Team Notes week 21 2020

NEWS, NOTES, RUMORS AND OTHER GOOD STUFF

Directly from the desk of FlashUpdate Editor Bob Harris. The good; the bad; and yes. ... Even the Bears. There is no better way to jump start your weekend than browsing these always educational -- often irreverent -- team-by-team, Fantasy-specific offerings. ...
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As ESPN.com's Adam Teicher reported it, "Their fingerprints were still fresh on the Lombardi Trophy from Super Bowl LIV when the Kansas City Chiefs hit on a theme for the 2020 season."

They wanted to, in their words, "Run it back" by winning another championship with largely the same cast.

"This isn't the only time," defensive lineman Chris Jones said moments after the Super Bowl win. "We are going to crank this thing up. Kansas City, we are going to build something special here and we are going to come back. We are going to come back. This is not the only one we are going to win for coach Andy Reid and the Hunt family. We are going to come back and we are going to make it happen.

"Win not only one championship [but] two, three, four. We've got to build a dynasty here."

The Chiefs still have some work to do to fulfill Jones' promise, but they're off to a good start.

They'll face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Super Bowl LV Sunday after beating the Buffalo Bills in the AFC Championship Game.

According to Teicher, their success can be traced to the offseason decision to keep the 2019 roster mostly intact.

"We had a good core and nucleus with Patrick Mahomes and [Jones] and Tyrann Mathieu and I think our mindset was to just fill in as much talent as we could," general manager Brett Veach said after the victory over the Bills. "I think you know when you have a Hall of Fame coach and you have the best player in the National Football League that you're going to have a chance to win every game. I think we knew that there was a good chance that we could go out there and compete week in and week out.

"It was just a matter of filling out the depth of that roster and making sure that when we did run into some issues throughout the course of the season, we were prepared from a depth standpoint."

The Chiefs, who at one point early in the offseason had $177 of salary cap space, managed new contracts for key players in Jones and cornerback Bashaud Breeland and a restructured deal for wide receiver Sammy Watkins.

They also re-signed others, like backup quarterback Chad Henne and wide receiver Demarcus Robinson, and even found room for extensions for Mahomes and tight end Travis Kelce.

As training camp loomed, the Chiefs looked set to bring back 10 Super Bowl starters on both offense and defense. The losses were a linebacker, Reggie Ragland, who though technically a starter came out of the lineup on passing downs and played about a quarter of the Chiefs' defensive snaps during the season, and an offensive lineman, Stefen Wisniewski.

Wisniewski returned to the Chiefs at midseason and is a likely starter in the upcoming Super Bowl.

The number of returning starters was reduced as training camp started when running back Damien Williams and guard Laurent Duvernay-Tardif opted out for COVID-19 reasons. The Chiefs still went into the season with incredible continuity for any team, much less a defending Super Bowl champion with a tight salary cap situation and some big contracts to wrestle with.

Most of the higher-priced players signed or re-signed by the Chiefs since Veach became the general manager in the summer of 2017 were in the prime of their careers. Watkins was 24 when he joined the Chiefs, linebacker Anthony Hitchens 25, defensive back Tyrann Mathieu 26 and defensive end Frank Clark 25.

Wide receiver Tyreek Hill was 25 when he received a new contract. Jones was 26, Mahomes 24.

The exception was Kelce, who was two months away from turning 31 when he signed an extension last summer. But Kelce just finished his best regular season -- he finished second in the NFL in receiving yards with 1,416 -- and had two big games in the playoffs.

"When we brought the nucleus of this team together, the idea was to have a team that would be together for a number of years," chairman Clark Hunt said. "Many of the key contributors were very young when we either drafted them or signed them as free agents and we're just watching the group grow up in front of our eyes."

The Chiefs were driven last year by the previous season's overtime loss to the New England Patriots. Their motivation this season is that because they decided to "Run it back," their opportunity to win a second consecutive title is wide open.

Meanwhile, when the Chiefs made the Super Bowl last year, they arrived in Miami a week ahead of the game in order to take part in media night and the other availabilities in the days leading up to the game.

Things are different this year.

They'll be traveling as if it were a regular road game while all the media sessions will be held virtually. Reid said last Monday that not losing a day due to travel and media night could be a plus, but he still expects the team to feel a squeeze on their time.

"The first week's similar to what you had last year," Reid said. "The one thing that you're minus is that long travel day, media day, that thing. You've still got it, but it's right here at home. ... Other than that, you're still going to have obligations, a tremendous amount of obligations, to the media. You gotta work your schedule around that so that it fits. That second week is a little bit of a challenge."

The Chiefs handled the challenges of Super Bowl week without much problem last year and everyone's grown used to the remote media access over the course of the season, so it's hard to imagine that they'll be too thrown by the way things will unfold this year.

For what it's worth, Associated Press sports writer Dave Skretta reported the Chiefs began film study of the Buccaneers early last Monday, a day that is typically reserved for film study and rehab work with trainers. The reason is simple: Reid wanted to cram as much in as possible before things got busier later in the week.

In addition, Skretta also pointed out that every facet of the offense was in synch against the Bills. Mahomes had time in the pocket and was mobile enough on his ailing toe when he was flushed from it. Kelce and Hill made mincemeat of the Buffalo secondary.

Clyde Edwards-Helaire and Darrel Williams scored on the ground, a good sign for a team that has struggle to get touchdowns in the red zone.

Of some concern?

The return game has been iffy for weeks, and two bad plays stood out against the Bills. Mecole Hardman's fumble of a punt gave the Bills an easy touchdown and put Kansas City in a 9-0 hole, and the Chiefs were unable to hop on an onside kick near the end of the game.

Watkins has been out with a calf injury since Week 16, and while he practiced in a limited capacity all week he was again inactive on game day. The Chiefs have proven they are just fine without their oft-injured wide receiver, and that means there's a good chance he won't get another $7 million contract from the Chiefs for next season.

Le'Veon Bell also missed the Championship win.

The Chiefs closed out their off-week practices on Friday and neither Watkins nor Bell were on the field to wrap up the week of work. They were listed as limited the previous two days. The team said they would be questionable if there was a game this weekend.

Cornerback Rashad Fenton (foot) and L'Jarius Sneed (concussion) would be in the same category. Sneed was a limited participant on Friday while Fenton was bumped up to full participation for the first time this week.

Next up, we'll see where things go this week. In addition to posting daily updates of the official NFL Injury/Practice report through Friday, we'll be following up on all involved in the News and Views section of the site in coming days. ...

Elsewhere on the injury front. ... Left tackle Eric Fisher won't play against the Buccaneers after he tore his Achilles tendon in the AFC Championship Game. Willie Gay Jr. also will not play after undergoing surgery to repair a torn meniscus last week.

The operation puts Gay on a four-month recovery timeline, but he should be ready in time for the 2021 season.

Gay started in eight of the 16 games in which he appeared as a rookie in 2020, recording 39 tackles (three for loss), one sack, three passes defensed and one forced fumble. He did not appear in a postseason game for the Chiefs.

As for Fisher, the Chiefs shifted Remmers to his spot against the Bills, and Remmers is the likely starter at left tackle against the Bucs, who finished the regular season tied for fourth in sacks with 48. The Bucs have seven sacks in their three playoff games, including five in their NFC Championship Game win over the Green Bay Packers.

As NFL.com noted, the Chiefs have had to dig deep into their offensive line depth this season.

They will play against the Bucs with three starting offensive linemen out with injuries, including both starting tackles (right tackle Mitchell Schwartz has been sidelined since Week 6 with a back injury). As noted above, the Chiefs also had Duvernay-Tardif, a starter, and one backup, Lucas Niang, opt out before the start of training camp.

"They're talented guys," Reid said when asked how the offensive line has been able to hold up well through so much depletion. "In some cases we've had some young guys step in and ... we've had some older guys step in. That combination has been able to get us through some games here. Most of all, I think the quarterback trusts them, as do the running backs."

Fisher started 15 regular-season games for the Chiefs, then both playoff games. He was named to the Pro Bowl for the second time in his career. ...

Those issues aside, it's hard to be dismissive of Kansas City's chances based on not only their level of talent at key spots -- but the fact that those talented players are on a serious roll in the postseason.

More specifically, Kelce and Hill will enter this one at full speed in terms of playoff production.

In the divisional round, Kelce had eight receptions for 109 yards with a touchdown and Hill had eight catches for 110 yards. In the AFC Championship Game, Hill had nine catches for 172 yards and Kelce caught 13 passes for 118 yards and two TDs.

But more striking is their targets. Kelce and Hill each had 10 against the Browns. Kelce had 15 against the Bills and Hill had 11.

No other player has received more than five in a game.

Mahomes said Thursday that's just a product of those two players getting open.

"They're playing really good football right now. That's the biggest thing," Mahomes said. "I'm just taking what's there, trying to get the ball to guys in space. I'm never someone that kind of chooses who I'm throwing to - I just throw it to whoever's open. And so those guys have been getting open, I've been able to get them the ball. And I'm sure the Bucs have seen that as well, so I'm sure they'll have a game plan to try to slow those guys down and we'll have to adjust to that."

Watching Chiefs games, it is striking how often Kelce and Hill seem to be wide open when Mahomes targets them.

The Buccaneers will have a tall task in slowing down that dynamic attack in Super Bowl LV. ...

A few final items. ... Another coaching cycle has come and gone, and Eric Bieniemy remains with the Kansas City Chiefs.

Those within the building in K.C. are just as stupefied as most of the public about why Reid's right-hand man for years isn't steering his own ship.

"It amazes me, honestly," Mahomes said last Thursday after the Texans hired Ravens assistant head coach David Culley to fill the last head coaching opening. "The first year, you kind of were like, 'All right, it's just his first cycle through.' Then last year, the interviews, you're like, 'For sure he's gonna get a job.' Then this year.

"If you look at his track record and the way he's able to coach us, the way he's able to lead men -- people say that, but to be able to lead a locker room of people from every different background, every different race and everything like that, and be able to be the lead of the locker room is a special talent. It's a talent, and he's able to do that."

As NFL.com's Kevin Patra suggests, the idea that not calling plays hinders the Chiefs OC from getting hired doesn't hold water. Nearly half the coaches who did get jobs this cycle didn't call plays -- Dan Campbell (Lions), Culley (Texans), Nick Sirianni (Eagles).

"The way he's able to go about calling plays throughout the game -- I understand we have coach Reid, and coach Reid calls plays, but there's a ton of input from coach Bieniemy and he calls a ton of plays in our game plan," Mahomes said. "It just gets overlooked. I mean, who knows what it is? It's a loss for everybody else in the NFL and a gain for us. Hopefully he gets his chance, because he'll succeed at wherever he is. But if he doesn't, we're glad enough to have him back again."

Bieniemy making back-to-back Super Bowls with the Chiefs could have been an excuse for teams who didn't want to wait to make a hire. That rationale has been disproven in the past -- Matt Patricia, for one, got hired by Detroit after a Super Bowl loss in 2018.

While others get hired, Bieniemy will just keep helping the Chiefs compete for Super Bowls.

"I'm glad I have him, but I'm not so glad I have him," Reid noted. "I was really hoping he would have an opportunity to take one of these jobs."

Maybe next year. Again. ...

The Buccaneers, who will be the first team to ever play a Super Bowl in their home stadium, will don their white jerseys and pewter pants, while the Chiefs will sport their red jerseys.

Tom Brady and the Bucs, the designated home team, have chosen to wear the white jerseys they wore when defeating the New Orleans Saints on the road in the Divisional Round and the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field during their current postseason run.

As Mahomes and the Chiefs, the designated road team, look to complete their run of back-to-back Super Bowl titles, they will do so wearing the same red jerseys in which they defeated the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl LIV.

And last. ... Reid moved into a tie with Hall of Fame coach Joe Gibbs for fourth on the NFL's career postseason wins list. Two more would tie him with Don Shula and a third with Tom Landry, though Bill Belichick is far-and-away the leader with 31 wins.

DEPTH CHART
QBs: Patrick Mahomes, Blaine Gabbert
RBs: Isiah Pacheco, Jerick McKinnon, Clyde Edwards-Helaire
WRs: Rashee Rice, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Justin Watson, Kadarius Toney, Richie James, Justyn Ross, Skyy Moore, Mecole Hardman
TEs: Travis Kelce, Noah Gray, Blake Bell, Jody Fortson