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It’s fitting that Patrick Mahomes forecast the weather while reflecting on the first official road playoff game of his NFL career on Sunday in not-so-sweet Buffalo.
The mere thought of going to Western New York in January may be somewhat intimidating to many, but not to Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs. Not after betting last weekend on the coldest game ever at Arrowhead Stadium, when it was minus four. degrees at the start, with a wind chill of -27 degrees that was the third-coldest game in NFL history.
“It’s -30 degrees this week,” Mahomes said, referring to the wind chill, when he met reporters at a midweek news conference.
The Chiefs and Buffalo Bills will resume what has a classic rivalry on Sunday night (6:30 p. m. ET) in the most productive matchup of the NFL Division Playoffs. This, a week after Buffalo’s playoff opener against the Pittsburgh Steelers was postponed for a day. as the domain recovered from a snowstorm.
“I’m sure it’ll be like minus-3 or minus-4 and it’s going to be windy and cold,” Mahomes added. “It’s a great challenge. But I don’t know if it beats the cold that we played in this last week.”
No, with temperatures projected for the low 20s, the weather won’t be the story this time. The plot thankfully revolves around Mahomes and Josh Allen, the star quarterbacks determined to push their teams to the AFC title game amid the possibility of more memorable drama.
The last time those groups met, in Week 14 at Arrowhead, the Chiefs appeared to be on the verge of a stunning comeback, as a remarkable, impromptu pass into the box from Travis Kelce to Kadarius Toney resulted in a potential 49-yard touchdown. . Only the effort was overturned because Toney covered up offsides, fueling the worst reaction we’ve ever seen from Mahomes, who went berserk as he expressed his displeasure with the referee.
The last playoff matchup between the teams came in a divisional playoff two years ago, when Mahomes drove the Chiefs to a game-tying, 49-yard field goal in just 13 seconds to force overtime, then led a 75-yard march in OT for the winning touchdown pass to Travis Kelce. Talk about heartbreak. The Bills were 13 seconds from their first AFC title game since the Jim Kelly-Bruce Smith teams of the ’90s.
Now, with the final five games of the series played at Arrowhead, Buffalo has an excellent chance to get revenge on its home box at Highmark Stadium. And while the Chiefs haven’t had the prolific offensive consistency they’ve had in recent years (see NFL-high pass drops), the Bills have gained a lot of momentum over time with a six-game winning streak.
NFL PLAYOFF PICK: Will the Chiefs or Bills win in the departmental round showpiece?
Maybe it’s some sort of poetic justice. For Mahomes to win his first road playoff game, he has to win in Buffalo, of all places.
“Even though I know it’s going to be hostile, there’s going to be other people talking nonsense and stuff like that, I’m excited,” Mahomes said. “It’s one of the most productive environments in football. “
Arrowhead Stadium, where the Chiefs remarkably hosted the past five AFC Championship games, is a rather inviting environment, too. Yet this playoff test on the road was bound to happen one of these days. Of course, the Chiefs have played in three “neutral site” Super Bowls, although Mahomes seemed to suggest that the Super Bowl 55 loss in Tampa was actually a road game against the Bucs — albeit with reduced capacity during the pandemic.
Either way, Bills Mafia will be complete on Sunday.
“I think it’s going to be another kind of power from their fans,” the Chiefs defense said of Chris Jones. “Especially for them. The Chiefs are coming. The last time we played them in the playoffs, we beat them. So there’s a lot of revenge there. A lot of tables are going to be set on fire, tables are going to be broken. Be electric. “
The teams have split their six meetings since 2020 with Mahomes and Allen, and each of the last three games had six points or fewer. The Chiefs, however, won either playoff game.
One thing is certain: They know each other. And not just because Bills coach Sean McDermott once worked in Philadelphia in an entry-level job as Andy Reid’s administrative assistant. The familiarity comes more from the competition.
“It turns out we’ve played a hundred times in the last five years,” Mahomes said. “It’s like doing the same things and doing other things. You need to do what you’re most productive at, but I still need to dumb down the defense a little bit.
“Same for them. On both sides. So at the end of the day, you replace things a little bit, you pass out and you try to do the best you can. They know you, you know them. And look who wins this. . day “
The revelation reported through Indystar, a component of USA Today Network, this week that police in Carmel, Indiana, suspected Jim Irsay was suffering from a drug overdose when they found him unconscious, bloodless and breathing abnormally in his home on Dec. 8, prompting a comment from Indianapolis Colts owner in late July as he addressed stalled talks with running back Jonathan Taylor.
“If I die tonight and Jonathan Taylor is eliminated from the league, we’re not going to miss anybody,” Irsay said in July. “The league goes on. We know. The NFL is developing. It doesn’t matter who’s coming and who’s leaving, and it’s a privilege to be a part of that. “
The Colts said in a statement that Irsay, 64, is recovering from a “severe respiratory illness,” and GM Chris Ballard told reporters last week that the team owner’s condition is stabilized.
Nonetheless, the latest incident for a man who recently told HBO’s “Real Sports” that he has been in rehab programs at least 15 times in battling drug addiction, raises questions about the succession plan for the Colts without Irsay.
She has three daughters, each of whom is vice president/owner. Of the three, Carlie Irsay-Gordon is the top involved in the day-to-day running of the team and played a leading role in partnering with chief operating officer Pete Ward in 2014. That year, Irsay was suspended for six games and fined $500,000 for violating the NFL’s non-public conduct policy, following his guilty plea to the CFA.
Is it possible that rather than levy a fine or suspension, the NFL will push Irsay to relinquish control of the franchise? Stay tuned.
This, too, factors into the Philadelphia Eagles’ plummet after a 10-1 start: Haason Reddick. Or more specifically, how the premier edge rusher was used after Matt Patricia took over the play-calling duties from defensive coordinator Sean Desai.
Reddick, who had 16 sacks in 2022, has 11 sacks in Philadelphia’s first thirteen games this season. In the five games since Patricia took over, Reddick hasn’t controlled a sack. In 4 of those games, he didn’t even get a quarterback’s hit. What happened?
Similar to how the Arizona Cardinals tried to employ Reddick when he lost as a non-major factor early in his career, Patricia included the team’s most productive quarterback in politics instead of betting on his strength. And that didn’t work either, because Reddick had exactly 0 deflected passes.
Amy Trask, former CEO of the Oakland Raiders, raised eyebrows in the Bay Area with a commentary on her podcast “What the Football” with co-host Suzy Shuster. In a preview of the divisional round, Trask said, “Four games. Eight quarters. Seven-quarters and Brock Purdy. “
Trask’s former team moved to Las Vegas in 2020, but there may still be some residual composure between the 49ers and their former rival across the bay.
Out of the overshoot come the passer scores of the two quarterbacks who shined in their playoff debuts in last weekend’s wild-card round, Green Bay’s Jordan Love and rookie C. J. Houston’s Stroud both had a power score of 157. 2. How did this happen?
They finished 16 of 21 passes, with 3 touchdowns and no interceptions. Stroud threw for 274 yards; I love 272. It’s still kind of a deep mystery to crack the equation for a better passer score of 158. 3, but now we know what leads to 157. 2.
MORE: What Makes C. J. Stroud So Great?
The 4 competing in the departmental circular combined to win 10 games directly on the road. The Packers and Bucs won 3 on the road; the Chiefs and Texans are leading back-to-back streaks. Naturally, this fuels a rallying cry.
“I think road games are compatible with the mold and identity of this team: opposite the wall in another environment and relying only on others,” Bucs quarterback Baker Mayfield said as he made his way to Detroit’s raucous Ford Field.
“It suits me with who we are. “
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Patrick Mahomes in Buffalo for his first road playoff game is perfect