Johnson joins the Chiefs after spending the first three years of his career in Houston. His first order of business after being traded to Kansas City was to make sure that he was straight with a player whom he had a past run-in with on the gridiron. Right away after being traded, Johnson sent off a tweet directed toward Chiefs TE Travis Kelce.
— Lonnie Johnson jr. (@Lonnie30johnson) May 2, 2022
Johnson and Kelce had some heated moments in the 2019-2020 season, starting with the Week 6 loss to Houston at Arrowhead Stadium. Johnson, a rookie, was thrust into action against Kelce. He managed to hold his own, limiting Kelce to just four receptions for 58 yards on six targets.
When the two met again in the divisional round of the playoffs, Johnson had a much more difficult time covering Kelce. He had multiple pass interference calls go against him and the two were jawing quite frequently.
Travis Kelce trolling Lonnie Johnson after a pass interference call in the Chiefs' Comeback Blowout of the Texans in the divisional round last year. #51to7runpic.twitter.com/tQJCXrTrDc
Kelce exploded during that postseason game. On top of the multiple penalties by Johnson, Kelce hauled in 10 receptions on 12 targets for 134 yards and three touchdowns. It was a performance that helped Kansas City erase a 20-point deficit and come back to win the game.
Kelce, of course, got a kick out of the tweet and assured the newest member of Chiefs Kingdom that they’re on good terms.
đđ You know we always been man!! Letâs turn up!! đȘđ»đȘđ» https://t.co/UNRPAzfJKF
Thankfully, Johnson won’t be covering any All-Pro tight ends in Kansas City, other than perhaps the occasional snap in practice. He’ll be playing cornerback full-time with the Chiefs.
In 2019 against Portland, Steph Curry and Draymond Green became the first teammates to both record triple-doubles in the postseason.
While many teams around the NBA are awaiting news on their playoff fate, the Golden State Warriors’ postseason plan is already sealed. The Warriors league-worst 15-50 record has earned them the honor of the first team to be officially eliminated from the playoff picture.
Instead of gearing up for another Finals run, the Warriors can turn their attention to the NBA Draft with 17 games remaining on the schedule.
Despite the Golden State’s lack of playoff hopes in the 2019-20 season, Steve Kerr’s squad has racked up a bevy of memorable postseason memories. With basketball still on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic, Warriors Wire is digging back through Golden State’s playoff history to find standout performances and matchups worthy of a rewatch.
The Warriors cruised through the first three games of the series with a trio of victories. With the chances of getting swept on the table, the combination of Damian Lillard, CJ McCollum and Meyers Leonard charged Portland to a 17 point lead in the third quarter.
However, it wasn’t enough against Golden State’s pair of All-Stars.
Without Kevin Durant, Andre Iguodala and DeMarcus Cousins, the duo of Curry and Green exploded against the Trail Blazers. The Warriors were able to force overtime and steal a victory behind triple-double performances from both Curry and Green.
Curry notched a game-high 37 points on 11-of-25 shooting from the field with seven triples. The two-time Most Valuable Player added 12 boards and 11 dimes. Green filled the boxscore with 18 points, 14 rebounds, 11 assists, three steals and two blocks.
In Golden State’s 119-117 overtime win, Curry and Green became the first pair of teammates to record triple-doubles in the same postseason contest.
Watch highlights from Curry and Green’s triple-double performance via YouTube:
The Warriors advanced to meet the Toronto Raptors in the 2019 NBA Finals.
When the Chiefs signed defensive back Tyrann Mathieu in the offseason, they hoped Mathieu would help the defense. He’s done more than that.
Through the first half of the 2019 season, it looked like the Chiefs were going to have to take the same trip to the postseason they had in 2018 — riding Patrick Mahomes all the way, and hoping their defense didn’t blow it all up. The last straw for Andy Reid and the Chiefs’ front office for ex-defensive coordiantor Bob Sutton was Kansas City’s loss to the Patriots in the 2018 AFC Championship game, when the Chiefs never got the ball in overtime, and New England marched down the field on a 13-play, 75-yard touchdown drive. Sutton’s defense was helpless to stop it, and things had to change.
To replace Sutton, the Chiefs hired Steve Spagnuolo, the architect of the 2007 Giants defense that stunned the Patriots in Super Bowl XLII. Spagnuolo’s multiple fronts and aggressive coverages provided a different template than Sutton’s far more passive approach, and though it took a while for everything to gel, the Chiefs now have a championship-caliber defense at exactly the right time.
Through the season’s first nine weeks, Kansas City allowed 14 touchdowns and had just six interceptions, though their seven dropped interceptions (tied with Cincinnati for the league lead) was a precursor of better things to come. Kansas City allowed 7.02 yards per attempt, and an opposing QBR of 90.50. Not the worst in the league in any of these departments, but hardly the kind of defense Spagnuolo or Reid wanted. Their opponent completion rate of 62.96% ranked 11th-best in the league.
Rex Burkhead’s game-winning touchdown run in the 2019 AFC Championship game spelled the end of Bob Sutton’s tenure. (Jay Biggerstaff-USA TODAY Sports)
But from Weeks 10-17, the change has been remarkable. The Chiefs are tied with the Ravens for the fewest passing touchdowns allowed with seven, and have picked off 10 passes — tied with the Falcons, Browns, Colts, Saints, and Dolphins for the most in that span. They also have seven dropped picks in the second half of the season Only the Steelers, Packers, and Ravens have allowed a lower completion percentage than Kansas City’s 57.36%.
The Chiefs have allowed 6.22 yards per attempt — only the Ravens, 49ers, and Steelers have been better, and only the Steelers have allowed a lower QBR than Kansas City’s 68.72. The Chiefs’ defensive Positive Play Rate (the percentage of plays in which an opposing offense has Expected Points Added over zero) has dropped from 46% to 42%.
Perhaps most importantly for their playoff prospects, the Chiefs have become the kind of team that can beat other postseason entrants without a superhuman effort from Mahomes — or even with Mahomes in the game. Playing through injuries as he has, Mahomes saw a drastic dip in production from his 2018 MVP season, but the Chiefs beat the Vikings, 26-23 in Week 9 with Mahomes on the bench and Matt Moore throwing for 275 yards and a touchdown. They lost a close one, 31-24, to the Packers the week before with Moore as their quarterback. They beat the Patriots, 23-16 in Week 14, with Mahomes challenged by New England’s top pass defense, managing 283 yards and a touchdown. And now, they have a revenge match on Sunday in the divisional round against the Texans, who beat them 31-24 in Week 6, back when this defense wasn’t what it would become.
Players such as cornerback Charvarius Ward and defensive back Tyrann Mathieu have thrived this season under defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
The unquestionable key to this turnaround, besides everyone getting on the same page with Spagnuolo’s more aggressive man and match concepts, has been defensive back Tyrann Mathieu, the former Cardinals and Texans star who signed a three-year, $42 million contract with the Chiefs in March. As has been the case through his career, Mathieu is a game-changer from every possible position. This season, he’s played 1,080 snaps — 82 at the defensive line, 315 as a box safety or nickel/dime linebacker, 483 as a slot cornerback, 27 as an outside cornerback, and 173 as a free safety.
“He wears a lot of hats,” defensive backs coach Sam Madison recently said, via ESPN’s Adam Teicher. “Early in the year, we just wanted to put guys in situations to be comfortable. He understands the defense. … Since he’s been at LSU, he’s played all over the place. It was just a natural fit for him. He’s taken to it very well. I talked to him a few weeks ago, telling him just to be patient and try not to go out there and find the plays [but] let them come to him. That’s what he’s been doing.”
Mathieu’s transformation in Spagnuolo’s schemes mirrors the overall defensive improvement.
“He’s the glue,” Spagnuolo has said of Mathieu. “He’s the guy that can get in the huddle in practice and say, ‘Hey, we need to step it up.’ You need guys like that. That stuff, I value as a coordinator. It makes my job a lot easier.”
As a slot defender through the first half of the season, he allowed 16 receptions on 21 targets for 132 yards, a touchdown, no interceptions, and an opponent passer rating of 107.6. From Week 10 on, he increased his efficiency with 17 catches allowed on 27 slot targets for 110 yards, no touchdowns, and an opponent passer rating of 40.2.
As a safety, his coverage improvement has been similarly transformative. In the first half of the season as a box or deep safety, he allowed 23 catches on 34 targets for 221 yards, two touchdowns, one interception, and an opponent passer rating of 92.9. In the second half of the season, he allowed 28 completions on 42 targets for 193 yards, no touchdowns, three interceptions, and an opponent passer rating of 47.0.
Chiefs head coach Andy Reid knows his safeties — he had Eric Berry from 2013 through 2018 in Kansas City, and Hall-of-Famer Brian Dawkins in Philadelphia from 1999 through 2008. As far as Reid is concerned, Mathieu belongs in that discussion.
“This organization was blessed to have Eric Berry… a great leader, tough, all those things. Before that I was with Brian Dawkins. I’ve been lucky to be around some really good safeties. They’re all different in their own way but they’re all great football players with great instincts and good leaders. They lead a different way. This kid here, he’s a special kid. He’s not the biggest guy. You’re not looking at one of those huge safeties but, man, is he a good football player. He just gets it.”
Leadership is one thing. The 5-foot-9, 190-pound Mathieu also brings top-tier athleticism, field awareness, and the ability to read a play and snuff it right out — from anywhere on the field.
The Bears will play six games against current playoff teams in the 2020 season, including two games each against NFC North rivals.
The Chicago Bears will play six games against current playoff teams in the 2020 season, including two games each against NFC North rivals. The Bears are tied for the second-most such games, along with the Houston Texans and Detroit Lions.
The Jacksonville Jaguars and Indianapolis Colts, both Bears opponents in 2020, are tied for the most with seven games.
NFL teams with the most 2020 games against the eight teams still alive in 2019 playoffs: Jaguars and Colts, with seven each. Next are Texans, Lions, Bears with 6 each. Fewest? Chargers, Chiefs, Raiders have only two such games. Bucs among 10 teams that play three such games …
Not that it means anything in the grand scheme of things in 2020, considering that history shows many of these 2019 playoff teams won’t make the postseason next year.
But, for fun, let’s take a look at those games:
Green Bay Packers (2 games)
Minnesota Vikings (2 games)
Houston Texans (1 game)
Tennessee Titans (1 game)
The Bears will also face the recently-ousted New Orleans Saints, who lost to the Vikings in the wild-card round.
While Chicago has struggled to beat Green Bay — losing 16 of their last 20 games in the last decade against the Packers — they’ve won four straight against the Vikings, including back-to-back season sweeps.
Everything that needed to happen for the Bears to play for a Wild Card spot, it happened. Except Chicago couldn’t win their last two games.
Three weeks ago, the Chicago Bears were staring down impossible odds for a Wild Card playoff berth. Not only did they need to win out in their final three games, but they needed a ton of help in the form of the Minnesota Vikings and Los Angeles Rams losing two of their final three games.
And you know what, everything that needed to happen, it happened.
The Rams were embarrassed by the Dallas Cowboys in Week 15 before dropping a loss to the No. 1-seeded San Francisco 49ers, which officially dashed their playoff hopes.
The Vikings lost to the Green Bay Packers on Monday Night Football, which would’ve set up a play-in for that final Wild Card spot with the Bears next Sunday.
Everything that needed to happen, it happened.
Except one thing: The Bears didn’t win their last two games against the Packers and Kansas City Chiefs.
For as much as the Bears weren’t in control of their own destiny for their slim playoff hopes, they couldn’t do what was needed of them to even have a chance.
But that’s nothing new. It seems to be a microcosm of a disappointing 2019 season.
So instead of the Bears heading into Minnesota with everything to play for, they’ll be closing out their season with nothing left to play for but pride as they head into early hibernation for the eighth time this decade.
As the Bears look to make a push for a Wild Card spot, they didn’t get any help on Sunday as the Vikings and Rams both won.
The Chicago Bears kept their slim playoff hopes alive on Thursday when they defeated the Dallas Cowboys 31-24 and improved to 7-6 on the season. Their playoff odds stood at 5% following the win, but that percentage won’t improve following Sunday’s game results, however.
Trailing the sixth seeded Minnesota Vikings by two games and the Los Angeles Rams, the first team out, by one heading into Sunday’s games, the Bears needed a loss by either team to gain ground in the race for the final wildcard spot. Unfortunately, both teams beat their respective opponents to keep the Bears at bay and lowering their chances of making the postseason to 3%, according to fivethirtyeight.com.
The Vikings took care of business at home against the Detroit Lions, winning 20-7 to improve to 9-4, while the Rams are suddenly surging, winning their second-straight divisional game as they grounded the Seattle Seahawks 28-12 and remain a game ahead of the Bears statistically at 8-5, although Los Angeles holds the tiebreaker after defeating the Bears last month.
To make matters worse, the NFC North-leading Green Bay Packers were also victorious, beating the Washington Redskins 30-15. The win keeps them atop the division and all but eliminates the Bears from repeating as division champions.
The Bears are still “in the hunt” with three games to go, but the window is closing. Assuming they win their final games against the Packers, the Kansas City Chiefs, and the Vikings to finish 10-6 (a feat unlikely in itself), the Bears will need the Rams and Vikings to lose two out of their final three games to secure the final wildcard spot. Below are the remaining schedules for each team.
Los Angeles Rams Remaining Schedule:
@ Dallas Cowboys (Week 15)
@ San Francisco 49ers (Week 16)
Vs. Arizona Cardinals (Week 17)
Minnesota Vikings Remaining Schedule:
@ Los Angeles Chargers (Week 15)
Vs. Green Bay Packers (Week 16)
Vs. Chicago Bears (Week 17)
At this point, the Bears can only control what they can control by winning their final three games and putting themselves in the best position possible to make the playoffs. There’s still hope the pieces can fall into place, but this weekend’s results severely put a damper on the excitement following their win on Thursday.
The Jets need to win their remaining five games to have a chance at the playoffs, and even then they’d need a lot of other teams to lose.
Hereâs a sentence no one expected to read a month ago: The Jets have a shot at the NFL postseason.
Itâs a slim shot â FiveThirtyEight.com says they have less than a 1 percent chance as of Week 12 â but its better than being mathematically eliminated.Â
With five games left, the Jets could theoretically finish the season 9-7â an idea that seemed ludicrous when the Jets dropped to 1-7 after a devasting loss to the Dolphins on Nov. 3. But it will take a lot of work for the Jets to make the playoffs for the first time since 2009.
Not only must New York win all five of its remaining games â including games against the Ravens, Steelers and Bills to end the season â but the Jets will need the six teams ahead of them in the playoff hunt to lose in strategic ways to catapult Gang Green into the final wild card spot (assuming the Bills donât implode down the stretch and fail to grab the first spot).
Though the Jets are technically only two games out of the postseason after Week 12, the Steelers, Colts, Titans and Raiders are all tied at 6-5 for the eighth-seed in the AFC ahead of the Jets. The Browns (5-6) and Jaguars (4-7) are also ahead of the Jets in the standings because of the head-to-head tiebreaker, and the Chargers (4-7) are also in the hunt.
Basically, even if the Jets win out and finish 9-7, they arenât a lock for the playoffs.
First, the Jets will need all the wild card hunting teams to finish with a 9-7 or worse record. If any team finishes with at least 10 wins, the Jets are out.Â
Next, the Jets would need the Browns and Jaguars to both finish worse than 9-7 since they both beat the Jets this season and would win the head-to-head tiebreaker.
Things only get more complicated from there.
If the Jets somehow finish ahead of the Jaguars and Browns, theyâll also need all the teams in the hunt to lose as many AFC games as possible if they finish with the same record as the Jets, since conference wins are the second tiebreaker for teams who havenât played each other. By seasonâs end, thatâll only apply to the Colts and Titans since the Jets play the Steelers in Week 16. Obviously, the Jets need to win that match against the Steelers to even make the playoffs, and therefore would win the tiebreaker if both teams finish with the same record.
The most conference wins the Jets can finish with is six, while the Colts already have five and the Titans have four. If the Jets and Colts finish with identical records and conference records, the Jets would actually win the common games tiebreaker. The Titans, then, can’t finish with more than five conference wins.
There are too many games left on the schedule to break down every possible scenario, but the Jets will be hoping the teams that they lost to earlier in the season â the Browns and Jaguars â lose as many games as possible, and every other team in the hunt loses either common games with the Jets or conference games.
Some of these teams actually play each other, which is where things get even weirder.Â
For example, it would be advantageous for the Browns to lose to the Steelers, another team tying for a playoff spot, so long as both teams continue to lose down the stretch and the Jets beat the Steelers in Week 16. Itâs the opposite situation for a team like the Raiders, who the Jets need to beat another playoff-hunting team like the Titans, so long as the Raiders donât finish with a record better than 9-7.
This all boils down to one thing: There are almost too many scenarios where the Jets would or wouldn’t make the playoffs to count. The only thing the team can and should focus on is the one thing they can control â winning games.
New York needs to win out, and it will have a great shot the next two weeks against the winless Bengals in Week 13 and the lowly Dolphins in Week 14. It gets much harder after that, though, as the Jets face the mighty Ravens in Week 16 on Thursday Night Football followed by the Steelers and Bills to close out the year.
The Ravens game will determine the Jets’ true ability to both make and compete in the postseason. Right now, the idea of the Jets making the playoffs is a joke. Everyone laughed when Sam Darnold mentioned the Jets playoff hopes following their win over the Giants, and it’s still a longshot two wins later. But if they beat one of the best teams in the league on the road in primetime, the Jets can finally stake their claim to true competency.
Can the Jets make the playoffs? The math certainly allows it. But will the Jets make the playoffs? That’s only something the team and the football gods can answer with a little over a month to play in the 2019 season.
