Rather than work, playoff-bound Chiefs get a week to rest | AP
Coach Andy Reid said Monday he was releasing his players following their normal weekly meetings, a reward for their victory over San Diego that, coupled with Oakland’s loss at Denver, gave them the AFC West title and a much-needed first-round bye. "For us, it was such a big swing," Smith said. "That’s kind of a credit to our division, I think, of how well they’ve been playing. Yeah, we took care of our end and obviously got some help from Denver, so it was pretty sweet when we saw the score there at the end."
Uneven play aside, Alex Smith will be judged on Chiefs' playoff run | ESPN
"There are weeks where I'm extremely happy and weeks I'm pretty disgusted for sure," Smith said. "It's hard to go a whole year and not have that spectrum as a quarterback. Winning and losing trumps that. That's not to say there are weeks we've won that I [haven't] been really displeased with my play and weeks we've lost and you play well, but winning and losing trumps all that."
Chargers Request Permission to Interview Chiefs Dave Toub | Bolts From The Blue
Dave Toub is very highly thought of by many around the league, and special teams coaches, in general, are among the best suited for head coaching roles. They are one of the only coaches that have to deal with everyone on the roster, and they are used to handling different phases of the game. Toub may not be the most exciting name we’ve seen, but he’s arguably one of the best possible candidates for the Chargers head coaching vacancy.
Former Chiefs Morten Andersen and Ty Law are Hall of Fame finalists | The Kansas City Star
Former Chiefs Morten Andersen and Ty Law are among 15 modern-era finalists for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Andersen, who played for the Chiefs in 2002-03, is the NFL’s career scoring leader with 2,544 points. He also has the most field goals (565) and games (382) while playing for five franchises in 25 seasons. He also made the all-decade teams of the 1980s and ’90s. Law played for Kansas City in 2006-07. He led the NFL in interceptions twice and picked off 53 passes playing for four franchises in his 15-year career.
Report: Broncos to interview Kansas City Chiefs Special Teams coach Dave Toub | Mile High Report
Well, the Broncos threw everyone for a loop when they asked and received permission to interview 54 year old Dave Toub, the Special Teams coach for the rival Kansas City Chiefs. Toub figures to be a busy man in the coming days as he has interviews with two AFC West teams, the San Diego Chargers and the Denver Broncos.
Team appreciates Coach Reid’s trust in them to use the bye week wisely | fox4kc.com
"I go back over everything and just remind them I trust them. Obviously, if the end result is, ‘Listen I trust you, I’m giving you the time, but let’s make sure we take care of business here," said Reid in a Tuesday news conference. "Let guys get healthy. Let guys just kinda step away from the facility for a second and kind of clear their minds, be with their families, stuff like that. I think guys really appreciate that and come back energized and ready to go, so I think he does a wonderful job in doing that," said Jeremy Maclin.
The trickle-down effect is significant. Smith has a 98.2 passer rating in a clean pocket compared to 65.5 under pressure. His completion percentage also drops from 71.5 to 50.5 percent when facing a pass rush. That’s roughly the difference between facing Kirk Cousins and Ryan Fitzpatrick in 2016. In losses this season, Smith’s passer rating has been 76.8, compared to 97.4 in wins.
The Star’s Terez A. Paylor confirmed that the Chargers have been granted permission to interview Toub as a replacement for Mike McCoy. The Broncos are another team that might express interest. "I kind of get nervous every year," Colquitt said. "He’s a special-teams coach, but he’s an Xs and Os coach, too."
Chiefs beat a ton of great QBs in 2016 | Chiefs Wire
Going 8-0 against that crop of QBs is not an easy task. I wonder if the Patriots would still have finished 14-2 had they played the same opponents as the Chiefs did in 2016.
Kansas City Chiefs healthy going into playoffs, unlike last year | ESPN
"The first thing that goes through my mind is Houston," Maclin said of the site of that playoff game last year. "I'm sitting there like, 'This can't be happening.' As I started walking, the pain kind of eased up a little bit. Luckily for me it's not as severe as I initially thought it was."
Derek Carr's impact on Raiders makes him 2016 NFL MVP | NFL.com
The media elite likes to discuss the Thursday night no-show in Kansas City in Week 14. That's fair, as it was clearly Carr's worst game of the season (117 yards, 2.9 yards per attempt, zero TDs, 49.1 passer rating). But it was also a road game on a short week. Facing a great Chiefs team in Arrowhead -- the toughest place to play in the NFL -- with a jacked-up pinky isn't easy. And how about what Carr did the week before in a win against Buffalo (97.3 passer rating) or the week after in a win against the Chargers (81.7)? That was sheer brilliance playing through pain.