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Defensively, the trio of Chris Jones, Frank Clark, and Carlos Dunlap wreaks havoc rushing the passer each week, creating a nightmare matchup for a Seattle offensive line that has struggled mightily over the past month and change. RENTON, Wash. - Reeling with four losses in their past five games, the Seahawks will enter Saturday's Christmas Eve contest against the AFC West champion Chiefs as a heavy underdog for several reasons. Christmas falls on a weekend this year which means the NFL is giving the gift of a full, three-day slate of action. The excitement kicks off on Christmas Eve–Saturday, December 24–with 11 total games taking place including an NFC East showdown between the Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys on Saturday evening. But with some help from their defense, the Chiefs changed their postseason narrative, perhaps for good. That kind of resilience had been in short supply for the Chiefs in the playoffs.
Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers blew a 17-point lead last Sunday losing to the Cincinnati Bengals. The loss marked Tampa Bay’s third in the last four games and the team’s eighth loss of the season which is the most for Brady in his Hall of Fame career. The 7-time Super Bowl champion turned the ball over 4 times in Sunday’s loss tying his career high with 2 interceptions and 2 lost fumbles–something he hasn’t done since 2011. In their first year under head coach Todd Bowles–who served as the team’s defensive coordinator the last three seasons–Tampa Bay has struggled to produce offensively. Through Week 15, the Buccaneers are scoring just 17.6 points per game. Over the last 2 seasons, the team averaged over 30 points per game.
Kansas City Chiefs (11- clinched AFC West
Kansas City made some recent defensive lineup changes that seem to be working. Third cornerback Charvarius Ward and safety Jordan Lucas, who is starting in place of the injured Eric Berry, have played well over the past couple of games. The Chiefs, who entered the game allowing 18 points a game at home, didn't allow a touchdown in their final regular-season game, a 35-3 win against the Oakland Raiders. KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- If the Kansas City Chiefs could have designed the way they will enter the AFC Championship Game, they would have drawn up their divisional-round win against the Indianapolis Colts.
The performance was especially encouraging given the Seahawks didn’t have nose tackle Al Woods and backup Bryan Mone hurt his knee in the first quarter. Lockett will miss just the second game of his long career due to injury after breaking a bone in his left hand last week against San Francisco; he had surgery to stabilize it this week and hopes to return this season. Take a look at the updating playoff picture, updated with every result.
What time is kickoff for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs Arizona Cardinals game?
The Chiefs are sweating out their seeding because the Bengals snapped Kansas City’s eight-game winning streak in Week 17. Still, the Chiefs have been the NFL’s best team since Halloween. This is probably the least likely scenario because it would take a bunch of good teams losing to a bunch of bad or average teams. Fans, but you may use this tool to explore scenarios for any team on the playoff bubble.
The Chiefs have won six straight division titles, giving them the longest active streak in the league. The Raiders are in third place and a game behind the Chargers. The Broncos are two games behind the Raiders for last place in the division. The NFL’s Wild Card playoffs will take place Saturday, Jan. 14, to Monday, Jan. 16.
Las Vegas Raiders
They lost at Cincinnati, barely held on against downtrodden Denver and needed overtime last week to beat one-win Houston and maintain their hopes of the No. 1 seed. That gave them an immense advantage against a tired Bills defense that had been on the field a lot in the final few minutes of the game, and Mahomes and Co. took advantage of that. The first 58 minutes of regulation in the Chiefs vs. Bills playoff game were exciting and close, but the game picked up its pace significantly in the final two minutes. Jones was noticeably ill during last week's win over the Texans, playing just 40 of 63 defensive snaps. The Chiefs expect wide receiver Mecole Hardman to play for the first time since Week 9, when he landed on injured reserve with an abdominal problem. He had scored in three straight games with five TDs total before getting hurt.
If one scenario plays out in Week 14, the reigning AFC West champions will win another division title. As for Smith's teammates, echoing what Carroll said on Tuesday, excelling in cold weather boils down to mindset more than anything. Since Carroll arrived from USC in 2010, Seattle hasn't fared any better in cold weather games, posting a 1-4 record and a .200 win percentage. Among the four defeats with him on the sideline, the Seahawks lost to a heartbreaker to the Chiefs amid chilly temperatures at Arrowhead Stadium in 2014.
His top-10 ability at the position has also opened plenty of lanes for Justin Jefferson, who's legitimately vying for the first 2,000-yard receiving season. Wright Show, the ex-Seahawks LB broke down Seattle's playoff hopes as well as this weekend's matchup with the Chiefs. The playoff hopes of the Seahawks, who are 7-7 and have lost four of their last five, are hanging by a thread. That touchdown ended the game in walk-off fashion and sparked debate about the NFL's overtime rules. That the Bills didn't get a chance to possess the ball and offer a rebuttal in overtime was the driving force behind the NFL 2022 rule changes. Now, the Chiefs would just have to win in overtime, but many were on the edge of their seats waiting to see who would win the coin toss.
The streak was broken in the Raiders’ Week 2 game against the Bills, a 13–10 Oakland win. Raiders coach Norv Turner said he became aware Rice’s streak was in jeopardy only in the final minutes of the fourth quarter, when Oakland was keeping the ball on the ground to run out the clock. Kevin O'Connell's squad was already moving the ball well before Hockenson arrived at the trade deadline, but the former Lions standout has made a seamless transition, catching at least five passes in five of his seven games in purple.
The NFL’s Divisional games are set for Saturday, Jan. 21, to Sunday, Jan. 22, with the conference championship games slated for Sunday, Jan. 29. If there's a reason for optimism with cold weather and snow in the forecast for Saturday, after Wilson struggled for years in such games, Geno Smith may be a massive upgrade in sub-zero temperatures based on his track record. Bracing for one of those coldest games in franchise history, Carroll didn't seem phased by the prospects of frigid temperatures when asked on Tuesday if any special preparations needed to be made to battle the elements. The Bears (3-11), Texans (1-12-1), and Broncos (4-10), Arizona Cardinals (4-10), and LA Rams (4-10) have all been eliminated from playoff contention. "I think some of the young guys are maturing right in front of our eyes and playing well. We added a couple of guys in there. ... Everybody's taking up their game." For Lamar Jackson's sake, you wish their big splash would've come out wide.
The late-game fireworks began on a touchdown pass from Josh Allen to Gabe Davis. The Bills were trailing by four and facing a fourth-and-13 after Devin Singletary was tackled for a loss of seven yards before the two-minute warning. Three touchdowns and a field goal were scored after the two-minute warning of the Bills-Chiefs contest. That cardiac, back-and-forth battle was finished off by a drive that few save for Patrick Mahomes could orchestrate to position the Chiefs for a win. The seesaw nature of the game was entertaining enough in its early stages.
But adding Smith in a trade with the Bears truly brought a heartbeat to the Ravens' now-stingy defense, which is giving up an average of just 18.8 points per game. The Pro Bowl linebacker has been a ball magnet in six games since his relocation, and his strength will come in handy in January. Howie Roseman did his best work in the offseason, upgrading basically every position of need to assemble one of the NFL's most balanced lineups. But Joseph, signed in mid-November, plugged in as an instant run stuffer during Jordan Davis' absence, helping shore up an already loaded D-line.
The Cowboys (10–3) have a pretty good hold on the first wild-card spot. After that there are three teams with seven wins vying for the final two spots. The Commanders and Giants are both 7-5-1, and Washington, which was off this week, moved into the No. 6 spot when the Giants got walloped by the Eagles. New York currently has the No. 7 spot, but the Seahawks are close behind at 7–6, and the Lions (6–7) can’t be discounted, either.
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