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The Winners and Losers of the Divisional Spherical | The Ringer
The Chiefs have dominated the league for the higher a part of 5 years. The crew’s listing of off-the-field incidents is lengthy and noteworthy. And the referees have given them some key calls in high-profile moments. Even essentially the most ardent Kansas Metropolis followers should perceive how exhausting it’s for the remainder of us to look at this.
Saturday’s sport was a superb illustration of why their act has gotten so tiring for the impartial observers who used to like watching this crew play. The Chiefs’ product, from an leisure standpoint, has gotten worse. The win over Houston was in some ways a tough watch. The groups performed a fair sport from a statistical standpoint. Each offenses had good moments, however neither was capable of finding a lot rhythm. Houston’s disastrous particular groups, area place, and penalties in the end determined the result—not the spectacular play of Kansas Metropolis. If the Chiefs and their followers don’t need to hear the remainder of us complain concerning the refs, they need to give us one thing else to speak about.
Payments QB Josh Allen prepared for yet one more playoff matchup with Chiefs: ‘We all know what they’re’ | NFL.com
Sunday night time’s thrilling 27-25 win over Baltimore punched the Payments’ ticket to Okay.C. to face the back-to-back Tremendous Bowl champs within the AFC Championship Recreation.
“We all know what they’re. They’re the perennial of what you need to be within the NFL,” Josh Allen mentioned of the Chiefs, through The Related Press. “You’ve obtained to beat them to get previous them. So, you recognize, we’re going to get pleasure from this one tonight.”
What we discovered from 2025 NFL divisional spherical: Saquon Barkley owns Rams, Travis Kelce can nonetheless flip swap | CBS Sports activities
Travis Kelce can nonetheless flip the swap
At 35 years outdated, Travis Kelce is nearer to the top of his profession than he’s the start. With that in thoughts, there’s all the time the query surrounding the legendary tight finish of whether or not or not he can nonetheless be a game-wrecking drive when the state of affairs requires it. Over the previous few years, Kelce has picked his spots all through the common season. Final season, he was capable of flip the swap as soon as the lights obtained vibrant and helped Kansas Metropolis to a different Tremendous Bowl title. As we stepped into these playoffs, those self same questions — questioning if he may flip the swap — have been looming, and he answered them with flying colours.
In Kanas Metropolis’s win over the Texans, the tight finish registered a season-high 117 yards on seven catches to associate with a landing. That’s his ninth profession playoff sport with 100 or extra receiving yards, which surpassed Jerry Rice for essentially the most all time.
Each Staff’s Most Seemingly Cap Casualties Forward of 2025 NFL Offseason | Bleacher Report
Prime Potential Cap Casualties
1. G Joe Thuney – $26.9 million
The Chiefs have loved the advantages of getting one of the crucial dominant inside trios on the offensive line over the previous few seasons. Trey Smith, Creed Humphrey and Joe Thuney are among the many highest-regarded gamers at their positions. Nevertheless it’s arduous to check the crew retaining all three of them after this offseason. The crew already handed Humphrey a profitable extension, Smith is about to hit free company and Thuney carries the fourth-highest cap hit on the crew proper now.
One doable answer is to half methods with Thuney to clear up the cap house they’ll have to signal Smith. Thuney has only one yr left on his deal, and so they can create $16 million in 2025 cap house with a $10.9 million dead-cap cost by releasing him earlier than June 1. That will permit them to maintain the duo of Smith and Humphrey collectively for a very long time.
NFL divisional spherical playoffs: Overreactions, massive questions | ESPN
The lingering query: Can Kelce do that two extra instances?
Whereas it’d really feel like Kelce all the time does this in January, Saturday’s efficiency was maybe his greatest postseason leveling up we’ve ever seen. Kelce had 62 yards after the catch (his most YAC in a sport this season), making seven receptions for 117 yards and a landing. He had 30 YAC over expectation, essentially the most in any sport of his previous two seasons, per NFL Subsequent Gen Stats. The 35-year-old seemed spry and contemporary, just like the clock was turned again just a few years. (In actuality, it might need been the 2 weeks off from enjoying soccer that put some pep again into Kelce’s step.)
Kelce ended the day with a whopping 66% of Mahomes’ 177 passing yards on a cool 32% goal charge. The passing offense ran by him because the Chiefs prevented the elite cornerback duo of Derek Stingley Jr. and Kamari Lassiter, as an alternative choosing on slot cornerback Myles Bryant and linebackers Henry To’oTo’o and Azeez Al-Shaair. It was an important sport plan, and it was conditional on having an elite pass-catching tight finish.
Chiefs-Texans Divisional Spherical Conflict Shattered Viewership Data for ESPN | SI
The Kansas Metropolis Chiefs proceed to be must-watch tv as they give the impression of being to develop into the primary crew in NFL historical past to win three consecutive Tremendous Bowls. Their divisional spherical victory towards the Houston Texans on Saturday was broadcast on ESPN, and it set some spectacular viewership data for the community.
Based on ESPN PR, the divisional spherical sport was ESPN’s most watched NFL sport in historical past––relationship again to 1987––amassing a complete of 32.7 million viewers. That determine may rise and surpass 33 million as soon as Nielsen experiences the ultimate viewers, accounting for viewers on ESPN, ABC and ESPN+.
Across the NFL
Colts hiring Lou Anarumo as new DC, sources say | ESPN
The Colts fired veteran coordinator Gus Bradley earlier this month of their effort to enhance on protection after a disappointing season that noticed them fall to twenty ninth in yards allowed per sport (361.2).
Anarumo’s unit struggled in 2024, however he has deployed spectacular defenses previously. Amongst his achievements was the Bengals’ defensive efficiency in Tremendous Bowl LVI, the place his sport plans have been seen as a key issue within the crew’s success, although the Rams gained 23-20. He famously concocted the plan that stymied the Kansas Metropolis Chiefs and quarterback Patrick Mahomes within the AFC Championship Recreation that season.
Bears hiring Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson as new head coach for QB Caleb Williams | CBS Sports activities
The Chicago Bears are hiring Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, their long-reported high candidate, to be their subsequent head coach, CBS Sports activities NFL insider Jonathan Jones experiences.
The Lions’ Johnson-led assaults averaged 29.0 factors per sport since he grew to become Detroit’s OC in 2022, essentially the most within the NFL in that point. The 33.2 factors per sport they produced in 2024 led the league and was essentially the most in a season in franchise historical past. Detroit’s offense was No. 1 within the NFL in quite a few key metrics throughout his Lions tenure whereas working with quarterback Jared Goff.
Lions working again Jahmyr Gibbs led the NFL in scrimmage touchdowns (20) in 2024, and vast receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown earned consecutive first crew All-Professional alternatives in 2023 and 2024 after changing into the primary participant in Lions historical past with 100 or extra catches, 1,000 or extra receiving yards and 10 or extra receiving touchdowns in consecutive seasons.
Coach Dan Campbell says Lions will ‘come again stronger’ | ESPN
The defeat, after incomes the No. 1 seed for the primary time in crew historical past, continued to disturb each of them.
“I do know the fellows, [the loss] eats away at [them],” Campbell mentioned Monday. “I do know the suitable guys — they’re our guys for a cause and that’s what’s going to all the time give me hope and let me know we’re solely going to be higher.
“We’re going to return again stronger, we’re going to be taught from this, and it’s simply extra gas on the hearth, is what it’s.”
In case you missed it on Arrowhead Pleasure
Chiefs Roster: Defensive backs shined in Divisional win over Texans
Within the Kansas Metropolis Chiefs’ 23-14 Divisional spherical victory over the Houston Texans on Saturday, the Kansas Metropolis protection recorded eight sacks of Houston quarterback C.J. Stroud.
That started with wonderful protection by cornerbacks Trent McDuffie and Jaylen Watson, who performed collectively for the primary time since Watson was injured in Week 7 towards the San Francisco 49ers. Per Professional Soccer Focus, they turned in grades of 74.1 and 72.1 respectively to guide the crew. Between them, they collected 4 passes defensed — and no Texans receiver caught a landing move towards any defender.
“We had means tighter protection,” famous security Bryan Cooks after the sport, “giving our entrance line an opportunity to get to the quarterback. Taking part in off one another like that basically labored for us.”
Defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo’s defensive technique was clear: forcing Stroud into uncomfortable conditions by combining sticky man protection within the secondary with relentless strain from the entrance line.
“Spags actually trusts us,” famous Watson, who held Stroud to a passer score of simply 60.2 when focused. “We performed tight, sticky protection so the D-line may get time to get sacks. We did a superb job of that in the present day.”
