Tag: AFC Divisional

Inactives for Chiefs vs. Jaguars, AFC divisional round

Here are the players who will be inactive during the #Chiefs vs. #Jaguars AFC divisional round game:

[sendtonews_embed video_id=”OrH7xUHKQW-2394770-7498″]

The Kansas City Chiefs and Jacksonville Jaguars have released their lists of inactive players ahead of their AFC divisional round game.

Here are the inactive players for the Chiefs:

  • QB Shane Buechele
  • WR Mecole Hardman
  • DE Joshua Kaindoh
  • C Austin Reiter
  • T Darian Kinnard
  • WR Marcus Kemp
  • DE Malik Herring

Here is the inactive list for the Jaguars:

  • WR Kendric Pryor
  • CB Montaric Brown
  • CB Gregory Junior
  • OLB De’Shaan Dixon
  • DL Jeremiah Ledbetter

[mm-video type=playlist id=01eqbwa53mtds520q2 player_id=01eqbvhghtkmz2182d image=]

[vertical-gallery id=145217]

ESPN analysts pose potential ways NFL could fix overtime rules

ESPN analysts pose potential ways NFL could fix overtime rules:

[mm-video type=playlist id=01eqbw1j59gmjw5gdj player_id=none image=https://billswire.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]

The Buffalo Bills season ended suddenly on Sunday, thanks in part to the current structure of the NFL’s overtime rules.

The coin-flip winner in OT has a lopsided advantage, as the winner of that coin toss has a 10-1 record in the 11 playoff overtime games that have taken place under the current rules.

Sunday’s coin toss resulted in a Kansas City Chiefs possession turned-game-winning drive that has raised the question of parity, sparking conversation around the topic of the league’s overtime structure and whether it needs to change.

ESPN NFL analyst Mina Kimes shared her thoughts on the OT format, making a case for changing the length of the overtime period from 15 minutes to 10 (the length of regular-season OT’s), sudden-death-after-first possession, a spot and choose rule, and allowing the other team to choose whether they play offense or defense.

And ESPN’s Bill Barnwell did a full breakdown of potential OT rule changes also. His included playing out the full 15-minute overtime, deciding the first possession of overtime before the end of regulation by assigning the opening possession of overtime to the team that wins the pregame coin toss or to the home team, playing to eight points, and the spot and choose concept as well.

The spot and choose concept is one that the Baltimore Ravens proposed, in which the overtime kickoff is eliminated while a team gets to choose the yard line from which overtime will begin while the other team decides whether to begin overtime on offense or defense.

Despite the game’s outcome, Bills coaches and players aren’t ones to make any excuses, instead opting to take responsibility for what they could have done differently. QB Josh Allen did just that after the game, despite never making it back on the field after that fateful coin toss, bringing an end to a historic streak of play.

After all, a defensive stop on any of the Chiefs scoring drives in the final minutes of regulation would have given Buffalo the victory, just as one in OT would have given them possession. Similarly, had special teams not kicked the ball into the endzone with 13 seconds left in regulation, time would have run off limiting the Chiefs’ chances to tie to go to overtime.

The lack of parity in the coin-toss possession with the ability to end the game with a TD and eliminate an opponent’s chance to compete does present a problem, however. And while the league has been resistant to changes to the OT rules, even just eliminating the TD-wins rule and letting the teams play out the 15 minute overtime period the same as the rest of the game could be a simple enough fix.

The last time the postseason OT rules were changed, it was because the New Orleans Saints beat Brett Favre and the Minnesota Vikings with a field goal in the 2009 NFC Championship game. That the Hall of Fame QB never made it back on the field motivated the league to make a change from a field goal being what wins to a touchdown.

The overtime rules are something the NFL may be more likely to once more take a look at after Josh Allen and the offenses’ memorable performance versus the ultimate outcome of Sunday’s game.

[lawrence-related id=96069,96067,96059]

Bills’ Josh Allen went on record-setting scoring pace in playoffs

#Bills’ Josh Allen went on record-setting scoring pace in playoffs:

Bills QB Josh Allen has been playing at a historic level this season and continued that trend in Sunday’s division-round game against the Chiefs.

Allen went 27/37 with 397 total yards four touchdowns and no interceptions.

In fact, between the Bills’ Wild-Card round win over New England and their Division-round game in Kansas City, the 25-year-old threw nine combined TDs with no INTs.

It marked the first time in NFL playoff history that a player had four passing touchdowns and zero interceptions in back-to-back games.

“He’s The Best Quarterback In The NFL,” said Gabriel Davis of Allen via video conference. Davis caught all four of Allen’s TD passes, setting a single-game playoff record for receiving scores in a playoff contest.

Two of those four scoring throws came within the final 2 minutes of regulation, including one with only 13 seconds left on the clock.

The Bills defense, who had been the top unit in the NFL this season, was unsuccessful in stopping the Chiefs. Kansas City went 44 yards on two throws setting up a Harrison Butker game-tying kick to go to overtime.

Despite the QB’s legendary performance in a game many called “the Super Bowl before the Super Bowl”, Allen’s only chance to take the field again would be for the OT coin toss.

While the NFL extra time rules could rightfully be reviewed and rectified as needed, Allen took the high road after the game instead of voicing his frustrations. Choosing to be gracious in defeat, humbly demonstrating leadership and personal responsibility instead.

He also made it clear during a video conference with the press on Monday what he and the Bills focus truly is.

“It’s Super Bowl or bust around here,” Allen said. “We have to find a way to get through that barrier and bring one home to Buffalo.”

Bills’ Josh Allen on NFL overtime: ‘The rules are what they are’

#Bills’ Josh Allen on NFL overtime: ‘The rules are what they are’

Josh Allen had perhaps more right than anybody to voice his frustrations as he took the podium for his postgame press conference on Sunday.

The Bills QB had just delivered two what-would-be game-winning drives only to have those efforts dashed when the Bills defense was unable to get a stop.

They instead would allow two offensive drives by the Chiefs that would send the game to overtime, where Kansas City would win the coin toss and again go on an unstopped scoring drive. With the tap of a toe in the endzone, TE Jason Kelce would end the Bills season at Arrowhead for a second consecutive year.

And all Allen could do was watch from the sideline.

Current NFL overtime rules do not allow an opponent to respond once a touchdown is scored.

“The rules are what they are, and I can’t complain about that ’cause if it was the other way around, we’d be celebrating too,” Allen said while addressing the media. “So, it is what it is at this point. We didn’t make enough plays tonight.”

While the Bills defense and special teams may have put them in a position they should not have been in, to begin with, Buffalo would never get the ball back in OT, exposing the NFL’s overtime rules’ lack of parity in what was perhaps the highly visible example to date.

“It was tough to be in that moment,” Allen added. “Again, I have a lot of respect for Pat, he throws the winning touchdown, and he comes straight over and finds me. To be in that situation and to do that, that was pretty cool of him to do that. Obviously, it sucks the way it happened. We wanted to win that game. We had our opportunities. (I was) taking it all in and holding on to the feeling and making sure that we don’t feel like this again, like I said back-to-back years in the same spot. It’s tough to take in, but it’s part of the game.”

The two teams traded scores as Allen and Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes delivered a memorable QB shootout, combining for 25 points in the final two minutes of regulation. Allen would finish 27/37 with 329 yards and four touchdowns while leading the Bills with 68 rushing yards on the ground.

After Allen found Gabriel Davis for impressive back-to-back touchdowns, the game appeared to be won. The Bills then elected to kick the ball into the endzone instead of going for a squib kick to run time off the clock. Their defense gave up 44 yards in 13 seconds allowing the Chiefs to kick a field goal to tie the score at the end of regulation and send the game to go to overtime. There they would again cease to stop Kansas City who, upon winning the coin toss, scored the touchdown that would seal the win.

In one sense, the Bills lost the game due to the flip of a coin.

Though the defense’s inability to stop the Chiefs, coaching decision not to squib kick and lack of OT rule parity were collectively things that each ultimately proved costly to Buffalo’s chance to find out which team would truly have come out on top and who the winner of the game’s quarterback shootout would have been. Not to mention a shot at an AFC Championship and Super Bowl.

OT Dion Dawkins spoke out on Monday about how the 50/50 coin toss carries too much weight. The offensive tackle went on to emphasize that the team needed to strive to keep it in their hands; That when it’s in their hands, their hand wins.

“We should never let a football game be determined by a coin. I think that’s the craziest rule in sports,” Dawkins said while addressing the press. “This ain’t Vegas,” he added, “we’re not at a casino table.”

Ironically, the Chiefs organization proposed a rule change to allow both teams to get possession in OT at the 2019 NFL owners meeting. They experienced the losing side themselves in the 2017 AFC championship.

It is tough when one of your three phases of football turns in a historical effort the way the Bills offense did, only to have the other two phases and a rule that lacks parity affect a game outcome.

And none of that was lost on head coach Sean McDermott.

“Chiefs are a good football team,” McDermott said while addressing the media. “And we knew it was going to take a heckuva effort coming out here. And I thought the guys gave us that effort. Starting with Josh and all the way down the line. Obviously, we got to do some things we gotta do better. Those guys, they’re hurt, they’re disappointed. We’re all disappointed, we’re all hurt, sick to our stomach. So, you move on and try to get yourself to learn from it, but it stings. It stings. I’m not gonna sugarcoat it. It stings.”

[lawrence-related id=95968,95964,95840]

Bills WR Gabriel Davis makes history in loss to Chiefs

#Bills WR Gabriel Davis makes history in loss to #Chiefs:

https://embed.sendtonews.com/oembed/?SC=qlOetgiB7R-1750596-7498&format=json&offsetx=0&offsety=0&floatwidth=400&floatposition=bottom-right&float=on

[mm-video type=playlist id=01eqbw1j59gmjw5gdj player_id=none image=https://billswire.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]

The Buffalo Bills turned in a memorable offensive performance during Sunday’s divisional-round playoff matchup with the Kansas City Chiefs.

And Bills WR Gabriel Davis made NFL history in the process.

He became the first player ever to have four touchdown receptions in a single game. As the Kansas City defense was focused on Stefon Diggs, it opened up opportunities for the second-year receiver out of UCF.

Davis and QB Josh Allen were electrifying.

Each of the 22-year old wideout’s touchdowns came from at least 18 yards out and he accounted for eight catches with 201 of Allen’s 329 passing yards as well as all four of his TD tosses.

The tandem connected for Davis’s first score of the day on an 18-yarder with under a minute to play in the first half, tying the game at 14-points apiece.

Then in the third quarter, Allen found Davis again for a 75-yard rocket that was the Bills’ longest play from scrimmage this season and one that tied the QB’s career-long for a pass.

The third scoring catch of the day was a 27-yard toss that came just under the two-minute mark giving Buffalo the lead.

Then, with only 17 seconds left in the game, Allen would hit Davis for 19 yards and another TD to take the lead, breaking the NFL mark for TDs in a playoff game.

With that fourth scoring catch, the wideout broke what had previously been an 18-way tie for the league record of three TDs in a playoff game. The old record holder group included the likes of Jerry Rice, Larry Fitzgerald, Western New York’s own Rob Gronkowski.

The Bills defense would give up 44 yards in the final 13 seconds of regulation, allowing the Chiefs to kick a field goal to tie the score and send the game to go to overtime. There they would again cease to stop Kansas City who, upon winning the coin toss, scored a touchdown on an offensive drive ending the game.

While the loss is a difficult one for the Bills, the young core of talent they have in players like Davis and Allen, performing at the elite level they did, projects favorably in the team’s ability to compete for years to come.

[lawrence-related id=95854,95838,95808]

Bills Wire Divisional round Player of the Game: CB Taron Johnson

Buffalo Bills Player of the Game for their AFC Divisional round win vs. Baltimore Ravens is CB Taron Johnson.

The Buffalo Bills punched their ticket to the AFC Championship Game with a one-sided victory over the Baltimore Ravens, 17-3. The tide-shifting moment came at the hands of our Bills Wire Player of the Game, cornerback Taron Johnson.

Johnson’s highlight was a pick-six in the end zone, that stalled the Ravens for the remainder of the game. Johnson took the ball 101- yards to the house, and Baltimore had no answer.

Congrats to Taron Johnson for his huge play and moment to keep the Bills Super Bow ambitions alive.

Re-live the play again here:

https://embed.sendtonews.com/oembed/?SC=bSj145AJ51-1112630-6173&format=json&offsetx=0&offsety=0&floatwidth=400&floatposition=bottom-right&float=on

[lawrence-related id=77048,76955,77026,76951]

Texans WR DeAndre Hopkins played with broken rib, dislocated finger in divisional loss to the Chiefs

Houston Texans WR DeAndre Hopkins says he played with a broken rib and dislocated finger in the 51-31 AFC divisional loss at the Kansas City Chiefs.

For the second straight season, All-Pro receiver DeAndre Hopkins fought through injury as the Houston Texans were being ushered out of the playoffs.

According to an interview with Hopkins via Mark Berman of Fox 26, the former 2013 first-round pick from Clemson played with a broken rib and a dislocated finger in the Texans’ 51-31 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC divisional playoffs on Jan. 12 at Arrowhead Stadium.

“My teammates I saw out there was fighting with me,” Hopkins said Wednesday as he and his mother donated $45,000 to The Women’s Group in Houston. “They were giving everything they had out there. It was no question that I was going to stay in the locker room in the second half. It was out of the question, especially when my team needed me, even if my presence was out there. I was going to play for the guys out there with me.”

Hopkins caught nine passes for 118 yards and had a fumble.

“It’s tough,” Hopkins said. “It’s hard to breathe. It’s football. It’s an injury. So, it was nothing.”

With regards to Hopkins’ dislocated finger on his right hand, the Pro Bowler said he would play with seven fingers if necessary.

Said Hopkins: “I’d play with seven fingers if I had to, man. Any injury is tough. It’s a little bit more tougher when it’s the hand that you have to catch with. But it’s football. I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

In 2018’s AFC wild-card, the Texans lost 21-7 at home to the Indianapolis Colts. Hopkins battled the entire four quarters with a shoulder injury that kept him out of the Pro Bowl.

The injuries Hopkins sustained, while keeping him out of the Pro Bowl, should not prevent him from taking part in the Texans’ nine-week offseason workouts, which start in April.

Pro Football Focus: Texans rookie LG Max Scharping highest-rated pass blocker from divisional round

Houston Texans rookie offensive guard Max Scharping was the best pass blocker from the divisional round of the playoffs, says to Pro Football Focus.

Strangely, there are bright spots to the Houston Texans’ simultaneous 51-31 choke-blowout loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC divisional playoffs at Arrowhead Stadium.

One of them is the play of rookie left guard Max Scharping. According to Pro Football Focus, the second-rounder from Northern Illinois graded out at 90.9, the highest grade of the weekend across all four games.

While other Texans offensive linemen such as left tackle Laremy Tunsil, right guard Zach Fulton, and center Nick Martin made the top-5, it is especially impressive that Scharping topped the list. It demonstrates that the Texans got a quality pick in the second round, and one that still has a high enough ceiling to help lower Deshaun Watson’s sack numbers going forward.

How is Bill O’Brien still the Texans coach after the 51-31 collapse to the Chiefs?

Houston Texans coach Bill O’Brien oversaw a colossal playoff collapse to the Kansas City Chiefs, one that most NFL coaches don’t survive.

The Houston Texans’ 51-31 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs is going to echo throughout the offseason much the same way the 30-0 wild-card loss to the AFC West club did in 2016. The worst part was the Texans had a 24-0 lead on the Chiefs, and not only did they squander victory, but they ended up with a 20-point loss.

Doug Farrar at Touchdown Wire writes that most coaches don’t survive that type of playoff meltdown.

Houston’s implosion turned out to be a tie for the fourth-biggest unraveling in NFL postseason history, behind the Houston Oilers blowing a 32-point lead to the Buffalo Bills in the wild-card round in 1993, and the Chiefs blowing a 28-point lead to the Indianapolis Colts in the wild-card round in 2014. So yes, Andy Reid has been on both sides of this. And of course, there was the Falcons blowing a 28-3 lead to the Patriots in Super Bowl LI. The 2002 New York Giants also lost a 24-point lead in the playoffs — in their case, it led to a 39-38 wild-card loss to the San Francisco 49ers.

Now, it’s up to O’Brien to recover from it, which isn’t always easy — or possible. The Oilers’ loss to the Bills led to the firing of defensive coordinator Jim Eddy, who was replaced by all-time defensive genius Buddy Ryan. The problem was, Ryan was also an all-time underminer, and that became apparent quickly as he divided his defense against the offense and even got in a sideline fight with offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride. By 1997, the roster was decimated, and the Oilers were in Tennessee.

There’s no chance of the Texans relocating, but the closing of a window is still possible. What Farrar doesn’t add is that the Oilers did manage to reach the postseason after bringing in Ryan, securing a first-round bye in the 1993 AFC divisional. However, the Chiefs upset them in the Astrodome. The Oilers started 1-9 in 1994, fired coach Jack Pardee, and promoted Jeff Fisher as interim coach. Then, they were out of town by 1997.

Nonetheless, playoff losses the likes of which the Texans sustained on Sunday generally get the coach swept out. If they don’t, then a ceiling has been established in potential.

Bill O’Brien says Texans want to work hard get past let down to the Chiefs

Houston Texans coach Bill O’Brien says the club wants to work hard to get past the AFC divisional playoff let down to the Kansas City Chiefs.

The Houston Texans blew a 24-0 early second quarter lead in the AFC divisional at Arrowhead Stadium to end up vanquished by the Kansas City Chiefs 51-31.

Coach Bill O’Brien says that the club is going to work harder to put the loss behind them and move forward.

“Yesterday was not good, and we understand that, and we want to really work hard to try to improve that and get beyond that,” O’Brien told reporters Monday. “That’s what today is. It starts that process today, really just kind of seeing where the players are at, talking to them, reviewing the season a little bit as much as we can today. Exit physicals, things like that, see where they are health-wise, and then move forward.”

Overall, O’Brien is clinging to the recent success with quarterback Deshaun Watson as a shining light for the future.

“We feel like over the last couple of years here, we’ve done some good things,” said O’Brien. “We’ve won four division titles. We’ve won 20-plus games in the last two years. We won a playoff game this year. We’ve got a great young quarterback. We got a lot of good, young, core players.”

Up next for the Texans’ coaches and scouting department is the Senior Bowl on Jan. 25 when they will get to evaluate most of the upcoming talent for the NFL draft. Up next for select Texans players is the Pro Bowl in Orlando, Fla., on Jan. 26 at Camping World Stadium.

[vertical-gallery id=44281]