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Concerns for Chiefs continue to rise after blowout loss to Bills | Yahoo! Sports

Charles Robinson, transcribed from You Pod to Win the Game podcast:

I didn’t think Josh Allen had his absolute, exquisite A-game in this one and, yet, it was very, at least from the standpoint defense, it was very much, I don’t want to say a dominating game. But to be able to turn the Chiefs over in the fashion that they were in vital moments, is concerning to me.

So yeah, I don’t know, man. Again, I’m a believer in the Chiefs. There’s no way I’m giving up, seeing the last couple of seasons. But I’ll go back to what Terez said to me after they lost the game to Tampa Bay. We were talking and he said, “So hard to make it.” He said, “Everybody, it’s so hard to lose the Super Bowl and come back,” he said. But it’s really, really, really, really hard to make the Super Bowl three years in a row. And that hadn’t really sunk in until he said that to me and I thought, “Huh. Yeah that’s another reason to-”

I don’t want to fade the Chiefs because I loved what they did with the offensive line in the off season. But, God, I expected more from this defense, especially I guess from a health standpoint or just seeing them together as a unit. And this was one of those measurement games that definitely left me at least a little bit concerned, now that we’ve seen them in multiple measuring games and they’re coming up short.

Chiefs’ defense allowing 7.1 yards per play, worst in NFL history | ProFootballTalk

When you have Patrick Mahomes and you still have a losing record, your defense must be playing poorly. And the Chiefs’ defense is playing as poorly as any team ever has.

Kansas City is allowing a stunning 7.1 yards per play this season. That’s not just the worst average this year, it’s the worst average in NFL history.

The good news for the Chiefs is, defense tends to be inconsistent from week to week, and a defense that’s on an all-time awful pace at the start of the season doesn’t necessarily turn out to be the worst defense in the league.

Still, those 2015 Saints should be a cautionary tale. They went 7-9 despite Drew Brees throwing for an NFL-high 4,870 passing yards. Even a future Hall of Fame quarterback can’t do it all himself.

Report Card: Coaching grade shines bright in Bills’ victory over Chiefs | Buffalo News

COACHING: A+

This one must feel extra sweet for Sean McDermott, who evened his record against mentor Andy Reid at 2-2. Any fears about the moment being too big for the Bills were quickly erased. Defensively, the game plan was to sit in coverage and not blitz Mahomes at all. Give a lot of credit to defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier – the plan he cooked up worked exceptionally well. It felt as if offensive coordinator Brian Daboll was waiting for the right time to unleash Allen as a runner, and that came Sunday night. Although the number of penalties against (10) was too high, the majority of them came during the play – the type McDermott can live with. The offensive struggles in the third quarter will be an area the team wants to clean up during the week.

The Browns stole the most unstoppable goal-line play in football from the Chiefs | Yahoo! Sports

The Cleveland Browns showed off a stunning goal-line play during Sunday’s game against the Chargers that looked eerily similar to a favorite move from Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs.

On a 2-point conversion in the fourth quarter, quarterback Baker Mayfield took a shotgun snap and moved to his right as several receivers worked their way to the same side. But rather throw in their direction, Mayfield instead looped an underhand pass against the grain of the play to tight end Austin Hooper, who had feigned a block at the snap.

Hooper caught the pass and easily stepped into the end zone before the Chargers defense could get to him, extending the Browns’ lead to a touchdown.

The play is nearly identical to a concept the Chiefs have used around the goal line and in other short-yardage situations in recent years.

Pedestrian killed near stadium after leaving Chiefs’ game | Kansas City Star

A pedestrian from Kansas is dead after being struck by two hit-and-run drivers near Arrowhead Stadium as the man was leaving the Kansas City Chiefs game. Police are searching for the drivers who fled the scene Sunday night.

The victim was 66-year-old Steven Hickle of Wichita, Kansas. The accident happened shortly after 10 p.m. near East 43rd Street and Blue Ridge Cutoff as the Chiefs were playing Buffalo in a game won by the Bills 38-20. Police say Hickle and another person left the game early, so traffic crews were not yet on the scene to assist with exiting. The second person was not struck.

A news release from police said Hickle was struck by a vehicle and while lying in the roadway was run over by a second vehicle. He died at a hospital.

Local Chiefs superfan isn’t letting Sunday loss crush his spirits | KSNT.com

Fans across northeast Kansas usually always show up for Kansas City Chiefs football, especially on Sundays. But one superfan stands out among the others.

GT Ngole is a 32-year-old from Silver Lake. His love for Chiefs football started in the mid-nineties.

“My grandfather who is no longer with us took me to a game at Arrowhead back when Derrick Thomas played for the Chiefs,” Ngole said. “The Chiefs were really good back then and Arrowhead was really loud and I was hooked.”

Ngole’s love for the Chiefs has only grown since then. He doesn’t miss a game day and has dozens of notable collector’s items like programs from old games, footballs signed by players, and much more, but some pieces stand out more than the others.

“My absolute favorite is probably an old Derrick Thomas jersey that I still have and wore to that first game,” Ngole said. “That one is probably my favorite because my grandpa got it for me. Plus it has a little sentimental value for me as well.”

Around the NFL

Jon Gruden resigns as Las Vegas Raiders head coach| NFL.com

Following recent articles in The Wall Street Journal and New York Times detailing the use of racist, homophobic and misogynistic terms by Jon Gruden in emails reportedly dating back to 2010, Gruden has resigned as Las Vegas Raiders head coach, NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reported Monday night.

Gruden was five games into the fourth season of a 10-year contract with the franchise, for which he previously coached in a prior stint.

“I have resigned as head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders,” Gruden said in a statement, obtained by NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport. “I love the Raiders and do not want to be a distraction. Thank you to all the players, coaches, staff, and fans of Raider Nation. I’m sorry, I never meant to hurt anyone.”

Special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia has been named the Raiders’ interim head coach.

The resignation of Gruden, 58, comes three days removed from a report from the The Wall Street Journal that detailed a 2011 email in which he used a racial trope to describe NFL Players Association executive director DeMaurice Smith, who is Black, and less than two hours after the release of a New York Times article on Monday night that revealed Gruden used homophobic and misogynistic terms in other emails dating back to 2010.

Ravens’ streak of 100-yard rushing games comes to end in thrilling OT win | NFL.com

A week after maintaining their streak of 100-yard showings in newsworthy fashion, the Baltimore Ravens’ rushing prowess fell short of taking history all for their own.

The Ravens’ streak of consecutive games with 100 yards came to a close on Monday night, but they got a victory in resounding fashion as Lamar Jackson set a career-high with 442 yards passing to propel Baltimore past the Indianapolis Colts, 31-25, in overtime.

The Ravens’ streak of consecutive 100-yard games ended at 43 and remains tied with the Pittsburgh Steelers of 1974-1977. Baltimore had just 86 yards rushing, led by Jackson’s 62 yards on 16 carries.

For Jackson, who learned the streak was snapped just minutes after the finish, the win was all that mattered.

“We ain’t get it? It’s all good — we got the victory,” Jackson said in his ESPN postgame interview. “I’m good with that.”

San Francisco 49ers QB Trey Lance suffered sprained knee in first start | ESPN

As it turns out, Jimmy Garoppolo won’t be the only San Francisco 49ers quarterback who has to stay in the Bay Area on the team’s bye week to recover from an injury.

That’s because rookie signal-caller Trey Lance suffered a left knee sprain in Sunday’s 17-10 loss to the Arizona Cardinals, coach Kyle Shanahan announced Monday.

Lance had an MRI on Monday morning and isn’t expected to miss much time, especially since the 49ers are on bye and won’t play again until they meet the Indianapolis Colts on Oct. 24.

“It’s not a long-term injury but they did say they won’t be able to know until (later),” Shanahan said. “He’ll have to stay here on the bye week and get treatment and everything, so we should have a good idea by the end of the next week whether he has got a chance for Indy or not. If he doesn’t, they told me it should be like a one-to-two-week thing but possibly just one.”

After Sunday’s loss, Lance said he felt “fine” despite taking plenty of hits. Lance finished 15-of-29 for 192 yards with an interception and had 16 carries for 89 yards.

Three German cities in discussions to stage NFL regular-season games | NFL.com

The National Football League today confirmed that three cities are in discussions to host regular-season games in Germany.

The NFL, which has staged 29 games in London since 2007 and will play its 30th at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday, is aiming to find the most suitable partner city for a possible expansion of the International Series into Germany.

After an initial period in which expressions of interest were received from multiple cities, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt and Munich have been invited to proceed to the “candidate phase” of the process. Those cities will now participate in deeper conversations about staging games in Germany.

“Regular-season games are a key part of continuing the development of our German fan base by creating more excitement for the sport and more connectivity with fans and communities,” said Brett Gosper, NFL Head of Europe and UK

In case you missed it on Arrowhead Pride

5 things we learned as the Bills hammered the Chiefs

We began the season looking at the first five games of the Chiefs schedule and realizing it was going to be a very difficult stretch, facing at least three (and possibly four) teams that are likely to be among those contending for the 2021 AFC championship.

After that, we thought, things were bound to get easier… right?

Well… not so much.

Based on all the game results through Week 5 (not including the yet-to-be-played Monday Night Football matchup between the Indianapolis Colts and Baltimore Ravens) the Chiefs have the league’s second most-difficult remaining schedule. Their opponents in the remaining 12 games currently have a combined winning percentage of 0.5833.

There is some context to be noted here. This early in the season, it’s hard to draw a whole lot of conclusions from won-lost records; it’s still hard to know which teams are really good (or bad) because they might have played an unusually weak (or strong) slate of teams.

Still… this is way less than ideal — especially when you discover that the team with easiest remaining schedule is… the Buffalo Bills.

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