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Arrowheadlines: The Chiefs will have to deal with Houston’s ever-improving defense

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Houston Texans v Kansas City Chiefs
Photo by David Eulitt/Getty Images

Chiefs headlines for Monday, January 13

The latest

Houston Texans’ Dominant Defense Can Hang With AFC’s Best Playoff Teams | The 33rd Team

Can the Texans Keep it Going?

This season should be viewed as a success after sputtering late in the regular season, regardless of how that next round goes. That being said, the matchups in the Divisional Round could be a bit more favorable than expected, depending on how things turn out.

If the rest of the AFC playoff picture goes “chalk,” then the Texans would face the No. 1 seed in the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium. That’s not an easy matchup for any team, especially with the home-field advantage, but the Chiefs offense looks a bit more vulnerable than it’s been in previous seasons.

Specifically, Kansas City’s offensive line has been an issue. Things got so bad that the Chiefs picked up veteran D.J. Humphries as a late-season free agent to try to fix them. That hasn’t exactly fixed things, however, with Mahomes facing the sixth-most pressures in the league this season.

The Chiefs receivers have looked better, but Houston’s talented secondary could make things much more difficult for them than in recent weeks.

Chiefs Patrick Mahomes is on pace to achieve milestone this postseason | Chiefs Wire

Mahomes has 15 career postseason wins, trailing only Tom Brady (35) and Pro Football Hall of Famer Joe Montana (16) for the most postseason wins by a quarterback all-time. He also ranks fifth in postseason touchdown passes with 41 and eighth in postseason passing yards (5,135) entering the 2024 postseason.

“I think just – we have to be able to hit some of these explosive plays. I think that’s probably the biggest thing,” said Mahomes about consistency on offense during a press conference last month. “Once you do that, it opens up everything else. It seems like we stall out on drives (and) on little things, and I’ve said that kind of all year long, but it is close.

Agent’s Take: Player performance bonuses that can be earned in 2025 NFL playoffs | CBS Sports

Patrick Mahomes

Playoff performance bonus that can be earned: $1.25 million

Mahomes’ $16.65 million 2025 base salary will increase by $1.25 million to $17.9 million if Kansas City wins the Super Bowl provided he participates in 50% or more of the offensive plays in the game or his offensive playtime during the regular season was at least 50%. The playtime requirement has been met because Mahomes took 96.34% of Kansas City’s offensive snaps this season.

‘Home of the Chiefs!’ The 5 toughest places to play this NFL postseason | FOX Sports

1. Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City Chiefs

The Miami Dolphins experienced the full force of what it’s like to play at the NFL’s toughest venue last postseason. In the coldest game on record at Arrowhead Stadium and the fourth-coldest in league history, the temperature at kickoff was minus-4 degrees. Mike McDaniel’s up-tempo offense led by Tua Tagovailoa slowed to a standstill, while Mahomes and the Chiefs played like it was 60 degrees in Kansas City’s 26-7 win.

But it’s not just the frigid conditions. The Chiefs officially have the loudest stadium in the league. Kansas City holds the Guinness World Record for loudest crowd, 142.2 decibels, set during a win over the New England Patriots in September 2014. The deafening noise starts with the last line of the national anthem, which Chiefs fans loudly and proudly change to “Home of the Chiefs!”

Steelers’ playoff loss: Future for Russell Wilson, Mike Tomlin murky | USA Today

In the eight seasons since they ousted the pre-Mahomes Chiefs in the 2016 playoffs, the Steelers have averaged 10 regular-season wins … and none in postseason. If the bar is sterling silver excellence – “the standard is the standard” per Tomlin after all – then Pittsburgh has consistently fallen short while, in the context of those expectations, squandering the careers of dedicated stars like Cam Heyward, T.J. Watt and Minkah Fitzpatrick. They’d all be undeniably recognized as some of the greatest players in the franchise’s 92-year history … if they had rings.

Imagine the uproar if this was Patrick Mahomes

Around the NFL

Commanders-Buccaneers score, takeaways: Jayden Daniels outduels Baker Mayfield, sets up walk-off ‘doink’ FG | CBS Sports

Play of the game

Zane Gonzalez barely hitting the game-winning kick will be the defining image of this one, but Dyami Brown put on a clinic as an overlooked but feisty pass weapon for Washington. His toughness was on full display after he broke free to haul in this dart from Jayden Daniels in Tampa Bay territory:

Daniels has transformed the Commanders

For both the short and long term, too. Think about it: The young quarterback almost never plays like a stereotypical rookie, and he consistently leads Washington as both a runner and thrower, often serving as a one-man band under center. That was again the case Sunday, when he overcame consecutive defensive stands by the Buccaneers to keep the Commanders scratching and clawing, controlled the rock despite a heavy workload, and ultimately outdid a Pro Bowl-caliber Baker Mayfield on his own turf. And we haven’t even finished Year 1 of his NFL career yet! The present and future are bright in D.C.

Saquon Barkley’s strategic slide cost plenty of bettors who had bet on him to score | NBC Sports

If he’d scored, the Eagles would have opened up a three-score lead, with not nearly enough time for the Packers to tie the game or win it.

Still, it was an easy way to ice the game. And it froze out those who bet on Barkley to score a touchdown during the game.

Via David Purdum of ESPN.com, more bets were placed on Barkley to score a touchdown than on any other player in any of the three Sunday Wild Card game, at multiple sports books. It was also the third most popular leg of all parlays placed through ESPN Bet.

Patriots hire Mike Vrabel as 16th head coach in franchise history | ESPN

Mike Vrabel has returned to the New England Patriots, who hired the former longtime player to become their new head coach.

The Patriots did not disclose terms, but sources told ESPN’s Adam Schefter that Vrabel and New England agreed to a multiyear contract. The team confirmed the hiring Sunday morning, announcing Vrabel as the 16th head coach in franchise history.

Vrabel played linebacker for the Patriots from 2001 to 2008 and was an integral member of three Super Bowl championship teams. He served as Tennessee Titans coach from 2018 to 2023, posting a 54-45 regular-season record and 2-3 mark in the playoffs, which included a trip to the AFC Championship Game in 2019.

Vrabel, the Associated Press NFL Coach of the Year in 2021, replaces Jerod Mayo, who was fired Jan. 5 after posting a 4-13 record in his one season as Patriots coach. The Patriots will formally introduce Vrabel during a noon ET news conference Monday at Gillette Stadium.

In case you missed it on Arrowhead Pride

Chiefs-Texans NFL Divisional Round: playoff date, time, schedule

With Wild Card weekend completed, we now know the Kansas City Chiefs’ Divisional Round opponent. Next weekend, Kansas City will host the Houston Texans on GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m. Saturday on ESPN and ABC (KMBC/9).

The No. 3 Baltimore Ravens’ 28-14 win over the No. 6 Pittsburgh Steelers on Saturday and the No. 2 Buffalo Bills’ 31-7 win over the No. 7 Denver Broncos on Sunday means the Texans are the lowest remaining seed.

The No. 4 Texans defeated the No. 5 Los Angeles Chargers 32-12 in their Wild Card matchup on Saturday. Midway through the third quarter, former Chiefs (and current Texans) safety Eric Murray intercepted the Chargers’ quarterback Justin Herbert, returning it for a touchdown. Houston extended its lead to 20-6 — and never looked back.

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