Arrowheadlines: Patrick Mahomes plans to still be playing football at 45

The latest

Patrick Mahomes, Going Deep: Why the NFL’s best QB needs golf | Golf.com

But day to day, his golf dreams are simple.

“Making putts,” he says. “Driving is cool, but you make a nice putt, 15 or 20 feet? There’s no better feeling in the entire world.” Mahomes has an answer for everything, with one exception: If he wins the Masters, what would he serve for his Champions Dinner?

It’s okay not to know just yet, I point out. It’ll probably be 20 years before he’ll be in the mix at Augusta.

“At 45? I’ll still be playing football,” he shoots back. “How ’bout 50?”

2021 NFL season: Eleven non-first-round rookies who can pop | NFL.com

5 - Trey Smith

Tennessee · G

Kansas City Chiefs

Drafted: Round 6, No. 226 overall.

Once considered one of the top prospects in the 2021 draft class, Smith slipped to the sixth round, where the Chiefs — who confidently selected Smith despite the issue he had with blood clots in college — were able to scoop him up. Now he’s working with the first-team offense at right guard, thanks to injuries to Kyle Long and Laurent Duvernay-Tardif. Smith has a chance to establish himself (along with rookie center Creed Humphrey and youngster Lucas Niang) as a key protector of quarterback Patrick Mahomes for years to come.

Cardinals are home underdogs in preseason contest vs. Chiefs | Yahoo Sports

The Chiefs will treat this game as their regular season dress rehearsal, as head coach Andy Reid intends on playing the starters about a half. The Cardinals have not said how long the starters will play, but quarterback Kyler Murray, who sat out the opener, will play some.

Heading into this contest, the Cardinals are underdogs in their home stadium in this preseason matchup.

On the money line, the Chiefs are favored at -140, meaning they have 58.33% implied odds of winning. At those odds, a person would have to wager $140 to win $100.

Every NFL team’s biggest strength & weakness heading into the 2021 season | YardBarker

Kansas City Chiefs Weakness: Cornerbacks

Cornerback isn’t a problem area for the Chiefs, but they do have some unknown after letting veteran Bashaud Breeland walk in free agency. Charvarius Ward and L’Jarius Sneed are solid young contributors, but the team is counting on unproven talent behind them, including first-round retread Mike Hughes.

Top 10 red-zone threats entering 2021 NFL season | NFL.com

5 - Patrick Mahomes

Kansas City Chiefs · QB

Mahomes has done everything and then some throughout his young NFL career, so who am I to deny him a spot on this list? He might not rank atop the stat sheet in terms of the red zone, but he still posted a highly impressive TD-INT ratio of 26:2 in the red zone last season. He can make every throw on the planet, evade pressure in the pocket, extend plays for days and fool defenders with his ”little old man jog.” Not to mention, I expect the Chiefs to come out swinging in Week 1 after the way their season ended in February. The name of the game for K.C. this year? Points, points and more points!

Ranking the pass-rushing units for every NFL team | YardBarker

15. Kansas City Chiefs

Already proving unworthy of a $21 million-per-year deal, Frank Clark’s two-arrest offseason — both on gun charges — has created a major issue for the Chiefs’ pass rush. Kansas City’s top edge presence will be suspended this year or next, possibly for more than six games. Not much exists around Clark at defensive end. Fortunately for the AFC champs, Chris Jones is one of the NFL’s best defensive players. The ace D-tackle will be tried some at end, though moving star players to new spots is risky, and has a strong sub-package inside rush mate in ex-Seahawk Jarran Reed. Clark’s status still overshadows everything else.

2021 Highest-Scoring NFL Team by the Odds: Top-Five Best Bets | SI

CONTENDERS

Kansas City Chiefs (+500)

2020: 473 points (29.6 ppg - fifth in NFL)

2019: 451 points (28.2 ppg)

2018: 565 points (35.3 ppg - first)

Top Scorers: Patrick Mahomes (QB), Clyde Edwards-Helaire (RB), Tyreek Hill (WR), Travis Kelce (TE), Harrison Butker (PK)

Kansas City (-6) should get off to a flying start to the season as it takes on Cleveland at Arrowhead Stadium in Week 1 with the highest total (53) of any game posted currently on SI Sportsbook. Key offensive weapons Travis Kelce (11 touchdowns) and Tyreek Hill (17 touchdowns) were prolific last season. Bettors and fantasy owners are investing that running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire will rebound from a disappointing sub-par rookie campaign that only produced 803 rushing yards to go along with just five total touchdowns. The biggest question for bettors in this market will be, can anyone emerge as a reliable WR2 for Mahomes and the Chiefs? Following the departure of veteran Sammy Watkins to Baltimore, the battle for the WR2 spot will come down to Mecole Hardman, Demarcus Robinson, and Byron Pringle. Despite converting on field goals at a career-best 93% clip last season, Butker only ranked 13th in overall scoring among placekickers.

AFC West odds, picks and prediction to win the division | Sportsbook Wire

AFC West picks and predictions

The CHIEFS (-319) aren’t a great value, but they’re going to be the AFC West Division winners barring a major, major disaster and/or injuries to key personnel.

If you’re going to roll the dice on one of the underdogs in the division, take a look at the BRONCOS (+550). They added QB Teddy Bridgewater to push QB Drew Lock under center. More importantly, the Broncos have some of the best wide receivers in the division with KJ Hamler, Jerry Jeudy and Courtland Sutton leading the way.

The Broncos have a little more stability and a more impressive offense to give the Chiefs a run for their money.

Around the NFL

Chicago Bears’ Justin Fields healthy, to face Buffalo Bills’ Mitch Trubisky | ESPN

A minor injury scare will not prevent Bears rookie quarterback Justin Fields from playing in Chicago’s second preseason game against the Buffalo Bills on Saturday.

And he’ll face someone Chicago is familiar with, new Bills backup Mitchell Trubisky.

Three days after Fields racked up 175 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns in his preseason debut against the Miami Dolphins, Chicago’s first-round pick landed on the injury list Wednesday with groin soreness.

Limited to light throwing on Wednesday, Fields returned to practice on Thursday and will see significant action against the Bills, according to head coach Matt Nagy, who plans to play veteran Andy Dalton for at least a quarter and a half before turning to Fields.

“I think yesterday giving Justin the day off to help him was good, and he feels good,” Nagy said. “We want to sacrifice that day of practice to be able to get him right for Saturday.”

NFL betting: If Aaron Donald wins the 2021 NFL MVP a bettor will win $100K | Yahoo Sports

Someone recently placed a $500 wager on the Los Angeles Rams defensive tackle to win MVP at BetMGM. Donald is at +20000 to win the MVP trophy. At those odds, that $500 turns into a $100,000 profit with a Donald win.

Will that win happen? Probably not. A non-quarterback hasn’t won the award since then-Minnesota Vikings RB Adrian Peterson was the 2012 NFL MVP. And a defensive player hasn’t won the award since Lawrence Taylor did in 1986 when he recorded a whopping 20.5 sacks. Only quarterbacks and running backs have won the MVP award since Taylor’s win.

Eagles’ Jalen Hurts sent to hospital, ‘going to be OK’ after late scratch vs. Pats because of stomach illness | NFL.com

Philadelphia’s presumed starter was ruled out against the Patriots shortly after kickoff and sent to the hospital with an illness.

Eagles coach Nick Sirianni told reporters afterward that Hurts wasn’t feeling well when he arrived at Lincoln Financial Field, but wanted to go through warmups in an attempt to play. With pain in his stomach lingering, the second-year-QB left the stadium to get evaluated. The team said the issue is not COVID-19 related, NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo reported.

“Everything’s good, and he’s going to be OK,” Sirianni said. “He had pain in his abdomen, which, for a guy like that to tell us, he’s a tough guy, so it must have been hurting him pretty good for him to let us know about that.”

After Hurts was scratched, starting offensive linemen Jason Kelce , Brandon Brooks and Lane Johnson were also held out. The entire offense struggled in their absence. Veteran Joe Flacco got the spot start and completed 10 of 17 for 83 yards and an interception in the Eagles’ 35-0 loss. Nick Mullens played the second half and went 5 of 10 for 27 yards and also threw an INT.

Packers unveil 1950s-style classic uniforms to be worn in 2021 season, replacing navy and gold throwback | CBS Sports

The all-green uniforms have gold numbers and stripes, a much different look than the green jerseys with white numbers on the top and the white pants with the three stripes (green on the outside and gold in the middle). The Packers wore “Kelly Green” in the 1950s and alternated between green and gold pants. This uniform set will have green pants with gold stripes, and matching green socks.

In case you missed it on Arrowhead Pride

5 key players to watch as the Chiefs visit the Arizona Cardinals

CB Deandre Baker

After suffering a gruesome-looking broken leg on January 3 during the meaningless Week 17 game against the Los Angeles Chargers, few would have expected Baker to play 41% of the defensive snaps in a preseason game on August 14. Baker also added six special teams snaps. Shockingly, he returned to the game after exiting with what appeared to be cramps.

The Chiefs clearly valued getting Baker a high quantity of snaps on Saturday night — unsurprising after a recent injury and missing most of the 2020 season with legal issues. During the second half, the former first-round pick appeared to be the best player on the field.

After his performance Saturday, we should pay attention to the quality of his snaps on Friday. The question will be if Baker showed enough to earn playing time against the Cardinals starters — or if he will again play a high number of second-half snaps against fringe NFL players.

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