Arrowhead Pride
What is Arrowhead Pride Premier? Arrowhead Pride Premier is our tri-weekly newsletter, one that provides analysis and exclusive insights directly from Arrowhead Stadium, delivered straight to your inbox. Below is a preview of the latest edition. Here is our midweek preview.
BY PETE SWEENEY
This is the kind of weekend that reminds us why we love football.
The Kansas City Chiefs’ three-peat dreams are on the line as they welcome the Buffalo Bills into Arrowhead Stadium for the AFC Championship.
The storylines are abundant and well-known, but the highlight is this one: over the past seven Chiefs-Bills games, the Chiefs have won every playoff game (3-0), whereas the Buffalo Bills have won every regular-season game (4-0).
So, what does that mean for this Sunday’s high-stakes matchup?
(and here’s the important part)
Absolutely nothing.
And that is the beauty of the NFL – it never ends.
You always need to prove it again – a message head coach Andy Reid and quarterback Patrick Mahomes are undoubtedly driving home to the team this week.
I have this game as a toss-up; let’s call it 51% Chiefs – and the club that plays mistake-free football will punch its ticket to New Orleans.
With that said, let’s dive into some specific things I am watching heading into this tilt for the AFC:
The Chiefs aren’t worried about the lack of production from Hollywood Brown and DeAndre Hopkins.
I thought Kansas City’s offense initially looked a little rusty on Saturday against the Houston Texans, which was to be expected after so much time between meaningful football games.
Tight end Travis Kelce had a typical Travis Kelce postseason day, recording seven receptions for 117 yards and a touchdown. But the lack of production from wide receivers Hollywood Brown and DeAndre Hopkins alarmed some fans.
“That’s the way it worked out,” said Chiefs head coach Andy Reid on Wednesday. “We want to use all of them so they’re all good players – there’s just one ball, so it happened to go the other direction but not for any reason that it didn’t come their way. They’re all part of it.”
To Reid’s credit, both players were targeted in the game. Hopkins saw one late in the first quarter, and Brown saw two, including one that was nearly a massive gain and preceded Kelce’s 49-yard catch-and-run.
“There was attention paid to [Hollywood Brown and DeAndre Hopkins] and they made sure to put a shell over the top of those guys and that allowed the middle of the field to be open for Travis,” said Mahomes. “Whenever certain matchups are working for you, you go to those. Then, you still want to have that option though and I think we’ll try to be better this week of giving them more and more opportunities downfield, but I think even in the one where we didn’t complete it, the one down the field, it kind of scared them (the Texans)...
“The next...
