Kansas City #Chiefs defensive end Felix Anudike-Uzomah breaks down his sack on Christmas Day: ‘Snatch him down’ | @EdEastonJr
The Week 18 matchup for the Kansas City Chiefs against the Denver Broncos will be a signature moment for young players who haven’t had many opportunities on the field. One of the many young Chiefs players likely to see more playing time on Sunday will be second-year defensive lineman Felix Anudike-Uzomah.
Anudike-Uzomah spoke with reporters on Wednesday about the recent grueling three games in eleven days schedule.
“Our coaches always remind us to take care of our bodies just to make sure that we are in top shape to play those three games,” said Anudike-Uzomah. “So basically, we had to just focus on what we can control the whole time and pull through.”
In Kansas City’s fifth team sack on the day, Anudike-Uzomah dropped Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Russell Wilson in the backfield for a loss of five yards. He has three sacks in his two-year career and has logged 2.5 this season, including a takedown of Broncos quarterback Bo Nix.
“What I did was a play-action pass. I tried to power, snatch him down, and burn the edge,” said Anudike-Uzomah, describing his sack. “And then I came up with the sack.”
The former first-round selection has shown flashes on the crowded defensive line, and Sunday’s game could be a standout performance for the coaching staff to evaluate.
That includes responding in the wild-card round when they host a playoff game against the top-ranked wild-card roster.
Looking back at a 31-2 loss to the Baltimore Ravens won’t do anyone good. Neither is looking back on the previous four losses in six games after starting the year off 6-3.
Houston might have a 9-7 record, but it’s a division winner. That’s all that matters entering the regular season finale.
Earlier this week, DeMeco Ryans said that Lamar Jackson should be the MVP.
“The records really don’t concern me,” Texans coach DeMeco Ryans said Wednesday. “I never go into a game thinking about a team’s record, whether it’s a winning or losing record. Every week it’ll be about how you show up to the game and how you play within those three and a half hours.”
The previous three hours of play will be one Houston hopes to forget. After trailing by 10, the Texans forced a safety on All-Pro running back Derrick Henry. The offense drove once more and landed inside Baltimore’s 5 with a chance to tie the game.
But back-to-back underwhelming play calls led to a turnover on downs at the 1-yard line. Three plays later, Lamar Jackson found Mark Andrews for a 67-yard gain.
Two plays after that, the MVP candidate connected with Isaiah Likely for a 9-yard score and extended the lead to 15.
Ryans, who has Houston in the playoffs, said that regardless of records, it’s about the team that afternoon.
“It just matters are you the best team within that time frame,” Ryans said. “The records really don’t matter and definitely doesn’t matter when you go into the playoffs. Just all about looking internally and playing your best.”
Houston hopes to be the better team next Sunday at Nissan Stadium against the three-win Titans. The plan is for it to carry over into the second week of January.
Cory Trice Jr. made his mark on the Steelers’ defense in Week 17, proving his potential after overcoming a challenging rookie setback.
On a Pittsburgh Steelers defense that has struggled mightily over the past two weeks, one defender has stood out—CB Cory Trice Jr.
The second-year corner—drafted out of Purdue University with the 243rd pick in the seventh round of the 2023 NFL Draft—saw his draft stock plummet after teams were worried about his injury history.
To make matters worse, before Trice could prove to the NFL that teams made a mistake letting him fall to the Pittsburgh Steelers in the seventh round, he tore his ACL during training camp in 2023, ending his rookie season before it even began.
An injury that forced starting CB Joey Porter Jr. to miss Week 17’s contest against the Kansas City Chiefs put a tremendous amount of pressure on Trice, and the young CB delivered.
PFF paid respect to Trice’s elite play—which saw the CB allow only two receptions for 12 yards—with an impressive grade of 90.1, the second highest among all Steelers defenders in Week 17.
Trice could provide the Steelers with an affordable option at corner if the team moves on from CB Donte Jackson in the 2025 offseason.
Outrage follows Mike Tomlin’s controversial Week 17 decisions against the Chiefs, showcasing passionate fan reactions.
Fans are outraged over the idea that Mike Tomlin gave up on the Steelers during the Week 17 contest against the Chiefs.
The Pittsburgh Steelers—like usual—started off extremely slow and gave the Patrick Mahomes-led Chiefs offense a 13-0 lead. Fans have often criticized Tomlin’s leadership for these slow starts to games, but his ability to rally the team in the second half has typically silenced the doubters.
However, Tomlin showcased a far different side of himself in the fourth quarter of the Week 17 contest: his urgency to throw in the towel.
With less than six minutes remaining—and down 19 points with all three timeouts—the Steelers could have scored a touchdown, forced a punt, scored another touchdown, and then used their last three timeouts to get the ball back with a little under two minutes remaining.
However, Tomlin signaled a white flag when he decided to punt the ball away on a potentially huge 4th-and-2.
Fans are understandably angered over Tomlin’s Week 17 decisions, and the Steelers head coach deserves all the criticism he is receiving. With that in mind, here are the most passionate fan reactions to Tomlin’s Week 17 coaching.
I STRONGLY believe the Pittsburgh Steelers SHOULD HAVE FIRED Mike Tomlin years ago.
MIKE TOMLIN IS A COWARD. How many times did we see him punt on a 4th and 4 or 4th and 3 situation down by 2 scores. Then blames the team’s effort and never himself. Not to mention relying on HIS defense that fails! Always preaching not living in his fears but LIVES IN HIS FEARS.
That’s it. I’m done defending Mike Tomlin. I’ve defended the guy for years saying “he gets wins,” “look at his record,” and “the players like him.” Well, I’m done. You’re down 19 points with 5 minutes left and you need 2 yards to get a first down and you punt it. Coward move.
Can’t believe I just witnessed the team quit in the 4th quarter and put up no fight. Since the Steelers are in the giving spirit, they should refund every fan who went to the game their money. Mike Tomlin is a very good coach who has overstayed his welcome. #Steelers#NFL
The Houston Texans fell short of securing a 10-win season on Christmas Day against the Baltimore Ravens. Here’s the snap count.
One could argue that the Houston Texans at least made games close.
Not every outing ended in victory, but at least they were four-quarter battles.
Outside of kickoff and the handshakes, that wasn’t the case for Wednesday’s showdown at NRG Stadium.
Behind an MVP-worthy performance from Lamar Jackson, the Baltimore Ravens dominated the Texans 31-2 while shoring up their chances of securing the AFC North division title for a second straight season.
Without question, Wednesday’s lulls marked the worst loss of the DeMeco Ryans era. It also marked perhaps the worst game C.J. Stroud played since his time at Ohio State in 2021.
“We didn’t play our best ball, and all of that starts with me. A lack of execution,” Ryans said. “I’ll take the next couple of days here to look at everything — including myself.”
The Texans’ only points came off a safety in the second quarter. Rookie cornerback Kamari Lassiter dove for All-Pro running back Derrick Henry’s legs pinned at the 3-yard line to stuff him in the end zone.
Houston (9-7) came close to the end zone once more on the ensuing drive before getting stuffed on third down. With a touchdown, the Texans could have tied the game at 10-10, so the odds were in DeMeco Ryans’ favor.
The execution was not. Joe Mixon was stuffed at the 1-yard line and Baltimore wasted little time responding. A 67-yard pass to Mark Andrews set the Ravens up at Houston’s 13.
That eventually carried over to a 9-yard score and a 17-2 lead.
December 26 is the toughest day of the year in the U.S. Not so much in the United Kingdom, though.
The most miserable day of the year has to be the day after Christmas.
You spend the previous 48 hours having a blast with your family. You’re wrapping and exchanging gifts, eating food, watching sports and just generally having a grand old time.
Then, all of a sudden, the day is over and, for many folks, it’s back to reality. The Christmas music stops. The movie marathons are suddenly over. You’re somehow back at work.
That’s how it usually works in the United States, anyway. For many other places, though, the party is still going.
It’s Boxing Day, folks.
This is the December 26th holiday most commonly celebrated by folks in the United Kingdom and commonwealth nations. Here’s everything you need to know about it.
Wait, what’s Boxing Day?
(Photo by Paul ELLIS / AFP)
Boxing Day is a holiday celebrated on December 26th in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth nations.
It’s a continuation of the Christmas holiday. It serves as another celebration and gift-giving moment at the year’s end. There are Boxing Day sales and shopping deals for people to participate in. It’s also a huge sports day featuring soccer, cricket, rugby, horse racing and more.
Wait, it includes all those sports but not actual boxing?
No! Let’s get this out of the way now: The holiday has nothing to do with boxing. Nothing at all.
We do know that it started in the United Kingdom, but that’s only the where. As far as how or why the holiday started, there are a two big theories.
According to Britannica, Boxing Day is a holiday that started through the church. Churches collected donations from parishioners throughout the year and gave boxes of those donations to the poor on the day after Christmas.
There’s another origin story, however, that doesn’t seem quite as sweet. According to History.com, the holiday started as a day off for servants of royalty and aristocrats in the United Kingdom. They had to work for the rich on Christmas Day so they were given the day off on the following day of December 26. Along with that day off came boxes of leftovers and gifts from the day before that they could give to their families to celebrate the holiday season.
Regardless of the origin, the holiday stuck. And it’s still celebrated in the United Kingdom as well as places like Canada, Australia and more.
Why isn’t Boxing Day celebrated in the U.S.
The more interesting explanation is that the holiday was never adopted and celebrated in the United States. It didn’t become an official holiday until 1871, over a century after the U.S. gained independence from the British.
The simple one is that your boss is just ready for you to come back to work.
Either way, Boxing Day isn’t an official holiday in the United States. Some do celebrate it on their own time and there are certainly some post-Christmas sales to take advantage of. But you likely won’t find any blowout Boxing Day events or traditions here.
Good morning, Winners! Welcome back to the Morning Win. Thanks so much for rocking with us today. We appreciate you.
LeBron James doesn’t usually give us any interesting tidbits in postgame interviews. But he had something to say on Christmas that I’m sure caught the ears of executives across the sports world.
“I love the NFL, but Christmas is our day,” he confidently told cameras after pulling out a clutch win against the Warriors.
That ain’t just trash talk, folks. LeBron was sending a message there. And I’m sure the league offices hear it loud and clear.
The Christmas Day sports calendar has been a battleground over these last few years. The NFL has gone out of its way to ensure it has some Christmas Day programming through the years despite it traditionally being the NBA’s tentpole day.
This year, the NFL went all out. It featured its game on Netflix. It got Beyoncé to do an (ABSOLUTELY WONDERFUL) halftime show. It brought marquee matchups to the table, headlined by the Chiefs and the Ravens in separate games to buoy each matchup.
Considering all that, the conversation around the 2024 Christmas Day battle between these two leagues has been relatively one-sided.
Most people were opting to watch the NFL because, well, of course, they were. It’s the NFL! We’ve been conditioned to believe that whenever a football game is on, we must watch it. No matter what sort of football game it is.
That will likely be reflected in people’s inevitable ratings conversation about Christmas Day. Netflix’s streaming numbers are probably going to be bonkers.
But, guys, let’s be honest about this. The football sucked.
Speaking of whoopins, Ravens-Texans wasn’t competitive at all. The only thing I was concerned with by the end of the game was if the 31-2 score was an NFL Scorigami (which it sadly wasn’t).
In a bit of a twist, the NBA had the more compelling action on Wednesday.
Everyone (including myself) complained about how the NBA’s Christmas slate catered too deeply to big names and big markets. Four of the six top seeds in the league weren’t playing on the league’s biggest day.
Today, it’s all clear we need to shut up. Because whoever put that schedule together absolutely did their job.
Competitive matchups were littered throughout the NBA’s Christmas Day slate. We got dueling 40-point performances in Madison Square Garden between Victor Wembanyama and Mikal Bridges. We got another Steph vs. Bron classic. We got the 76ers pulling a tough one out against Jayson Tatum and the Celtics. We got a defining Anthony Edwards Christmas Day performance we’ll be talking about for years to come.
It was perfect and far more interesting than what was happening in its rival league on the same day. The only question is whether people were actually tuning in. Good money says probably not—even if folks wanted to tune out of the NFL’s action, Beyoncé’s presence at halftime was probably more than enough to keep them hooked.
But no matter what picture the streaming numbers paint or what any analyst wants to tell you, the NBA just put out a far more compelling Christmas Day product than the NFL did.
Next time someone wants to tell you that the NBA’s Christmas Day run is over or that the league is broken, remind them of that.
Lamar Jackson, the GOAT
Mandatory Credit: Joseph Maiorana-Imagn Images
There was one good thing to come out of the subpar Wednesday football we got on Christmas. Lamar Jackson cemented his status as the best rushing QB ever.
Just a GOAT giving props to a GOAT. Love to see it.
The Jimmy Butler did it
Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe-Imagn Images
Sort of lost in the Christmas Day mayhem was the fact that Jimmy Butler has reportedly requested a trade from the Heat, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania.
Not only that, but there are also apparently destinations attached to this request. Butler is reportedly interested in being dealt to the Warriors, the Suns, the Rockets or the Mavericks.
With that in mind, though, Charania reports that the Heat have not shown any urgency in getting this done. If it doesn’t happen, will we get another Timberwolves explosion from Butler? Probably not.
It won’t be easy to trade for Butler, considering how close the Heat are to the NBA’s second tax apron and how expensive his contract is. But this is an interesting wrinkle for the NBA season, and it certainly could drastically alter the playoff picture.
Buckle in, people. We’re in for a wild ride.
Quick hits: Beyoncé did that … The weird Disney Alt-Cast … and more
Kansas City #Chiefs head coach Andy Reid explains his Santa Claus postgame speech: ‘For all you nonbelievers’ | @EdEastonJr
Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid is serious about his game plans and the team’s execution throughout the season. However, he knows how to cut loose and celebrate with the players, especially after a significant victory, such as Christmas Day over the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Reid donned a Santa Claus outfit in the locker room after the Week 17 victory, much to the delight of the players and owner Clark Hunt.
“Merry Christmas,” Reid said. I’m proud of you, dudes. Proud of you, for the present, you get home-field advantage.”
The long-time head coach was in great spirits as he spoke with reporters at the podium during his postgame press conference.
“So we appreciate that great to have Christmas, and Merry Christmas to all our fans and part of the organization that couldn’t be here,” said Reid. “So, it’s a good way to celebrate it right here in Pittsburgh.”
It’s not the first time the league’s oldest head coach has taken on the role of Santa as he was asked the essential question regarding his outfit and who packed it for him before the trip.
“I didn’t pack it some. One of my elves did,” said Reid. “I can’t transition on that to you, though I can’t tell you the secrets, but there was an elf involved. For all you nonbelievers out there.”
The Chiefs have clinched the top seed in the AFC and are officially set to have a first-round bye in the postseason. Reid’s next act will be figuring out his lineup for the regular season finale next week against the Denver Broncos without any stakes.
Kansas City #Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes comments on his availability for Week 18: ‘I’ll prepare regardless’ | @EdEastonJr
The Kansas City Chiefs’ victory on Christmas Day clinched the top seed in the AFC and bye week in the postseason, leaving no standings incentive for Week 18. Patrick Mahomes spoke with reporters after Wednesday’s game, looking ahead to next week’s regular-season finale and rest time before the postseason.
“It’s just gonna be nice getting guys healthy. I think this was the earliest bye (week) I’ve ever had, just in general, so to have this grind of whatever it is, we had a bye like week six. So it’s almost 10 weeks of just football and grinding in this short schedule at the very end of the year.” said Mahomes. “We got some guys banged up and to get them back healthy now, and we’ll see how week 18 goes, and who plays and who doesn’t play. That’s up to Coach (Reid). But even getting this little break, getting back healthy, and then getting ourselves ready for the playoffs was super important, especially with the guys we have banged up.”
Mahomes has dealt with multiple ankle injuries throughout the season and is still willing to play against the Denver Broncos in Week 18 but leaves that decision up to head coach Andy Reid.
“That’s completely up to Coach. I mean, I’ll prepare regardless either way,” said Mahomes. “I mean, Denver (Broncos) is probably going to be a playoff team regardless, so I’m going to prepare for them like I’m going to start, and if Coach wants me to go out there and play, I’ll go out there and play. If he doesn’t, I’ll sit back. I have full trust that coach (Andy) Reid knows what he’s doing, and he’s done it for a long time.”
Mahomes has finished the season playing his best football and could potentially not play again until the divisional round. Reid will likely decide to sit several veterans, as preservation will be key before starting the postseason journey.
The Houston Texans know where they’ll sit in the AFC postseason picture heading into Week 18.
The Houston Texans won’t be playing for anything more than a second 10-win season under DeMeco Ryans and a 5-1 record in the AFC South next Sunday against the Tennessee Titans.
They’re hosting a playoff game once and nothing else.
Following a 31-2 loss on Christmas Day against the Baltimore Ravens, the Texans (9-7) are locked into the No. 4 seed for the AFC postseason. Even if they finished 10-7, their record wouldn’t surpass either team in the AFC North to catapult up to the No. 3 seed.
It’s not like the Texans didn’t have chances to prove their value as a top-three seed in the conference. They led four times against teams in the middle of the season entering halftime, only to lose over the final 30 minutes.
Now, the Texans will be the lowest seed among division winners regardless of the rematch at Nissan Stadium next week.
Who will stand on the opposing side? Early odds expect it to be the Pittsburgh Steelers. Baltimore would have the better strength of schedule, so a tie would lean in favor of the reigning AFC North champions.
The Los Angeles Chargers, who could clinch a playoff berth with a win in Week 17, can’t jump either the Steelers or Ravens because of head-to-head losses earlier in the season.
The Denver Broncos, who also need a win to make the postseason, can’t jump Los Angeles since they lost both divisional matchups.
It’s simple: the Texans are pulling for a date with Russell Wilson and a pesky Steelers offense they beat in the preseason over a rematch with Baltimore.
