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The latest
B+ Chiefs
Tough to grade Kansas City here, considering how easily they kept themselves in the game. They remain the Team of the Miracle, with Mahomes playing magician no matter what the clock says. But No. 15 pressed a few times, including on both picks — first throwing into end-zone traffic and then forcing one into a tight window on the final drive — and there was no run game to be found. The defense, meanwhile, was repeatedly victimized on downfield shots, with rookie Joshua Williams outmatched on the outside. All in all, it’s not a loss to lose sleep over, but you do wonder if Mahomes and Travis Kelce are being asked to do too much in shootouts with real contenders.
Bills 24, Chiefs 20: Five things we learned | Buffalo Rumblings (Buffalo Bills SB Nation site)
Miller closes
I spent a good deal of time after the Bills closed out this game thinking about defensive end Jerry Hughes, and the near-sack of quarterback Patrick Mahomes in that aforementioned playoff loss that came oh-so-close to changing that game’s outcome.
The Bills, of course, overhauled their defensive line this offseason, with the signing of elite pass rusher Von Miller spearheading that effort, and it’s hard not to imagine General manager Brandon Beane daydreaming about the exact scenario that played out on the Chiefs’ final drive after Miller put pen to paper.
Buffalo has its closer. On the play that cornerback Taron Johnson secured the game-clinching interception of Mahomes, it was Miller who split a double-team off of right tackle and flushed Mahomes out of the pocket. A spying Matt Milano then applied pressure, Johnson pounced on the off-platform throw, and the rest is history.
In a Parity-Filled Season, Bills-Chiefs Reminds Rest of NFL Who They Are Chasing | Bleacher Report
Now, this is where supporters of the Ravens, Bengals, Chargers and Titans will insist that the AFC is more than a two-horse race. And fans of the Eagles, Cowboys, Vikings and other NFC teams will say that even if it is, that doesn’t make the inevitable playoff meeting between the Bills and Chiefs a de facto Super Bowl.
But the Ravens can’t hold late leads. The Bengals are finding out how hard it is to repeat last year’s magical run. The Titans are the best team in the NFL’s worst division. And the Chargers have t\yet to show they can even make the playoffs.
2022 NFL season, Week 6: What We Learned from Sunday’s games | NFL.com
Next Gen stat of the game: Josh Allen excelled on passes outside the numbers in Week 6, completing 16 of 20 attempts for 229 yards and three touchdowns (+17.2% CPOE).
NFL Research: Patrick Mahomes (168) passed Peyton Manning (167) for the second-most pass touchdowns in a player’s first six seasons in NFL history. Mahomes now only trails Hall of Famer Dan Marino (196). Mahomes played one game as a rookie in 2017.
Bills’ Jordan Poyer travels to Chiefs game by van due to rib injury | ESPN
It takes over 15 hours across five states to get from Orchard Park, New York, to Arrowhead Stadium by car, a distance of nearly 1,000 miles.
Bills safety Jordan Poyer made that trip — and back again — to play in Buffalo’s 24-20 win over the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday after he was not medically cleared to fly due to “resolving pneumothorax,” or a collapsed lung, a source told ESPN. Poyer was permitted to play, but doctors were not comfortable with the air pressure that comes with flying as he recovers from the injury, a source told ESPN’s Chris Mortensen.
The Bills arranged for Poyer and his family to travel to and from Kansas City in a van. The All-Pro safety had four tackles in the game and played 100% of the defensive snaps.
Chiefs P Tommy Townsend reveals he has to take random PED test after Week 6 | Chiefs Wire
Townsend, who boomed three punts for 173 yards with a long punt of 60 yards in Sunday’s loss, took to Twitter after the game to reveal that he’d been selected by the league for a random performance-enhancing drug test. It appears that the notice from the NFL was waiting in his locker when the game was over.
Around the NFL
Why the Eagles won
They took advantage of an opponent that made several mistakes, and they leaned on play design to win the battle against an aggressive defense. As previously mentioned, Rush was intercepted three times. The Cowboys also turned the ball over on downs in the second quarter. On several occasions, they ran read-option plays or run-pass options designed to take advantage of the Cowboys’ aggressive, upfield pass rush and get players like A.J. Brown into the flat for run-after-catch opportunities.
Dolphins QB Skylar Thompson exits loss to Vikings with thumb injury | NFL.com
Rookie signal-caller Skylar Thompson suffered a thumb injury in the second quarter of Sunday’s 24-16 loss to Minnesota and did not return.
Thompson was in the midst of his first career start. He relieved backup quarterback Teddy Bridgewater in Miami’s 40-17 Week 5 loss to the Jets after Bridgewater entered concussion protocol, and Thompson was named the starter for Sunday’s game even though Bridgewater cleared protocols over the weekend.
The Buccaneers have battled injuries all year, especially on offense, leading to some especially sluggish performances. But Tom Brady wasn’t permitting any excuses on Sunday. Trailing 10-6 in the final minute of the first half of Week 6’s matchup with the Steelers, the quarterback was seen — and heard — unleashing a profane tirade at his offensive linemen on the sidelines.
“You’re so much better than the way you’re f---ing playing!” Brady could be heard yelling on the Fox broadcast. “Get your f---ing act together!”
The QB had additional remarks for his blockers, all of them delivered emphatically, but the rest were drowned out by the broadcast and crowd noise. Rest assured they had something to do with the Bucs’ offensive struggles. With three linemen on injured reserve, including Pro Bowl center Ryan Jensen and prospective starting guard Aaron Stinnie, Tampa Bay entered Sunday’s game with multiple reserves in the trenches.
Sauce Gardner dons cheesehead after Jets upsets Packers | Fox Sports
The New York Jets picked up a massive upset over Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field Sunday and rookie cornerback Sauce Gardner found a uniquely Lambeau way to celebrate.
Gardner danced on the field after the 27-10 victory — wearing a cheesehead, the iconic longtime headwear of diehard Packers fans.
Sauce Gardner just HAD to
— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) October 16, 2022
via @NFL | @iamSauceGardner x @nyjets pic.twitter.com/VQg0UuAuBv
Raiders WR Davante Adams unlikely to be disciplined by NFL until legal process concludes | NFL.com
The NFL is weighing possible discipline against Raiders wide receiver Davante Adams for shoving a credentialed photographer on the way to the visitors tunnel after Las Vegas’ loss to the Chiefs last Monday, with the photographer falling on the ground afterwards. Adams could be fined, suspended or both.
Adams’ status won’t be resolved in the near future, sources informed of the situation say, which indicates Adams will stay on the field moving forward for Las Vegas this season, at least until his legal situation has reached its conclusion.
The league generally acts quickly for on-field infractions to make clear a player’s status for the next game, ruling on suspensions by Wednesday morning of a game week. Las Vegas is on a bye this week.
Sunday morning, NFL Media reported that Akers has philosophical and football-related differences with McVay, and that he may have played his last down with the Rams. NFL Media believes that Akers will draw significant trade interest, and that the team is open to moving him if they field the right offer.
The former second-round pick out of Florida State rushed for 625 yards and two touchdowns in his rookie season, while also catching 11 passes for 123 yards and one touchdown. Akers tore his Achilles before the start of his second season in 2021, however, but fought in recovery to return for the regular-season finale against the San Francisco 49ers, and the Super Bowl run.
In case you missed it on Arrowhead Pride
4 winners and 5 losers from the Chiefs’ loss to the Bills
Losers
The Kansas City pass rush: While it’s well-known that the Bills acquired Von Miller specifically to beat the Chiefs, it’s clear that Kansas City didn’t do enough to bolster its own pass rush. Frank Clark and Chris Jones had a couple of moments, but they didn’t get pressure on Josh Allen consistently enough to hold him when it mattered. The lone sack of the day was on a play where Jones probably should have been flagged for tripping. Other than blitzing more — which exposes the young secondary — the Chiefs have to find some way to bring quarterbacks down at the right moments.
Marquez Valdes-Scantling: While Smith-Schuster had his biggest day as a Chief, Valdes-Scantling ended up getting blanked on three targets. He did have a touchdown that was called back on a penalty, but he also failed to bring down a jump ball in the end zone that became Mahomes’s first interception. In the rotation of good wide receiver games, I guess it just wasn’t Valdes-Scantling’s turn.
A tweet to make you think
Von Miller on winning at Arrowhead and the final defensive play. #Bills #Chiefs pic.twitter.com/017c4fvuzS
— Nick Jacobs (@Jacobs71) October 16, 2022
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