Bear in mind the spirited name from Kansas Metropolis Chiefs radio broadcaster Mitch Holthus two AFC Championship Video games in the past?
“You possibly can doubt the Chiefs! You possibly can dislike the Chiefs! You possibly can disrespect the Chiefs! You’re gonna need to take care of the Chiefs,” he roared, as Kansas Metropolis secured its fourth convention title in 5 seasons.
The Chiefs made it 5 out of six AFC crowns a yr in the past, and whereas a berth in Tremendous Bowl LX – not to mention the playoffs – seems dire with KC sitting at 6–6 coming into Sunday’s go to from surging Houston, the door isn’t totally closed.
The Buffalo Payments, Denver Broncos and Dallas Cowboys may need imagined Holthus including, “You’re gonna need to hobble the Chiefs!” after narrowly defeating KC prior to now month. But nobody has actually subdued them.
With Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes nonetheless on the helm, that continues to be a troublesome activity.
Let’s be clear: The Chiefs are tenth within the AFC, the place solely the highest seven groups attain the postseason. They’ve seemingly misplaced their magic in one-possession video games (although not their JuJu — as within the intermittently productive Smith-Schuster) and are battling accidents alongside the offensive line.
There’s defensive inconsistency as properly. Dallas transformed 9 of 16 third downs in its 31–28 Thanksgiving win, piling up 457 yards.
The Chiefs gained almost 100 fewer yards, have been flagged 10 occasions for 119 yards, and nonetheless misplaced by solely three. That’s no anomaly. Mahomes accomplished 67.7% of his passes with 4 touchdowns and nil interceptions in his sharpest outing since a run of dwelling wins towards Detroit, Las Vegas and Washington to shut October.
Houston (7–5) presents a stiff take a look at. The Texans enable simply 265.7 yards per sport — finest within the NFL — together with a fourth-ranked move protection yielding solely 174 yards per sport via the air.
The Texans have introduced sturdy defenses into earlier matchups with the Chiefs and have little to indicate for it. Since dropping his first sport towards Houston in Week 6 of 2019, Mahomes has gained 5 straight, playoffs included.
In 4 regular-season conferences since, Mahomes has averaged 270 passing yards with 9 touchdowns and one interception. He additionally has two dashing TDs on 5.9 yards per carry — the escape-and-create capability Houston is aware of all too properly and should comprise.
“He’s probably not trying to scramble and run the ball like he’s trying to throw the ball,” Texans coach DeMeco Ryans mentioned. “His eyes are all the time downfield. So (the) secondary has to concentrate on that. Ensuring you’re sticky in your protection.”
Even that might not be sufficient.
Mahomes and Reid have confronted a 6–6 crossroads earlier than. In 2017, Mahomes’ rookie season, the Chiefs gained their last 4 video games to snag a wild-card spot.
Reid supplied warning this week to anybody keen to jot down KC’s epitaph, whilst playoff projection fashions pattern that manner.
“You have a look at our season,” Reid mentioned, “we’re one or two performs off. And we care for that — whether or not it’s a penalty at an important time, a potential turnover someplace, or having an opportunity to create a turnover — we’re proper in place the place if we will work out these two, three performs, you flip this round.”
You’re gonna need to eradicate the Chiefs from playoff rivalry if you happen to don’t need to take care of them past Week 18.
They’re teetering, certain. However as KC sees it, that simply means one other alternative to bounce again — whilst the probabilities develop skinny.
