Chiefs headlines for Friday, December 27
The latest
The Four Big Takeaways From the NFL’s Christmas Day Games | The Ringer
It’s a mistake to play overly aggressive defense against Kansas City
I’m not entirely sure what opposing defensive coaches are seeing on film when they prepare for the Chiefs, but I’m continually floored by the amount of man coverages that have been thrown at Patrick Mahomes over the last few weeks. Pittsburgh was at the tail end of a brutal stretch of three games in 11 days, and I want to give Steelers defensive coordinator Teryl Austin some grace under those circumstances—but the Steelers’ man-heavy game plan set themselves up for failure.
Just like in Kansas City’s win over the Texans last week, the Chiefs used motion and condensed formations against the Steelers to pick on mismatches and create traffic for defenders to run through. Tight end Travis Kelce arguably had his most productive day of the season, with 84 yards and a touchdown on 11 targets. His 2.63 yards per route was his second-highest mark of the season, and his connection with Mahomes is at its best when defenses try to play tight man coverage against him. He leads the team in yards against man coverage this year, and the Chiefs rank third in the NFL by success rate against man coverage.
Which NFL players stand to earn over $100K (or over $1M) these final weeks? | FOX Sports
Chiefs WR DeAndre Hopkins
Hopkins could be this year’s Chris Jones candidate to play deep into a meaningless game in order to earn more money. He could feasibly earn $1 million in bonuses if he has a big enough day in the final game of the Chiefs’ season.
At 56 receptions, he’s nine catches short of a $250,000 receptions bonus. At 610 receiving yards, he’s 140 receiving yards short of another $250,000 bonus. If one of those receptions is a touchdown, Hopkins will earn $500,000 for reaching six receiving touchdowns on the season. So, if you see Hopkins playing deep into the fourth quarter of the Chiefs’ Week 18 matchup, there’s your reason.
A+ Chiefs
The Chiefs always seem to get hot just in time for the playoffs, and that appears to be exactly what’s happening this year. Patrick Mahomes, who has a 4-0 career record against Pittsburgh, once again dominated the Steelers. The Chiefs QB diced up Pittsburgh’s secondary for 320 yards and three touchdowns, and he did that my spreading the ball around: The Chiefs had seven different players catch at least two passes, including Travis Kelce, who caught eight passes for 84 yards and a TD. As good as the offense was, the defense might have been better. The Chiefs didn’t have star pass-rusher Chris Jones, but they were still able to terrorize Russell Wilson. The Kansas City pass-rush racked up five sacks with Mike Danna recording two of those. Santa always delivers on Dec. 25, and the Chiefs always deliver in big games. Both of them delivered in this rare Wednesday game.
Netflix smashes records with NFL doubleheader on Christmas Day | ESPN
That shouldn’t be a problem. Both leagues were winners on Wednesday.
Netflix set records as the most-streamed NFL games in U.S. history while the NBA had its best holiday numbers in five years according to Nielsen.
The NFL and Nielsen said 65 million U.S. viewers tuned in for at least one minute of one of the two NFL games.
The Baltimore Ravens’ 31-2 victory over the Houston Texans averaged 24.3 million, and the Kansas City Chiefs’ 29-10 win at the Pittsburgh Steelers averaged 24.1 million, according to early viewer figures released by Nielsen on Thursday.
2024 NFL Week 17 QB Power Rankings: Lamar Jackson Re-Claims Top Spot | The 33rd Team
6. Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs
Skill Score: 9.78 | Production Score: 5.95 | Ranking Score: 7.87
Patrick Mahomes came into the game with a sprained ankle and then played as well as he has all year. It was his third-highest EPA per play of the season. The Chiefs went back to their early-season strategy of getting the ball out quickly to protect the offensive line from the pass rush, though with 2.33 seconds to throw, Mahomes was still pressured on 37.8 percent of his dropbacks.
He was only hit four times, breaking a streak of seven games with seven or more hits, and his 8.9 percent hit rate was his second-lowest of the season.
Around the NFL
Teddy Bridgewater coming out of retirement to sign with Lions | NFL.com
NFL Network Insiders Ian Rapoport, Tom Pelissero and Mike Garafolo first reported the news.
Bridgewater retired from the NFL in February, fulfilling plans he initially had revealed late in the 2023 regular season. He started his next chapter as a coach, taking over at his alma mater Miami Northwestern High School and promptly leading them to a Division 3A Florida High School Athletic Association championship in mid-December.
With the job finished for 2024, Bridgewater decided it was the right time to return to the NFL if a team would have him. He found a suitor in a coach he’s known well from his stops in New Orleans and Detroit: Lions head coach Dan Campbell.
Bears’ Brown denies late-game confusion in loss to Seahawks | ESPN
Thursday’s Seahawks-Bears matchup was one of two NFL games this season without a touchdown. Chicago totaled 179 yards of offense, its fourth-lowest output in 2024, and managed only a field goal in its final home game of the season.
Similar to how the Bears’ loss to the Lions played out on Thanksgiving Day, Chicago trailed by three entering its final drive. The Bears took possession with 5 minutes, 12 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter at their 11-yard line with all three timeouts.
Chicago ran six plays before facing fourth-and-inches from its 39-yard line when left guard Jake Curhan, who started in place of injured Teven Jenkins (calf), was flagged for a false start.
The 2023 All-Pro has been battling through an AC joint sprain in his shoulder since Dallas’ Week 9 game at the Atlanta Falcons, and after Lamb aggravated it on Sunday night in the Cowboys’ win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, he said his focus was keeping the shoulder “attached to my body.”
In case you missed it on Arrowhead Pride
Chiefs-Steelers: 5 things we learned in Week 17 win
2. With no Chris Jones, there’s no run defense
We knew the Steelers were going to run the ball against the Chiefs. It’s what they do.
Coming into Wednesday’s game, Pittsburgh ranked 10th in average rushing yards at 130 per game. While some better rushing teams (like the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Baltimore Ravens) have had little success while trying to tote the rock against Kansas City, Pittsburgh ran all over the Chiefs’ defense, averaging 6.5 yards per attempt as it claimed 202 yards.
Part of this can be attributed to the Steelers playing from behind. Kansas City preferred to emphasize its pass defense rather than stack the box against the run. Still, it’s routine for the Chiefs to play with a lead.
The big difference in this game was being without Jones. While he is sometimes criticized for his run defense, his impact on it goes beyond tackling opposing running backs. Since he is double-teamed on almost every down, his teammates are free to run downhill and make plays on the ball.
The Chiefs missed No. 95 in the middle. But he is expected to be back for the playoffs.
Social media to make you think
Thuney giving the Chiefs the best LT play that they’ve had in years is hilarious and sad for the rest of the AFC pic.twitter.com/8jq82uK4cB
— Ted Nguyen (@FB_FilmAnalysis) December 26, 2024
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