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The Five Biggest Takeaways From the Bills’ Win Over the Chiefs | The Ringer
Kansas City needs to add another receiver
Free-agent additions Marquez Valdes-Scantling and JuJu Smith-Schuster have never been know to create separation as route runners, and neither guy is much of a ball winner—Valdes-Scantling got outmuscled by rookie Kaiir Elam on Mahomes’s first pick on Sunday—which creates issues when defenses play man and throw a second defender at Kelce. Until the Chiefs find another threat who can beat man coverage consistently—whether it’s a free agent like Odell Beckham Jr. or a trade target like Carolina’s D.J. Moore—defenses will be able to play tighter to routes and force Mahomes into more difficult throws.
The First Read, Week 7: Sorting AFC contenders, pretenders; the Giants’ secret weapon | NFL.com
The Chiefs have gone 4-2 so far through the toughest part of their schedule. Quarterback Patrick Mahomes could’ve used Tyreek Hill, who was traded to the Dolphins this offseason, in critical moments in that Buffalo game, but the Chiefs’ offense has been productive without the star wideout, ranking first in scoring and sixth in yards. The defense has taken a hit over the last two weeks, with the Raiders and Bills both posting impressive numbers (378 yards and 29 points by the Raiders, 443 yards and 24 points by the Bills) against that unit. Still, there’s no shame in losing to Buffalo in a tight game. Verdict: CONTENDER
NFL Week 6: One up, one down for all 32 teams | PFF
KANSAS CITY CHIEFS
One up: DT Chris Jones
Jones was dominant in Sunday’s loss to the Bills, registering four pressures — including a sack — and beating his blocker another eight times. He earned a 93.2 overall PFF grade.
One down: CB Joshua Williams
Williams asserted himself well as a run defender, but covering against Bills quarterback Josh Allen and wide receivers Stefon Diggs and Gabe Davis is a tough task for any defender. He let up five catches — all first downs — on seven targets for 93 yards and allowed two touchdowns for a 53.6 PFF grade.
Super Bowl 57 odds: Who’s improving, who’s falling after Week 6 | DraftKings Nation
The Buffalo Bills, who came into the year as the favorites to win the Super Bowl, got their statement win over the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 6 to solidify themselves as the top dogs in the odds table. The Bills are now +275 to win it all this year and those odds might continue to drop after Buffalo’s bye week. The Chiefs came into the game at +650 to lift the Lombardi Trophy and exited at +800.
Five Quick Facts About the Chiefs’ Week 6 Loss to Buffalo | Upon Further Review | The Mothership
2. The Chiefs’ defense also turned in an impressive showing against the No. 2 scoring offense in the NFL.
Kansas City was missing numerous contributors on defense against the Bills, including linebacker Willie Gay, cornerback Trent McDuffie, safety Bryan Cook and cornerback Rashad Fenton. Still, despite being undermanned, the Chiefs managed to hold Buffalo – the No. 2 scoring offense in the NFL – to only 24 points.
The Bills were 2-of-4 in the red zone, and that doesn’t include a possession that ended with a field goal at the Chiefs’ 21-yard line. Buffalo was also held short on fourth down twice.
Buffalo deserves credit for its 12-play, 76-yard drive that ended with the go-ahead touchdown in the final minutes of the game, but overall, the Chiefs’ defense put together a strong performance against a tough opponent while playing several young players in major moments.
Kansas City isn’t in the business of moral victories, but the real-world experience obtained by players such as cornerback Joshua Williams on Sunday will hopefully prove beneficial in the long run.
1) Josh Allen > Patrick Mahomes
This has become a real thing over Allen’s past dozen football games, including the playoffs. The pendulum swung in this direction in the middle of last December, with No. 17 carrying the Bills on his back.
Allen since Week 15 of last season: 10-2 QB record, 34:8 TD-to-INT ratio, 105.7 passer rating; 6.3 yards per carry, 51.9 rushing yards per game, four rushing touchdowns.
Don’t get me wrong: I love Mahomes. Good luck finding a quarterback with a more impressive résumé through his first four years as an NFL starter. Shoot, the league could’ve renamed the AFC Championship Game as The Patrick Mahomes Invitational. Good thing they didn’t, though — because there’s a new conference sheriff in town.
Allen began this season as the MVP favorite. He’s only furthered the cause since. His latest feat of MVP strength: Storming Arrowhead Stadium, outdueling Mahomes and giving the Bills (5-1) a major leg up in the race for the coveted No. 1 seed and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. Buffalo trailed 20-17 in hostile territory with just under six minutes remaining on Sunday. Then Allen led the Bills on a 12-play, 76-yard scoring drive, spectacularly hurdling a would-be tackler for a first down before delivering a precision laser to Dawson Knox for the go-ahead touchdown. Mahomes’ response? A game-sealing pick on the second snap of Kansas City’s ensuing possession, dropping the Chiefs to 4-2.
Josh Allen is the best quarterback in the NFL. The numbers support it. The eye test confirms it. And we’ll all be able to enjoy the show into Fe
Titans release WR Josh Gordon from practice squad | ESPN
The Tennessee Titans released veteran wide receiver Josh Gordon from their practice squad on Monday.
“Appreciate you Nashville,” Gordon posted on Twitter this morning.
The Titans signed wide receiver C.J. Board to their practice squad in a corresponding move.
Gordon was signed to Tennessee’s practice squad in September after being released by the Kansas City Chiefs.
The veteran receiver was elevated to the Titans’ game-day roster from the practice squad twice through five games but didn’t record any stats other than 22 snaps in two games.
Around the NFL
Why the Broncos lost
It’ll be easy to pin this one on Washington, the rookie returner, failing to secure the fair-catch punt late in overtime, but anyone who watched from start to finish knows this “L” — par for the course — stemmed just as much, if not more, from Hackett’s offense. Wilson looked the most comfortable he’s been all year out of the gate, taking shots downfield while on the move, but the deep balls to K.J. Hamler — or anyone, for that matter — were short-lived. In between 10 penalties, Denver went a paltry 4 for 14 on third downs, failing to get either Courtland Sutton or Jerry Jeudy involved when it mattered. It didn’t help that Wilson either had little time to throw or held the ball a touch too long late in the contest, or that Hackett sparsely deployed Mike Boone, seemingly the most dynamic of the backs left to fill in for Javonte Williams.
It’s a shame Denver once again couldn’t move the ball and/or finish drives after the promising start, because the team’s defense threatened to win the game itself. With six of their own tackles for loss, nine pass deflections and a stud performance from star cornerback Patrick Surtain II, who effectively erased Mike Williams from Herbert’s vision, the Denver “D” could only watch as time ticked on and its own offense couldn’t put points on the board.
Sources: Exec VP of football ops Jack Easterby out with Texans | ESPN
Houston hired Easterby in 2019 and he had a major voice in the organization, taking on a bigger role after coach and general manager Bill O’Brien was fired following an 0-4 start to the 2020 season.
In 2021, Texans owner and CEO Cal McNair hired Nick Caserio as general manager, pairing him with Easterby. McNair gave Easterby responsibility over personnel after O’Brien was fired but he said Easterby would not be named general manager going forward.
Andre Johnson, the team’s all-time leading receiver, was among those who publicly criticized Easterby and his power in the organization.
NFL stats and records, Week 6: Giants lead league with five comeback wins this season | NFL.com
Bonus: Tyreek Hill leads the NFL with 701 receiving yards in 2022, his most through the first six games of a season in his career. There have been six instances of a player recording at least 10 receptions and 150 receiving yards in a game this season. Hill has three of them, including the Dolphins’ Week 6 loss against the Vikings. The rest of the NFL has three combined. Hill and teammate Jaylen Waddle each rank top five in receiving yards this season, and their 1,234 combined yards leads all teammate duos. They are the only teammate duo with three 100-yard receiving games each in 2022.
Tua Tagovailoa preparing as Dolphins’ starter vs. Steelers | ESPN
Tagovailoa began football activities last week and cleared concussion protocol Saturday but was inactive for the Dolphins’ loss to the Minnesota Vikings in Week 6. McDaniel said he felt “really good” about getting Tagovailoa back on the practice field and liked how he responded. This will mark his first full week of practice since Week 3, and McDaniel said the impact of his return to the lineup is palpable.
“He’s a captain. He’s a captain for a reason, and as I’ve told you guys from the onset, I think he’s a very, very good player at that position,” McDaniel said. “So very good players, they definitely give people a boost — not because of what other people aren’t but more just because he is who he is. So he’s a strong fabric of this team, and that’s exciting when you get to go play with one of your brothers, which is why the team will be excited, and it will be exciting.”
Cardinals acquire WR Robbie Anderson from Panthers in trade | NFL.com
Looking to move on from the Rhule era as quickly as possible, Carolina accepted undisclosed draft compensation for Anderson, who leaves the Panthers after recording 161 receptions for 1,821 yards and nine touchdowns in his 39 games played with the team. Anderson seemed pleased by the news Monday.
In case you missed it on Arrowhead Pride
Mahomes and Allen downplay magnitude of Sunday’s game
After the game ended as a 24-20 loss for his team, Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes seemed to downplay the idea that the matchup had any extra meaning.
“You just want to win just because you’re a competitor and you know that you’re playing the best of the best — and you feel like you’re the best of the best,“ Mahomes told reporters on Sunday night. “So you want to win those games.
“But at the end of the day, it’s just a game. You kind of have to reiterate to guys in the locker room: it’s one game in the regular season that you wanted to win — [and] you felt like you could win — [but] you didn’t. So how are you going to respond? Because we play a great team next week.”
On the victor’s side, the feeling seemed to be mutual. While Buffalo assuredly had a more jovial postgame locker room, quarterback Josh Allen said they also understand that there’s still much work to be done this season.
“We are just trying to be playoff caliber,” said the Bills quarterback. “That is a standard that Coach [Sean] McDermott sets.
”Every game is big in the NFL. It doesn’t matter if you are playing a team that is 4-1 or 1-4. Any given Sunday, Monday or Thursday, any team can win if you are on the field. We are professional football players for a reason. Everybody is good. We have to turn our attention to the next week.”
A tweet to make you think
"I'd like to officially congratulate the Bills & Josh Allen for not only avenging their playoff loss last yr but for also clearly becoming the class of the AFC over my Chiefs & Patrick Mahomes, respectively."
— First Things First (@FTFonFS1) October 17, 2022
— @getnickwright reads a prepared statement after the Bills 24-20 win: pic.twitter.com/ICBMtCrSRB
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