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Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas said Tuesday that a classic Super Bowl parade would be “highly unlikely” given the severe state of the COVID-19 pandemic, which gripped Kansas City just a few weeks after the Chiefs’ victory last February.
“But there will be different ways that we come up with to try to celebrate,” Lucas said on the University of Kansas Health System’s daily briefing Tuesday morning.
1. Patrick Mahomes will match Tom Brady in rare feat
If Mahomes is able to win the Super Bowl, that will be his second Super Bowl championship in four years — which would match Tom Brady for the most Super Bowl titles in a quarterback’s first four seasons in the league. Brady is the lone quarterback to win two Super Bowl titles in his first four seasons, so this would be rare company for Mahomes — already the youngest player to win a league MVP and a Super Bowl MVP.
If Mahomes wins this championship, the torch of the face of the NFL will be officially passed from Brady to Mahomes. The Brady era won’t be over, but Mahomes will be the new sheriff in town.
How the Conference Title Matchups Reveal What Matters Most in Today’s NFL | The Ringer
Offense Wins Championships
This was the highest-scoring season in NFL history by far—there was almost a full field goal more per game in 2020 (teams combined to average 49.6 points) than in the second-highest-scoring season ever (46.8 in 2013). And in this high-scoring season, the highest-scoring teams keep winning. The Packers, Bills, and Bucs scored the most points in the league. The fourth team left standing is the Chiefs, whose offense might be the best of the bunch. The Packers, Chiefs, Bucs, and Bills rank first, second, third, and fifth, respectively, in Football Outsiders’ offensive DVOA.
Bills preparing for Patrick Mahomes and Chad Henne in lead-up to AFC title game | NFL.com
While the Chiefs will have Chad Henne ready to go in case Mahomes cannot, their opponent, the Buffalo Bills, is also acting as if either will start under center in the conference title game.
“We’ve got work to do to prepare. Certainly have a lot of respect for Patrick and how he plays the game and what he adds to their offense,” Bills coach Sean McDermott said, via NewYorkUpstate.com. “They’re so good with the weapons they have around Patrick. Andy does such a good job — they’re well-coached, that we got to prepare for the system. We’ve got to prepare for both quarterbacks and that’s why we have a lot of work to do this week.”
The NFL’s 4 Super Bowl contenders, ranked | SB Nation
2. Kansas City Chiefs
Patrick Mahomes’ injury casts uncertainty over the Chiefs’ chances of repeating as Super Bowl champions for the first time all season. Mahomes was dealing against the Cleveland Browns in the Divisional Round of the AFC playoffs when he took a hit on a QB option and was forced to enter the league’s concussion protocol. Chad Henne came in and made enough plays to stave off Cleveland’s comeback attempt, but it’s hard to envision KC beating the Bills if Mahomes can’t go.
The good news for Kansas City is that their defense looked solid. Tyrann Mathieu had an interception, Daniel Sorensen forced a clutch fumble at the goal line (that probably should have been ruled as a helmet-to-helmet hit), and Cleveland amassed only 308 yards on the afternoon. The defense will again need to be up for the challenge regardless of Mahomes’ status.
Travis Kelce, Tyreek Hill, and the rest of KC’s playmakers remain dangerous even if Henne has to take snaps. The Chiefs have been the Super Bowl favorites all year for a reason. Their combination of elite scheme from Andy Reid and Eric Bieniemy, historic QB play, and game-breaking personnel on the outside feels like it’s unmatched. They just need to make sure Mahomes is good to go.
NFL free agency 2021: Biggest upcoming player decision for all 32 teams | ESPN
Kansas City Chiefs
Wide receiver Sammy Watkins. Watkins hasn’t posted great numbers since joining the Chiefs in 2018 but the offense has been more productive when he’s in the lineup than when he’s not. The Chiefs don’t appear to have his replacement on their roster as a No. 2 wide receiver. It’s difficult to picture the Chiefs being able to afford Watkins again, given a tight salary-cap situation. But both sides were motivated to get a deal done last year, when Watkins agreed to a reduced contract in order to remain with the team. — Adam Teicher
NFL Power Rankings: Packers replace Bills at No. 2 ahead of Championship Sunday | NFL.com
1 - Kansas City Chiefs
15-2
Previous rank: No. 1
The Chiefs looked cooked. Patrick Mahomes was in the locker room with a concussion and Chad Henne had just thrown a first-and-25 arm-punt interception to set up the Browns with the ball and the chance to take the lead in the fourth quarter. Momentum was cresting for a Cleveland team that looked destined to pull off another huge upset. But the K.C. defense forced a stop and Henne made back-to-back plays — a 13-yard scramble on third-and-long and a 4th-and-1 completion — that saved the day at Arrowhead. That game-deciding throw — completed to Tyreek Hill in the flat — should go down as one of the gutsiest calls in postseason history. “That’s why we love Big Red,” Tyrann Matheiu said of Andy Reid after the game. “We always know he’s got one play in the chamber.” Big Red. Giant onions.
NFL Divisional-round weekend grades | YardBarker
QB2 comes through again for Chiefs
While the 2019 Chiefs may have won Super Bowl LIV regardless of playoff seed, they needed Matt Moore to beat the Vikings to earn a bye. An ex-Moore Miami teammate delivered a memorable QB2 encore. Chad Henne had not taken meaningful snaps since Blake Bortles supplanted him in Jacksonville in 2014, but the 35-year-old Kansas City backup prevented arguably the best team in Chiefs history from ending its season early. Although Henne threw a bad INT, a game-changing 13-yard scramble on third-and-14 will likely become the 13th-year player’s signature moment. This will be Henne’s fourth straight season on an AFC championship game-bound team.
CHIEFS GRADE: B | NEXT: vs. Bills (Sun.)
Around the NFL
Jazmine Sullivan, Eric Church to sing national anthem at Super Bowl LV | ESPN
R&B star Jazmine Sullivan and country singer Eric Church will join forces to sing the national anthem at the next month’s Super Bowl LV, where Grammy-winning singer H.E.R. will perform “America the Beautiful.”
The performances will take place Feb. 7 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida, before the big game and halftime show starring The Weeknd. It will air on CBS.
Deaf rapper and recording artist Warren “WAWA” Snipe will perform “The Star-Spangled Banner” and “America the Beautiful” in American Sign Language. Emmy-nominated musical director Adam Blackstone will arrange and produce Church and Sullivan’s rendition of the national anthem.
Top 10 Landing Spots for Deshaun Watson | SI
Jon Gruden loves Deshaun Watson. Jon Gruden loves veteran quarterbacks. Jon Gruden has flirted with just about every potential option that wasn’t Derek Carr, despite Carr continuing to put up encouraging seasons. While Vegas has now blown through its Khalil Mack and Amari Cooper bounties, the team does have some movable pieces on the roster and will reset a bit this offseason as it does its best to rework bulky contracts signed by the likes of Tyrell Williams and Trent Brown, among others. Gruden is a great recruiter and has the time and contractual runway to develop an offense to Watson’s liking. The drawbacks? Facing the Chiefs twice a year, facing new Chargers head coach Brandon Staley twice a year after his historical run in Los Angeles and facing Vic Fangio twice a year, a defensive coordinator from which a lot of modern successful schemes have been borrowed.
In case you missed it on Arrowhead Pride
Conference Championship AP NFL Power Rankings: Ranking the final four
4. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (6th)
Y’all are going to hate me for this, but I am a Tom Brady guy. Although he wasn’t the reason the Bucs won on Sunday, I just have to bring up the fact that he is playing in his 14th conference championship game on Sunday. That is absurd. He will forever be the measuring stick for which we use to rank Mahomes as one of the game’s greats.
5. New Orleans Saints (3rd)
Oh, the Saints. Their Super Bowl window has been open for what seems like an eternity yet they’ve come up nearly empty-handed. The problem is how they’ve handled the quarterback room. Drew Brees probably hung around for a year or two longer than he should have, they have way too much money tied up in Taysom Hill and they don’t really trust Jameis Winston. It’ll be interesting to watch how they handle the post-Brees era.
6. Baltimore Ravens (5th)
Did the Ravens really get over their playoff hump by beating the Titans? Maybe if they had played well against the Bills. All I saw was a team that came crashing down to earth after a highly emotional win in Nashville. It will be interesting to see if they offer Lamar a new deal in the summer.
A tweet to make you think
Patrick Mahomes remains in concussion protocol. (per @MikeGarafolo) pic.twitter.com/LaWLxO3xDD
— Arrowhead Pride (@ArrowheadPride) January 19, 2021
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