Chiefs headlines for Saturday, September 7.
The latest
The Chiefs don’t dominate the NFL. They dissect it. | Washington Post
A year ago, the Kansas City Chiefs were 9-6 on Christmas Day, and six weeks later, they outlasted the San Francisco 49ers in overtime of Super Bowl LVIII to become the ninth back-to-back champion in league history. They don’t dominate the NFL as much as they dissect it. Every minute detail carries meaning in the parity-based sport, and the best understand that greatness is deftly accumulated. Their small margins add up to an epochal run. All the while, teams that could challenge them can’t do math at their level.
2024-25 Kansas City Chiefs Odds: Odds to win Super Bowl, NFL Playoffs, Division | Fox Sports
Currently the Kansas City Chiefs have the best odds in the league to win the Super Bowl, listed at +450.
In their last outing on Sept. 5, the Chiefs took home a 27-20 win against the Baltimore Ravens. Patrick Mahomes threw for 291 yards, with one touchdown and one interception on 20-of-28 passing (71.4%). Isiah Pacheco took 15 carries for 45 yards (3.0 yards per carry) and one touchdown, while adding two receptions for 33 yards in the passing game. Rashee Rice had seven receptions for 103 yards (14.7 per catch).
Ravens, Chiefs Already Eyeing Rematch | Si.com
It was an absolutely thrilling start to the new season, as well as potential playoff preview. After the game, players on both teams seem confident about another showdown down the road.
“There’s no excuses whatsoever,” Ravens linebacker Roquan Smith said. “Hats off to those guys. They won the game, but we’ll definitely see them again.”
Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones, a first-team All-Pro in each of the past two seasons, gave credit to the Ravens for their resiliency on the final drive. His team escaped with a win this time, but they now know their margin for error against Baltimore is extremely thin.
Kansas City Chiefs broke NFL rules in season opening win over Baltimore Ravens | Mirror
As the first half was drawing to a close, Jackson and the Ravens were deep in Chiefs’ territory and looking to score a go-ahead touchdown. With nine seconds left until halftime, the Chiefs’ defence seemed disorganised as Jackson prepared to snap the ball. Defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, unhappy with the setup, ran down the sideline to call for a timeout.
This didn’t go unnoticed by former NFL referee Terry McAulay, NBC’s rules expert, who highlighted that only head coach Andy Reid is permitted to call for a timeout from the Chiefs’ sideline
During the game’s tense moments, an exasperated broadcast captured the essence of the controversy when McAulay remarked: “He can’t do that, it has to be the head coach that comes down. The assistant coach, nobody else can call a timeout on the sideline except the head coach.”
Despite this, Chiefs’ defensive coordinator Spagnuolo’s fervent timeout request was mistakenly granted by the officials, even though rules state they should have turned a blind eye. But once a timeout is given, even if by mistake, the game stops, say the regulations.
Why Patrick Mahomes knew Xavier Worthy was right for Chiefs | ESPN
Mahomes liked the speed of this receiver, Xavier Worthy, and sent Veach a fire emoji after news of Worthy’s 40 at the combine.
But he saw a complete player who could do more than run fast.
“Just route running [and] a guy that played physical, too,’’ Mahomes said about what he liked about Worthy. “For him to not weigh a ton, he plays hard, he plays through stuff. He goes out there and competes, and then the speed, obviously it opens up the field, but he’s not just a fast receiver.
“He plays hard, plays fast and you want those types of guys on your football team.’’
Around the NFL
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell joined Good Morning Football on Friday and said staging a game in South America was the next step in making the sport more accessible worldwide.
“We feel like this game is destined to be global,” Goodell said when asked if Africa could be the next continent to host a game. “We expect to be in Asia soon. We expect to be in Australia soon. We’re going to make sure that our game is available around the globe. And I think the ownership has been great on that. They’ve passed a resolution where every team is obligated to play (outside the US). We’re going to have eight (international) games a year, minimum. And if we do get to an 18 and two (preseason) game season, we likely will see even more international games. And I hope someday we’ll be playing 16.”
Packers’ Jordan Love helped off field after apparent leg injury | ESPN
Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love could not finish Friday’s season opener against the Philadelphia Eagles after he suffered an apparent lower left leg injury with 6 seconds left in a 34-29 loss in São Paulo.
Love needed help to get to the sideline, and while he appeared to be moving slightly better as he walked to the locker room after the game, he still needed assistance from head athletic trainer Nate Weir and running back Josh Jacobs under each one of his arms.
Coach Matt LaFleur was twice asked about Love’s status in his postgame news conference and both times said: “I don’t know.”
Jalen Hurts: Field was “definitely challenging” on Friday night | Yahoo Sports
Players from both teams had trouble keeping their feet on the grass at Corinthians Arena in Sao Paolo. Barkley slipped and lost five yards on his first carry as an Eagle and Packers safety Xavier McKinney, Barkley’s former Giants teammate, said “there were some cases where I was slipping” as well. Eagles tight end Dallas Goedert compared the field to the slippery surface in Arizona for Super Bowl LVII and quarterback Jalen Hurts also chimed in on the difficulties.
“I mean, y’all saw out there that it was kind of rough to get traction,” Hurts said, via Tim McManus of ESPN.com. “Definitely challenging on that field. It’s not the type of field we’re used to playing on. We’ve had that type of field before. They had to play on it, as well. I’m just happy that we found a way to figure it out as a team, overcome it.”
In case you missed it on Arrowhead Pride
Chris Jones: Chiefs’ defense showed ‘a lot of grit’ in final drive against Ravens
And that was just what Chris Jones expected.
“We know how hard it’s going to be to bring him down,” he told reporters after Kansas City’s 27-20 win on GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. “So it’s like a challenge for us to try to answer that call. We knew he was going to be elusive. We knew he was going to try to make plays with his feet. And our job is to get him down, man — but he’s tough to bring down.”
But when the Ravens got the ball for their final drive with just under two minutes remaining — and trailing 27-20 — Jackson was able to keep the chains moving with short passes (and a couple of his own scrambles) long enough to open up a 38-yard pass play to wide receiver Rashod Bateman that put Baltimore on the Kansas City 10-yard line.
Social media to make you think
The B2 flyovers will never not be cool @Whiteman_AFB | #AFFlyover pic.twitter.com/wMDmrLo92o
— Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) September 6, 2024
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