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The Chiefs defense should be improved under another year with Steve Spagnuolo. It’s a unit that allowed just 10.4 points in the final five regular season contests last year and 51 points in the final 10 quarters of the postseason.
The AFC West is better, but the Chiefs still run the division. The Baltimore Ravens are the biggest threat in the AFC to Kansas City heading back to the Super Bowl, but the Chiefs have the talent to win it all again. Getting home-field advantage will be key toward the Chiefs repeating, especially since there is only one bye awarded in the playoffs now.
5 greatest Kansas City Chiefs teams in franchise history | Clutch Points
1. 2019
Not only was the 2019 Chiefs team the best in teams, there could be an argument made that they are one of the best teams in NFL history.
The Chiefs finished the regular season with a 12-4 victory, even though they lost Patrick Mahomes for a few games with an injury. Once the playoffs came, they played with fire by falling behind in all three games. But they came back in each one to win the team’s second Super Bowl. Mahomes finished the 2019 season throwing for 4,031 yards, 26 touchdowns, and five interceptions.
If he wouldn’t have missed games because of injury, it could have been the best statistical season ever for a quarterback.
Five Things We Learned From This Week’s Media Availability | The Mothership
2. Charlton, the newest member of the squad, discussed why he chose to sign with the Chiefs as a free agent.
“It was a place I was looking forward to coming sort of right off waivers. So, once I cleared, me and [Chiefs’ defensive end Frank Clark] were on the phone,” said Charlton, who played with Clark at the University of Michigan from 2013-14. “That’s why nothing else mattered to me - money-wise - nothing really mattered. I just wanted to play football, wanted to go to a good situation where I could play some good football and feel like I could add myself to a good defense.
The Best-Kept Secret on Every NFL Roster Heading into 2020 Season | Bleacher Report
Kansas City Chiefs: RG Laurent Duvernay-Tardif
There are some people who know the whole story about Kansas City Chiefs guard Laurent Duvernay-Tardif. But not nearly as many as should.
It’s a story that goes well beyond the game of football. Not that Duvernay-Tardif isn’t a very good offensive lineman—he’s the starter at right guard for the reigning Super Bowl champions. Per Pro Football Focus, Duvernay-Tardif surrendered just two sacks and committed just three penalties in 899 snaps in 2019.
But Duvernay-Tardif is also one of the most fascinating human interest stories in the NFL. Not only is he a rarity in that he played collegiately in Canada, but Duvernay-Tardif also just so happens to be the first medical school graduate to play in the NFL.
That’s right—he is a doctor. While most players are sitting at home waiting for the world to reopen, Duvernay-Tardif is working on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic at a long-term care facility outside of Montreal.
The only question now is who plays him in the movie about his life.
2020 Preseason All-AFC West team: Raiders, Chiefs dominate on offense | Just Blog Baby
Right Tackle
Mitchell Schwartz, Kansas City Chiefs
This might raise some eyebrows across Raider Nation, who assumed that Trent Brown is the best right tackle in the division. They would be ignoring the greatness of Mitchell Schwartz, who has been the model of consistency and dominance during his All-Pro career. Schwartz has never missed a game in his eight-year career, totaling 128 starts.
Top 3 “Saints vs AFC” Games in 2020 | Saints New Network
#1 - Week 15: (Dec. 20th) vs. Kanas City, 3:25 PM CST on CBS
The defending Super Bowl Champions, Kansas City Chiefs, visit the Mercedes-Benz Superdome for the first time since 2012. RB Jamaal Charles broke-off a 91 yard TD which helped the Chiefs come from behind and defeat the Saints in an overtime thriller. New Orleans traveled to Kansas City in 2016, where they lost 27-21.
This meeting could be the only matchup of their careers for Brees and Mahomes. The two QBs have both led their teams to Super Bowl championships with MVP performances. Fans across the nation will have eyes locked to their screens for the duel. This one has “the game of the year” written all over it.
Courtland Sutton says Drew Lock didn’t play bad ‘at all’ in his only loss as a rookie | Broncos Wire
Sutton is referencing a play in which Lock threw an accurate pass that would have been a touchdown if Mathieu, Kansas City’s safety, hadn’t knocked it out of Sutton’s hands.
Lock finished the game 18-of-40 passing with 208 yards with no touchdowns and one interception. Those certainly aren’t good numbers, but Lock wasn’t getting much help from his teammates.
“I also had another drop, a slant in that game,” Sutton said. “That bothers me thinking about it, but Drew didn’t play bad in that game at all. He was giving us chances to win. For him to go 4-1 as a rookie, it brings so much promise to this upcoming season.
“I know everyone in our building is excited to see his second year of what he’s going to do because, like I said, there’s so much promise.”
Chiefs teammates hilariously rip Chris Jones for being an awful gamer | Clutch Points
Jones shared his PSN ID on Twitter, imploring his followers to add him.
Unfortunately for Jones, his teammates used this as an excuse to mock his gaming skills.
Chiefs wideout Tyreek Hill and quarterback Patrick Mahomes both called Jones “trash,” and linebacker Anthony Hitchens also chimed in.
Around the NFL
TV pioneer Phyllis George, co-host of ‘The NFL Today,’ dies at 70 | ESPN
“For many, Mom was known by her incredible accomplishments as the pioneering female sportscaster, 50th Miss America and first lady,” they said in a joint statement. “But this was all before we were born and never how we viewed Mom. To us, she was the most incredible mother we could ever ask for, and it is all of the defining qualities the public never saw, especially against the winds of adversity, that symbolize how extraordinary she is more than anything else. The beauty so many recognized on the outside was a mere fraction of her internal beauty, only to be outdone by an unwavering spirit that allowed her to persevere against all the odds.”
How will returning Rob Gronkowski play for 1st time as 30-something? | NFL.com
When Gronkowski retired, he had 79 touchdown catches — the most all-time by a tight end under 30 years old and third overall for any player younger than 30. He trailed only Hall of Famers Randy Moss (101 touchdowns before 30) and Jerry Rice (95). Gronkowski’s touchdown pace for a tight end was leaps and bounds in front of anyone else at his position, with Antonio Gate’s 59 scores before 30 a distant second, per NFL Research.
The big-bodied Gronk has been a matchup nightmare for opposing defenses for the duration of his career and has provided the type of end zone production never before seen by a tight end at this juncture of his career.
One NFL player at each position who will have a breakout season in 2020 | YardBarker
Safety: Justin Reid, Houston Texans
Reid and Singletary are the only players to make this list drafted after the second round. Reid has been a good defender in two seasons with the Texans, posting an average of 83 total tackles per year and five total interceptions. He didn’t make as many tackles down the stretch, but Reid improved in pass defense last November and December. He recorded both of his interceptions and all five of his pass defenses in the last eight games of 2019.
Raidel ‘Joke’ Brito wins first Madden Bowl championship behind run-only offense | ESPN
The 26-year-old from West New York, New Jersey, was able to use his run-only offense and particularly stingy defense en route to a 17-0 shutout of Daniel “Dcroft” Mycroft of Mukilteo, Washington, to win on Madden’s biggest stage.
Joke did not throw a single pass in the entire tournament, taking advantage of the run-focused meta of the game and his skill to create a championship-winning formula. In the tournament, players crafted their rosters in a salary-cap system, with current and former NFL players available. Joke used this to his advantage, opting not to field a true quarterback in his lineup; Washington Redskins punter Tress Way was under center.
Bills lineman Ed Oliver arrested on DWI, gun charges | ESPN
The officer who administered the test noted that Oliver may have been impaired by something other than alcohol, and police discovered a pistol in Oliver’s vehicle, according to the report. No drugs were found.
Police were alerted to Oliver’s driving by a 911 call from another motorist, who reported a Ford Super Duty pickup hauling a trailer with a dune buggy on it through a 45 mph construction zone on State Highway 242, according to MontgomeryCountyPoliceReporter.com. The 911 caller noted that Oliver was “failing to maintain a lane and driving dangerously,” according to the report.
In case you missed it at Arrowhead Pride
Ranking the Chiefs: Curley Culp commanded a double team
Curley Culp has been largely overlooked on these lists — something Culp was accustomed to during his playing career. He was considered too short to play on the defensive line — and not quick enough to line up on the second level. So he helped create a smaller, quicker version of the existing nose tackle prototype. His penetrating style of play commanded double teams and forced shifts in blocking schemes, allowing Lanier and Buck Buchanan free runs into the backfield. His play at nose tackle in the Chiefs 3-4 scheme helped further popularize the alignment — and over the next decade, had teams searching for the “next Culp” to make their 3-4 alignments work.
A tweet to make you think
This INT was too smooth @itslilmooney pic.twitter.com/B2R61QXQs1
— Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) May 16, 2020
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