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Arrowheadlines: Chiefs peaking at just the right time

Chiefs headlines for Monday, December 23

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Kansas City Chiefs v Chicago Bears Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images

The latest

Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs look as if they’re peaking at perfect time | USA Today

But what makes Kansas City so dangerous heading into the playoffs is its defense. Yes, the much-maligned unit is now the stingiest in the NFL, allowing a league-best 9.6 points per game since Week 11. It has allowed just a field goal in each of its last two games.

Kansas City held Chicago to 234 yards Sunday, and the Bears did not get past the Chiefs 40 until almost midway through the third quarter.

The Patriots are in for a rough AFC playoff road | Boston Herald

Patrick Mahomes didn’t exactly light it up in Foxboro Week 14. But the gunslinger has shown signs of life since. Mahomes is getting his groove back, and if he starts slinging it around like last year, the Patriots will have no chance of keeping up. Their offense just hasn’t proven it can go toe-to-toe with an offense that can post 30 to 40 points. It has a hard enough time scoring 20.

Browns promote Robert McCray from the practice squad | Dawgs By Nature

McCray spent most of the 2018 season on Kansas City’s practice squad before signing a reserve/future contract with the Chiefs in January of this year. He was with the Chiefs during training camp and the preseason this summer before being let go in the final roster cutdown. The Browns signed him to their practice squad on November 27.

Joe Montana among quarterbacks named to NFL 100 All-Time Team | 49ers Webzone

Montana passed for 40,551 yards and threw 273 touchdowns compared to 139 interceptions while completing 63.2 percent of his passes through 15 NFL seasons. He missed the 1991 season due to injury.

Montana finished his career playing two seasons (1993, 1994) with the Kansas City Chiefs.

Dez Bryant lists Saints, Ravens among the teams he’d like to try out for | Saints Wire

[H]e’d like to try out for the Saints again, if given the opportunity. When asked by a fan on Twitter whether he’d consider reuniting with the Cowboys, Bryant responded, “Yep for next year,” before listing squads he’d be interested in joining such as the Saints, New England Patriots, Baltimore Ravens, and Kansas City Chiefs. Naturally, all of those teams are positioned to compete for a Super Bowl title.

Shawnee Mission Faces: Tim Grunhard, Chiefs legend | Shawnee Mission Post

Born and raised in Chicago, Grunhard played football most of his life, including for his high school team at St. Laurence and in college. He earned a political science degree from the University of Notre Dame. At the time, he had plans to be a lawyer, but instead he got drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs in 1990. He played 11 seasons as a center for the Chiefs. Our story begins with his first season, right when he hit the rookie wall.

Mizzou’s Eliah Drinkwitz on NFL allegiances, restructuring staff and Battle Line Rivalry | Kansas City Star

Drinkwitz, somewhat surprisingly, has never attended an NFL game. He confessed he was a “bandwagon fan” growing up, cheering for the Troy Aikman-led Dallas Cowboys. Drinkwitz also gave a nod to the “Greatest Show on Turf” St. Louis Rams.

He said, though, he has an eye on the Kansas City Chiefs and a potential trip to Arrowhead Stadium for the NFL playoffs.

“Growing up I’ve never been to an NFL game so I look forward to hopefully the Chiefs hosting a playoff game,” Drinkwitz said with a smile. “Hopefully some fans out there hears this and invites me to go.”

Around the NFL

Bengals lock up No. 1 overall pick with 14th loss | NFL.com

[T]he Cincinnati Bengals can look forward to April 23 and the first round of the draft, as they have locked up the No. 1 overall pick following their 38-35 overtime loss to the Miami Dolphins on Sunday afternoon.

With the defeat, the Bengals dropped to 1-14, two games worse than the Redskins in the overall NFL standings.

Though Cincinnati will be rewarded following its third straight loss, the Andy Dalton-bunch didn’t go down without a fight. Down 35-12 in the fourth quarter, the Bengals reeled off 23 straight points as Dalton fired a trio of touchdown passes to send the game to overtime and finish with four touchdowns.

Chargers’ Philip Rivers on his future: ‘Yes, I do want to play football’ | ESPN.com

“I’m capable enough physically and mentally, there’s no question,” Rivers said after Sunday’s 24-17 loss to the Oakland Raiders. “Yes, I do want to play football. I do, and that’s how I feel deep down as I stand here.”

However, Rivers also went on to say he still wants to take some time after the season to discuss that decision with his family, and ultimately the Chargers’ brass has to decide if the team wants him back.

Plane issues delay Cowboys after loss to Eagles | NFL.com

The Dallas Cowboys’ offense never really took off in their disappointing 17-9 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday night. The same could be said for their flight back to Texas.

After dropping a critical game in Philadelphia, the 7-8 Cowboys could not board their flight home because their charter plane had mechanical issues, NFL Network’s Jane Slater reported. Dallas stayed in Philadelphia until the team could find another plane or wait for repairs.

Brother of 49ers’ C.J. Beathard killed in stabbing | NFL.com

Two men were stabbed to death early Saturday at a Nashville bar and one of the victims was the brother of NFL quarterback C.J. Beathard, authorities said.

Nashville Police said 22-year-old Clayton Beathard and 21-year-old Paul Trapeni were stabbed in a fight at 2:50 a.m. outside the Dogwood Bar & Grill.

The Tennessean reports Beathard was the brother of quarterback C.J. Beathard of the San Francisco 49ers. The report says the victim also was the grandson of NFL Hall of Famer Bobby Beathard.

NFL Trends and Storylines to Watch in 2020 | SI.com

The insistence that you are (or definitely are not) analytics-minded

If you noticed the vibe from both Panthers owner David Tepper and former head coach Mike McCarthy these past few weeks, it appears “analytics” has finally gone from vomit-inducing anti-football rhetoric to corporate buzzword that everyone must embrace in order to get a job.

You know how Indeed and Monster.com filter out your resume if they don’t include certain terms (and that you’d probably just be better off copy and pasting the job description into the cover letter field)? That’s going to be the NFL hiring cycle this offseason if you don’t mention some kind of data driven approach.

Owner: Hello coach. Do you analytics?

Coach: Yes, I have always analytics. I have the best analytics.

Owner: Great, you are hired.

In case you missed it at Arrowhead Pride

Seven winners and three losers from the Chiefs’ 26-3 win over the Bears

Starting safeties Tyrann Mathieu and Juan Thornhill continued to have an impact that showed in all areas of the field. Mathieu’s six tackles led the team. He was impressive sniffing out a screen pass to make a stop on third down. He also had a few blitz opportunities on passsing plays — and in the fourth quarter, almost had an interception. Thornhill had a few third-down stops at the line of scrimmage. Even Daniel Sorensen got involved, getting pressure while blitzing Bears quarterback Mitchell Trubisky.

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