver, and finish with Pittsburgh.

The Broncos are facing four teams that are 25-23, starting with road trips to San Diego (10-2) and Arizona (3-9), followed by home dates against Cincinnati and San Francisco (5-7).

The Chiefs are looking at four last foes who this week stand a collective 28-20. This week they host Baltimore (9-3), then hit the road for San Diego (10-2) and Oakland before finishing at home against the Jaguars.

Also looking unfriendly to Kansas City is the tiebreaker scenario. The Bengals hold the first tiebreaker advantage with their head-to-head win in Kansas City on Sept. 10. Then when conference records are reviewed, Kansas City gets shoved all the way to the back of the line.

The Broncos are sitting pretty at 7-3. Next come the Bengals at 5-3, the Jets 5-4, the Jaguars 4-4 and Kansas City at a very poor 3-5.

One trouble spot, right tackle, does not figure to get any quick relief for the Chiefs. Kevin Sampson, slated to be the starter, underwent back surgery on Friday and will be lost for the year on injured reserve, Edwards said.

This means that Kyle Turley, who has been filling in for several weeks, will probably stay put. At around 275, Turkey is proving undersized for the position.

“Turley’s the guy right now,” Edwards said.

At the minimum, a 3-1 finish may be what’s needed to save the Chiefs’ hopes for their first postseason bid since 2003.

“You’ve got to win three out of four,” said defensive end Tamba Hali. “You can’t think about the other teams. You’ve just got to focus on one game, and that’s what coach is trying to get us to do. If we worry about other teams and what they’re doing, we’ll get nowhere. As long as we take care of our business here and focus on the team we’ve got to play that week, we’ll be fine.”

Compounding the disappointment of Sunday’s loss was the way it happened. The Browns came in with the NFL’s 31st-ranked offense. But it was their second-team quarterback and tight end who hooked up for two fourth-quarter touchdowns to put the game into overtime.

Cleveland had allowed the second-highest number of sacks in the league, including 19 over the previous four games.

But the Chiefs’ supposedly improved defense gave up 438 yards and managed only one sack.

“You figure when you’re playing with a 14-point lead, you find a way to stop them,” Edwards said.