Three Kansas City Chiefs are among the top Pro Bowl vote-getters for their respective position groups.
The Kansas City Chiefs have three players leading the way in the early 2020 Pro Bowl voting, according to an NFL press release.
This one might surprise Chiefs Kingdom a bit, but star quarterback Patrick Mahomes is second among AFC quarterbacks. He’s trailing Baltimore Ravens QB Lamar Jackson, who leads all players in the balloting with over 145,000 votes. Mahomes has the second-most votes of any player, with 116,325 votes as of Nov. 20. If Mahomes is selected to the Pro Bowl, it would be his second selection in as many years as he’s been the starting QB in Kansas City.
After Mahomes, the Chiefs have two players leading their respective position groups. Tight end Travis Kelce is ahead at his position with 77,148 votes. If Kelce earns the honor, it would be his fifth consecutive selection to the Pro Bowl dating back to the 2015 season.
Finally, Kansas City could actually have a rookie make the Pro Bowl during his first year. Chiefs wide receiver Mecole Hardman leads all players in the return specialist category (18,606 votes). I think Hardman’s performance has been worthy of going in at the wide receiver position, but if he has to sneak in as a return specialist you won’t find many fans complaining. I can recall another receiver on the Kansas City roster making the Pro Bowl early in his career as a return specialist. He turned out to be a great receiver, so things should end up all right for Hardman.
Fan voting for the 2020 Pro Bowl continues through Dec. 12 at NFL.com/ProBowlVote. During the final two weeks of Pro Bowl voting (Nov. 28 through Dec. 12), you’ll also be able to vote on Twitter using the hashtag “#ProBowlVote” plus players’ official Twitter handles or first names and last names.
With Russell Wilson at the helm, the Seattle Seahawks rank second-best in Touchdown Wire’s future quarterback rankings.
The Seattle Seahawks have one of the best quarterbacks in the league right now in Russell Wilson, but how will they fare in the near future?
Touchdown Wire took a look at the quarterback situations for all 32 NFL teams to produce rankings of all of the teams’ outlooks. To determine the results, a “blue-ribbon panel” of one former head coach, two former general managers and one current general manager were consulted on their opinions.
Writes Pat Yasinskas:
Russell Wilson might be playing better than any other quarterback in the league right now. And it might be the same case in 2023, the last year of his current contract. He’ll turn 35 that year, but still could be playing in his prime. Wilson is having an MVP-type season this year. His backup is Geno Smith at the moment, but Smith is only under contract for this year. It doesn’t matter all that much, because Wilson has been durable.
With Wilson at the helm, Touchdown Wire determined the Seahawks ranked second-best in the league. Only the Chiefs and Patrick Mahomes were higher.
Yasinskas continues:
One of our panelists called Wilson a transcendent talent, (“He showed you don’t have to be 6-foot-4 to play quarterback in the NFL, and that’s opened the doors for guys like Kyler Murray.”) The Seahawks aren’t going to let Wilson go anywhere. Barring injury, he’ll sign at least one more contract extension in Seattle.
Touchdown Wire ranks the 32 NFL teams in terms of stability and potential at the game’s most important position over the next 3-4 seasons.
Tom Brady might be the best quarterback ever, but he’s not the best in the NFL right now. He certainly won’t be the best in 2022.
He’s human, after all, and at age 42, regression is inevitable even for someone with six Super Bowl rings. That puts the New England Patriots in an uncertain situation at quarterback two or three years down the road. The New Orleans Saints, with 40-year-old Drew Brees under center, find themselves in a similar scenario.
Other teams, such as the Chicago Bears and Carolina Panthers, likely will face difficult personnel decisions at the quarterback position much sooner than that. Only a handful of teams, notably the Kansas City Chiefs and Seattle Seahawks, appear secure in their quarterback situation for years to come.
All this got us thinking about the quarterback situations of the future — and where each of the NFL’s 32 teams ranks in terms of preparedness at the game’s most crucial position.
By quarterback situations, we mean the full overview of each team’s quarterbacks group, including backups and a potential succession plan, if necessary. For this exercise, we will define the future as three to four years down the road.
To help form these opinions, we consulted with a blue-ribbon panel of one former head coach, two former general managers and one current general manager. They were asked for their thoughts on each team’s quarterback situation. They provided insight to inform our rankings.
With that in mind, we present Touchdown Wire’s future quarterback rankings for every NFL team, from worst to first:
32. Miami Dolphins
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Earlier this season, many observers accused the Dolphins of tanking to earn the No. 1 pick in the 2020 NFL Draft and presumably select a quarterback. Since then, Miami (2-8) has been eclipsed by the ineptitude of Cincinnati (0-10) and Washington (1-9), so the Dolphins might not get the first QB off the board. Currently, the Dolphins have Ryan Fitzpatrick and Josh Rosen on their roster. Rosen has failed in his playing time. There’s no way he’ll be back next year. The Dolphins have the option to hang onto Fitzpatrick, 36, who’s currently under contract next season at $5.5 million. It makes sense to keep Fitzpatrick around for one more year to help groom a young quarterback. That could be LSU’s Joe Burrow, Alabama’s Tua Tagavailoa (although his recent hip injury now complicates his draft status), Oregon’s Justin Herbert or Oklahoma’s Jalen Hurts. Two members of my panel said they like Burrow better than Tagovailoa. Either way, it’s going to take some time to develop a young quarterback.
31. Chicago Bears
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For the moment, Mitchell Trubisky is Chicago’s starting quarterback. But it doesn’t appear that he will be in that role next year — although he remains under contract and the team holds a fifth-year option on the No. 2 overall pick from 2017. Given his level of play this season, it’s highly unlikely he will receive the option year, and he might not even see 2020 with the Bears — although the cap hit for cutting him would be slightly more than $9 million. The Bears are 4-6 after going 12-4 last year. There’s one main reason for the decline. That’s Trubisky. My panelists say he’s holding the offense back and could end up keeping a good team out of the playoffs. All four panelists agree Trubisky should be nothing more than a backup. Current backup Chase Daniel’s contract expires after this season. So there’s no telling who will be Chicago’s quarterback next year. Maybe the Bears will draft a quarterback. But with a talented roster already in place, the Bears should be first in line to sign New Orleans backup Teddy Bridgewater as a free agent.
30. Cincinnati Bengals
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Veteran Andy Dalton has been benched, and the Bengals are giving rookie fourth-rounder Ryan Finley a shot. There should be no turning back to Dalton, even though he remains under contract for 2020 with a $17.5 million scheduled salary. The Bengals can cut Dalton after the season without any salary cap ramifications. It’s too early to judge Finley. Cincinnati is going to end up with an early draft pick and could have a shot at Joe Burrow, Tua Tagovailoa, Justin Herbert or Jalen Hurts. The Bengals will be starting over. But, given their current state, that’s not a bad thing. “Dalton had more than enough time and couldn’t win consistently,” one panelist said. “I have no idea what they have in Finley. But they have to draft a quarterback if they’re sitting there at No. 1 or 2.”
29. Washington Redskins
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The current situation is a mess. Veterans Colt McCoy and Case Keenum, who clearly aren’t the answer, each is in the last year of their contract. The Redskins have little choice but to play rookie Dwayne Haskins, who has five interceptions and two touchdown passes, the rest of this season. Call it an audition for Haskins. But this situation is complicated because the Redskins currently have interim coach Bill Callahan, who took over when Jay Gruden was fired. There will be a new coach next year, and he might not like Haskins. With an early draft pick likely, the new coach might want his own guy. Give up on Haskins after only one season? Arizona did it with 2018 first-round pick Josh Rosen after drafting Kyler Murray. All four of our panelists said Haskins was overrated when he was drafted.
The Chargers defense forced Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes to one of the worst performances of his career.
The Chargers knew that they would have their hands full facing a Chiefs team, who has one of the best offenses in the league.
Even without safeties Derwin James and Adrian Phillips, who were both key components to the success when the two teams met last season, the defense did what most teams haven’t been able to do.
The unit held quarterback Patrick Mahomes to 182 passing yards, which was his lowest in a full game so far in his career. Mahomes had a 72.7 passer rating, which was his second-lowest mark.
Mahomes was nearly a non-factor in the first half of the game, as he was held to less than 100 total yards.
Kansas City lost wide receiver Tyreek Hill early on to a hamstring injury, and he finished with no catches and zero yards. Running backs Damien Williams and LeSean McCoy were also banged up throughout the course of the game.
But they still limited the other handful of playmakers the Chiefs possess.
It all started up front with defensive ends Joey Bosa and Melvin Ingram. The two both did an excellent job against a stout offensive line by generating pressure, making Mahomes feel uncomfortable.
Ingram came in clutch in the fourth-quarter by stopping the Chiefs on three consecutive third-down plays, which all resulted in punts.
Defensive tackles Damion Square and Justin Jones, who returned from an injury, were solid against the run, recording a handful of stops at or behind the line of scrimmage.
The line’s efforts benefited the rest of the members on the defensive side of the ball as Mahomes, who was under constant duress, didn’t have much time to push the ball downfield and was forced to throw nearly everything underneath.
When Mahomes did try to go deep on one play, he was picked off by free safety Rayshawn Jenkins, who jumped in front of a ball on a pass intended to wide receiver Demarcus Robinson and came up with an interception.
Outside of a few crucial missed tackles and blow coverages, including tight end Travis Kelce’s touchdown in the third-quarter, the linebackers and cornerbacks stayed true to their assignments and kept everything in front of them.
Thomas Davis has really come into his own as a run stopper, leading the way with the team-high 12 tackles and Casey Hayward continues to show he’s one of the best corners in the league by not giving up a single reception.
The defense did what they needed to, but unfortunately, quarterback Philip Rivers and company were unable to pick them up in a must-win game on Monday night.
Kansas City Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes was hit directly on his knee for the first time since injuring it.
In Kansas City Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes’ second game back from a kneecap dislocation injury, nothing came easy.
Mahomes put up his lowest career single-game passing yardage as a professional but also set a new career-high for rushing yards in a single game. Following the game, one of the big questions is whether Mahomes’ health had an impact on the lack of offensive success. Andy Reid didn’t seem to think that his recent injuries were hampering him in any way.
“Yeah, listen, he’s been, I think he’s feeling better, physically feeling better,” Reid said of Mahomes. “He’s been kind of battling through the injury and I think starting kind of mid-week, I mean, he was going, ‘Man, I’m feeling better here,’ and I think that sure paid off.”
Mahomes said earlier in the week that it was the healthiest he’d felt since Week 1. Reid felt he started to really hit his stride by the middle of this practice week. Unfortunately, that didn’t exactly carry over into the game for the offense.
During the game, however, there was some concern that Mahomes might have tweaked his knee during one of his five carries. Luckily for the Chiefs and Mahomes, that didn’t happen.
“No, I didn’t tweak my knee,” Mahomes said. “I got hit in my knee for the first time. And so I think it was kind of out of, I was, like, kind of sitting there, like, ‘Man, that’s the first time I’ve taken a shot there.’ So I kind of just felt it and it felt fine and I got back up and kept going.”
Mahomes is still learning to trust his knee in his return from a fluky injury. Getting hit on his knee for the first time was a little jarring for Mahomes and it took him a second to get his bearings. He had to make sure that the knee was alright before getting up and moving on to the next play.
This won’t be the last time that he gets hit in that knee, but hopefully, he now has some newfound confidence in its ability to handle the rigors of playing through a physical game. It was one that required him to pick up some yards on the ground and there could be more of those down the line for Kansas City.
Chargers Wire’s Gavino Borquez gives his thoughts from the Chargers’ 24-17 loss to the Chiefs in Week 11.
In a must-win game to keep their playoff hopes alive, Philip Rivers threw four interceptions, including one in the end zone on the final drive, and the Chargers couldn’t come out on top against the Chiefs in Mexico City.
Here is our instant analysis from Los Angeles’ 24-17 loss to Kansas City:
Injury Update
There were no injuries tonight.
Play of the Game: Mike Williams’ monstrous catch
In need of keeping their final drive alive, Williams came up clutch with an acrobatic catch that went for 50 yards on third-and-15.
7: Quarterback Philip Rivers has thrown seven interceptions in his last two games, the most in any two-game span in his career.
Quick Takes
Tonight’s loss fell on Rivers’ shoulders. He had two opportunities to tie the game in the fourth quarter, but they both ended up being interceptions. Poor decision-making and regression in arm talent continue to be evident.
Running backs Melvin Gordon and Austin Ekeler gave the offense life in the first half, but they were nonfactors in the second half, combining for only 23 yards from scrimmage after totaling 199 yards in the first half.
They weren’t perfect, but the offensive line performed better than their dreadful Week 10 outing. They only allowed two sacks on the night against a deadly Chiefs pass rush.
Rivers’ weapons did him a lot of favors with some of their eye-popping catches tonight. Wide receiver Keenan Allen had a bounce-back game, including reeling in his first touchdown pass for the first time since Week 3.
After a dominant first half, the defense came out in the second half looking like a completely different unit. Soft coverage and missed tackles in open space were the killer that allowed quarterback Patrick Mahomes to guide his team to a comfortable lead.
Defensive end Melvin Ingram had a phenomenal performance, coming up in a big way on three consecutive third downs to force the Chiefs to punt. Whether it was generating pressure or batting balls at the line of scrimmage, Ingram made great plays.
As a whole, the defense didn’t allow Mahomes to produce that many explosive plays. The absence of wide receiver Tyreek Hill was clear, but the secondary did a nice job keeping everything in front of them for the most part, aside from a couple plays, including tight end Travis Kelce’s touchdown.
Up Next
The Chargers have their bye in Week 12. Their next game will be against the Broncos at Empower Field on Dec. 1 at 1:25 p.m. PT.
Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs are battling Philip Rivers and the Los Angeles Chargers tonight in the legendary Estadio Azteca in Mexico City.
The stadium sits 7,500 feet above sea level so footballs are going to sail in the air, which Mahomes showed during warmups. The reigning NFL MVP, who’s trying to lead the Chiefs to a bounce-back win, launched a pass 70 yards in the air like it was absolutely nothing.
We all know Mahomes is a ridiculous talent, but this is still really darn impressive because the QB just flung it out there and also hit his target, who was standing down field.
Chargers Wire’s Gavino Borquez delivers the reasons to be optimistic and concerned about the Chargers’ Week 11 matchup against the Chiefs.
The Los Angeles Chargers are hosting the Kansas City Chiefs, but they will both be on the road in Week 11 for a primetime bout at Estadio Azteca on Monday night.
The Bolts are currently listed as underdogs, and there’s a reason for that. But while all signs are in the Chiefs’ favor, the NFL is always unpredictable and anything can happen. With that, there’s plenty of reasons for concern facing a tough Kansas City team, but there are reasons for optimism, too.
So, what should fans of the Chargers be optimistic and concerned about going into the Monday night matchup?
Reason for optimism
Chiefs defense isn’t really anything to boast about
Kansas City wins the majority of their games with their lethal offense. But on the other side of the ball, there isn’t that much about their defense that gives any reason to be worried about.
Entering Week 11, they’re allowing 369.5 yards per game, 5.6 yards per play, 148.1 rushing yards per game and 5.1 yards per carry, all of which ranks near the bottom in the NFL.
All of this is the recipe for running backs Melvin Gordon and Austin Ekeler having huge performances. As for quarterback Philip Rivers, I expect him to bounce back against a secondary that has no interceptions and has allowed eight touchdown passes since Week 7.
How do the Kansas City Chiefs come away with a win against the Los Angeles in Week 11?
Monday night will be the biggest divisional game for the Chiefs in a long time.
This season has been bumpier than expected for Kansas City, but there is still plenty to be optimistic about. The Chiefs will play in Mexico City with all five starting offensive linemen for the first time since Week 2, and quarterback Patrick Mahomes is healthy again. The Chiefs defense, though still with issues, is an improved unit from 2018.
The 4-6 Los Angeles Chargers are fighting for their playoff lives. They have talent across the board, but injuries have ravaged their season like so many times before. Quarterback Philip Rivers also appears to be on his last legs and it is becoming more difficult for him to shoulder the load.
Here are the keys to a Chiefs victory before they head into their bye week:
Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Improve red zone efficiency
The Chiefs’ offense is still an elite unit (No. 3 in the NFL), but the one area it is struggling in is scoring touchdowns in the red zone. Last season, the Chiefs scored red zone TDs 73 percent of the time, second-best in the NFL. This season they rank 26th, scoring TDs on just 47 percent of their trips to the red zone.
The Chiefs are settling for too many field goals, which is keeping their opponents in the game. With six games still to go, kicker Harrison Butker has already matched his number of field goal attempts from last season.
With Mahomes at QB and one of the best skill position groups in the NFL, there’s no reason for K.C. to be struggling to score TDs. The offensive line returning to full health might help.
