Arrowheadlines: Andy Reid regrets not hiring Matt Rhule

The latest

Chiefs’ Andy Reid says he was ‘dumb’ to not hire Panthers’ Matt Rhule | ESPN

“Which was a dumb thing,” Reid said this week as he prepared to face Rhule’s 3-5 team on Sunday. “I should have found a spot. The next thing I know, he’s with the Giants. I was, ‘My god, that was not where I wanted him to go.’”

Britt Reid was a graduate assistant at Temple when Rhule was the offensive coordinator. He tried to get his father, then the head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles, to hire Rhule, but the elder Reid didn’t have a spot on his staff.

“My son just kept saying, ‘This guy is an unbelievable football coach,’” said Reid, 62. “‘He’s just so smart. He knows both sides of the ball. He can coach anything. I’m just telling you, he’s a star down the road.’

Ten bold predictions for second half of 2020 NFL season: Buccaneers win it all, 49ers brace for big QB change | CBS Sports

8. Mahomes overtakes Wilson as the passing TD leader

Hard to do, right, considering Russell Wilson already has 26 to Patrick Mahomes’ 21 in one less game? No doubt. But have you seen this Mahomes guy play football before? Russ is dropping dimes on deep balls like no one, but Pat has barely been unleashed so far this year, save for Week 8’s sandbox rout of the Jets. As Andy Reid and Kansas City dial it up a notch to push for top seeding in the AFC, you can bet your sweet bottom that No. 15 will blow past his TD total of 2019 (26) and then chase Wilson on the home stretch.

Adam Gase blown away by Mekhi Becton tossing Frank Clark: ‘It’s unusual’ | Jets Wire

Adam Gase’s eyes widened on Sunday when he saw what Mekhi Becton was doing to Chiefs defenders.

Gase gave glowing reviews of Becton’s performance against the Chiefs. There was one play where Becton tossed Pro Bowler Frank Clark to the ground. That left Gase taken aback.

“It’s unusual,” Gase said Thursday, per ESPN’s Rich Cimini. “I mean, this is a grown-man league now. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen that happen to Frank Clark before.”

QB Index, Week 9: Ben Roethlisberger cracks top 10 | NFL.com

3 - Patrick Mahomes

Kansas City Chiefs · Year 4

2020 stats: 8 games | 66.9 pct | 2,315 pass yds | 8.2 ypa | 21 pass TD | 1 INT | 165 rush yds | 2 rush TD | 0 fumbles lost

Parr: I get it. You can’t move a guy up in the rankings for melting the poor Jets defense into a green goo. But, as expected, Mahomes made it look effortless, taking care of business against Gregg Williams’ overmatched unit in Week 8. He became the eighth player since 1948 to post 400-plus passing yards, five or more TD passes, zero interceptions and a completion rate of 70-plus percent in a single game, according to NFL Research. Only MVP front-runner Russell Wilson has accounted for more TDs than Mahomes, who recently became the first player in NFL history with 20-plus TD passes and one or fewer INTs in the first eight games of a season. He’s coming for the No. 2 spot, Aaron Rodgers.

NFL Week 9 Picks, Odds: Panthers hang with Chiefs, Colts beat Ravens, Broncos beat Falcons | CBS Sports

Carolina (3-5) at Kansas City (7-1)

1 p.m. (Fox)

Point spread: Chiefs -10.5

Getting in front of the Kansas City Scoring Machine feels like a very dangerous proposition, especially coming off a week where Patrick Mahomes went wild against the Jets, throwing for five passing touchdowns in a rout. But Andy Reid’s shown a willingness to run the ball where necessary and this is sort of necessary? The Chiefs can probably do whatever they want in this game — if Mahomes wants to throw 12 touchdowns he can, but the Panthers are a bad run defense, and I think we could see the Chiefs lean on Clyde Edwards-Helaire and Le’Veon Bell in this spot. (One week after not giving Lev Bell the revenge game and me losing my face on those props, I’m 100 percent convinced Reid will let him loose against Carolina.) If that’s the case, Teddy Bridgewater and the Panthers offense should be able to sneak through the backdoor worst case here.

The Pick: Chiefs 28, Panthers 20

NFL Week 9 game picks, schedule guide, fantasy football tips, odds, injuries and more | ESPN

What to know for fantasy: Touching the ball is the best way to accrue fantasy points, making Curtis Samuel a free-agent bargain, given that he ranks eighth among wide receivers with 6.9 touches per game. See Week 9 rankings.

Betting nugget: Carolina quarterback Teddy Bridgewater is 20-4 ATS in his career as an underdog, including the playoffs. Read more.

Newton’s pick: Chiefs 35, Panthers 28

Teicher’s pick: Chiefs 33, Panthers 16

FPI prediction: KC, 84.1% (by an average of 13.5 points)

Around the NFL

Seattle Seahawks safety Jamal Adams back; RBs Chris Carson, Carlos Hyde out | ESPN

Adams’ return as well as the addition of pass-rusher Carlos Dunlap could be significant boosts for a defense that allowed the most yards through six games in NFL history before showing signs of improvement last week. Another defensive end, Rasheem Green, is ready to come off injured reserve after what Carroll called “a fantastic couple of weeks” in practice.

Adams has been sidelined since injuring his groin in Week 3. He was on track to return last week before a non-COVID-19 illness set him back. He was a full participant Friday and won’t be on any snap count Sunday, according to Carroll.

NFL bold predictions, Week 9: Antonio Brown, Stefon Diggs steal spotlight | NFL.com

Joe Thomas: The New York Jets avenge the loss of Bill Belichick, who left Gang Green at the altar 20 years ago, and snap an eight-game skid against the New England Patriots. The victory is also the first of the season for Gang Green. It’s too bad no Jets fans will be able to experience sweet revenge in person.

Will Tom Brady or Drew Brees Finish As the NFL’s All-Time Passing Touchdown King? | The Ringer

Production rate

If this were a situation in which one quarterback had racked up his passing touchdowns over 10 seasons while the other had accumulated his over 20, it would be easy to predict who would finish with the all-time record. But the two have had eerily similar careers from a statistical standpoint. Since 2012, Brady and Brees have finished each season separated by fewer than 10 career passing touchdowns. Brady has thrown for a touchdown on 5.45 percent of his career passes; Brees has thrown for a touchdown on 5.37 percent of his, placing the two at 24th and 27th, respectively, on the career touchdown percentage list. Brees averages 1.98 touchdowns per game; Brady averages 1.92.

Advantage: Neither

In case you missed it on Arrowhead Pride

Chiefs-Panthers: Five questions with the enemy

2) Do you think Teddy Bridgewater can hold up in a shootout?

We’re eight games in — and I’m honestly not sure. Bridgewater has looked consistently above average for 95% of his snaps. He’s the kind of quarterback who you don’t expect to win MVP — but also whom you don’t expect to lose a game all on his own. The only exception is that his mistakes seem to multiply when a game is on the line. I can’t tell if the pressure of game-winning drives gets to him, or if those situations only tend to arise when the rest of the team is already falling apart around him.

Long answer short: yes, he can hold up in a shootout — if the Panthers offensive line can keep him relatively clean.

A tweet to make you think

Follow Arrowhead Pride on Social Media

• Facebook Page: Click here to like our page
• AP Instagram: Follow @ArrowheadPride
• AP Twitter: Follow @ArrowheadPride
• AP Staff on Twitter: see complete list
• 610 Sports Twitter: Follow @610SportsKC