🏈 Chiefs at Chargers Preview, Press Conference Recap, Week 18 Games to Watch - 1/5/24

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Good morning Chiefs fans,

Today, we have a game preview, press conference recap, NFL trivia, the weekend schedule, games to watch, and more!

— Luke Gromer

Chiefs News

Week 18 Preview

The Chiefs head to California to take on the Chargers in a game that will not impact their playoff seeding.

• 🏈 Who: Chiefs (10-6) @ Chargers (5-11)

• 📆 When: Sunday, 1/7, 3:25 pm

• 📍 Where: SoFi Stadium, Inglewood, CA

• 📺 Watch: CBS

  • 🎙 On the Call: Spero Dedes & Adam Archuleta

• 🎧 Listen: 106.5 FM in the KC area

  • 🎙 On the Call: Mitch Holthus & Danan Hughes

• 📔 Game Line: LAC -3.5

• Blaine Gabbert will take over at QB for Patrick Mahomes. There have been multiple times in the last 5 years where the Chiefs have had to rely on their backup QB in playoff games.

  • Can Gabbert run the offense efficiently when called upon?

• Wide Receivers: In his press conference on Wednesday, Gabbert indicated that Justyn Ross, Kadarius Toney, and Mecole Hardman will play a lot in week 18.

  • Will any of these receivers stand out and make plays?

• Milestones: Travis Kelce is just 16 yards away from his 8th straight 1,000-yard season, Isiah Pacheco is 65 yards away from 1,000 rushing yards, and Rashee Rice is 72 yards away from 1,000 receiving yards.

  • Will any of these key offensive weapons play in week 18 to reach their milestones?

• Defensive reserves: Several backups and rookie first-round draft pick Felix Anudike-Uzomah (FAU) will see increased roles on Sunday per Steve Spagnuolo on Thursday.

  • How will the backups perform in new or increased roles? Can FAU pressure the QB?

Yesterday, we asked the readers…

Which possible opponent do you want the Chiefs to play in the Wild Card round?

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Dolphins - 27%

🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨⬜️ Colts - 24%

🟨🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️ Texans - 12%

🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ Bills - 10%

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Steelers - 27%

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Around the NFL

Week 18

• The fire at Tyreek Hill’s home was started by a child playing with a cigarette lighter per an AP report

• Starting QBs: Several playoff teams will not play their starting QBs in week 18

• Eric Bienemy is expected to be on the Falcons’ short list of HC candidates if they move on from current coach Arthur Smith

• Jim Harbaugh to the LV Raiders is a real possibility per a new report

• Browns DC Jim Schwartz told the media he aspires to be a head coach again

• The Falcons are reportedly interested in signing Kirk Cousins this offseason

• QB Trevor Lawrence (JAX) was limited at practice yesterday and is day-to-day with a shoulder and finger injury

• RB Dalvin Cook is signing with the Baltimore Ravens for their playoff run

You can read a breakdown of every playoff-clinching scenario HERE.

All times listed are central time.

These games can impact who the Chiefs play in the Wild Card round.

• Bills (10-6) @ Dolphins (11-5), SUN, 7:20 pm

  • This is the best matchup of week 18, and it has the biggest impact on who the Chiefs will play in the Wild Card round. If the Bills win, they will be the #2 seed, and the Chiefs will play the Dolphins. If the Dolphins win, the Chiefs’ opponent could be the Colts, Texans, Bills, or Steelers based on the results of other games. The Bills could also miss the playoffs completely if they lose, the Steelers win, the Jaguars win, and the Texans-Colts game doesn’t end in a tie.

• Texans (9-7) @ Colts (9-7), SAT, 7:15 pm

  • Both teams can clinch the AFC South title if they win and Jacksonville loses. The Colts can also clinch a Wild Card spot with a win, and the Texans can clinch a Wild Card spot if they tie, the Jaguars lose, and the Steelers lose or tie. If Miami and Jacksonville win, the Chiefs will play the winner of this game in the Wild Card round.

• Jaguars (9-7) @ Titans (5-11), SUN, 12:00 pm

  • If the Jaguars win, they win the AFC South. If the Jaguars lose, to secure a Wild Card slot, they’d need the Steelers to lose or tie, or the Steelers to lose, Denver to lose or tie, and the Texans and Colts to NOT end in a tie.

• Steelers (9-7) @ Ravens (13-3), SAT, 3:30 pm

  • The Steelers must win and have help from another game to sneak in as a Wild Card. If the Dolphins and Titans win, and the Steelers win, then the Chiefs would play the Steelers in the Wild Card round. The Ravens are resting QB Lamar Jackson as they have already secured the #1 seed in the AFC.

Chiefs News

From the Podium

The coordinators and several position coaches spoke to the media yesterday.

• On Richie James fielding a punt in the end zone: The Chiefs had been working on a special return all week, and James tried to force it even though they didn’t get the kick they wanted

• “You want your punt returners to have an aggressive mentality…”

• On Harrison Butker not making the Pro Bowl: “I thought Butker was as good [as Justin Tucker] this year… We’ve still got the All-Pro out there, so hopefully he can get that one.”

• “I’m actually excited to see some of these guys on offense.” He specifically named Justyn Ross.

• Spags noted that he’s excited to see several guys who haven’t played as much this year play this week.

• On the slow starts defensively: “I felt what got us in [the Bengals] game were the third downs. In the first half, they were successful on 7/9, but I think two of those were 3rd and 1s. On those 5 [excluding the 3rd and 1s, there were undisciplined things that happened… Now, I was proud of the way they came in the second half because I think they were 1/7 in the second half, and that was huge.”

• Spags emphasized to the players that the first playoff game is right around the corner, and it’s important for them to stay in their routine this week even if they won’t play.

• On Felix Anudike-Uzomah: “He’s developed nicely… He’s still very young… I’m always asking guys questions… Felix, he’s been on it… It’ll be nice to get him some plays this week… We’ve never had a problem putting Felix in, it’s just that fact that George, Mike, and Charles have been playing pretty good.”  

• On Sneed and McDuffie not making the Pro Bowl: “I’d be lying if I didn’t say I was disappointed… They’re more concerned with the bigger picture.”

• On milestones: “I’d love for Chris to get [his half a sack]… The boss will make that decision.”

• On the offensive: He noted that he was pleased with the reduction in penalties. He recognized the fumble but was pleased with Mahomes’ decision-making with things weren’t there.

• “When you eliminate penalties, when you protect the football, we can do really good things. I think we also know we can be better in the red zone.”

• On Isiah Pacheco: “First of all, the football player, he’s only going to continue to get better and better… The one thing he does is go 100 mph 100% of the time… We feed off of that… He’s always positive and I just appreciate that about him.”

• “Having four plays over 35 yards was good, and that’s a start. We know that we have that within us, we just have to do that consistently.”

• On Mahomes: “He’s smart enough to know that every year is different. And with that comes the ability to adapt… Every year your identity is different, not just as an offense but as a team… We have an exceptional defense… So, let’s play complimentary football.”

• “We never want to change our goal of scoring a lot of points… However it goes on, we just want to play complimentary football… We know that going into the playoffs, it doesn’t matter how you win. If you win, everybody will be happy.”

Joe Cullen, Brendan Daly, Dave Merritt, and David Girardi also spoke to the media.

Chiefs, NFL, and More

Worth the Click

• 🤯 The Chiefs were the first team in NFL history to win a game while putting up these statistics in their win over the Bengals

• ⛳ It only took Jerry the Kid 2,627 strokes to get a hole-in-one on a golf simulator

• 🥇 Rashee Rice is ahead of some big-name receivers in an impressive statistic through week 17

• 📺 ESPN & the NCAA reached an 8-year agreement for media rights to 40 NCAA Championships, including the D1 men’s basketball tournament

• 🤔 The NFLPA had players rate their coordinators and released a list of the top 5 at each coordinator position

• 👎 These 4 teams have zero Pro Bowl players on their roster

• 😯 The Steelers are one away from tying this impressive NFL record that is currently held by the Cowboys

• 📝 KU and head football coach Lance Liepold are in contract talks per Mike Vernon

• 📈 Patrick Mahomes is on a historic pace for TD passes thrown