Team Notes week 22 2022

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. ...
Access specific teams by clicking on a team name in the schedule appearing directly to your left or by clicking on a helmet below; return to the helmets by hitting the link labeled "Menu" following each teams notes. ...

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As ESPN.com's Adam Teicher noted, when it comes to Super Bowls, Patrick Mahomes knows the euphoria of a victory and the frustration of a defeat.

He said the memories of the Kansas City Chiefs' Super Bowl loss are more powerful than those of their win.

"The win is amazing," Mahomes said Monday at the Super Bowl's opening night. "It's one of the best moments of your entire life. You take away all the positives from that. But that loss, that stings. That motivates you for years. What it's done for me is it's motivated me to be back in this game again. I want to make sure that I can have that winning feeling and not that losing one because that losing feeling is one you'll never forget."

Mahomes and the Chiefs beat the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl LIV but lost the next season to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Super Bowl LV.

The Chiefs will play in their third Super Bowl in four years Sunday against the Philadelphia Eagles.

"I think the Super Bowl win, I just learned how special it is to have a team that really believes in each other and can overcome the obstacles," Mahomes said. "We were down in every single playoff game that year, and to be able to do that [and rally for a victory], it was special. In the loss, you learned that you can't take things for granted. You can't come to a game and not have every box checked. I thought we did, but obviously we didn't and we lost that game and you had to use it as motivation to get back here."

Mahomes suffered a high ankle sprain in the Chiefs' divisional round playoff win over the Jacksonville Jaguars. He said Monday he thought he would be much closer to full strength in the Super Bowl than he was in the AFC Championship Game against the Cincinnati Bengals but acknowledged that practice wasn't the best test for that.

"You won't know until you get out there in the game," Mahomes said. "I'm going to push it. I'll try to leave it all on the line. I think you all saw that in the last game that I played. But it's about relying on your teammates and I've got a lot of great teammates around me and I'm not trying to do too much. But I'll definitely be in a better spot [than] when I was out there last week."

And that's important.

As Associated Press sports writer Dave Skretta put it, "The Chiefs are built around their half-billion dollar All-Pro quarterback, and for the past five years, Mahomes has made everyone else around him all the more valuable."

Skretta went on to point out Mahomes has taken marginal wide receivers and turned them into stars. Mediocre offensive linemen became stalwarts.

Finishing the second year of his mammoth 10-year contract, Mahomes soaks up more than a fifth of the Kansas City salary cap, and some would argue he's still underpaid. Yet the deal nevertheless creates a challenge in filling out the roster around him, and it's one that Chiefs general manager Brett Veach confronted with savvy business and creativity.

Their prime rusher, Isaiah Pacheco, is a seventh-round pick. Their touchdowns leader, Jerick McKinnon, is a journeyman running back making $1,272,500 this season, while none of their wide receivers is making $5 million. Their top tackler is still on his paltry rookie deal.

"I would start with Brett and the way that he and his guys have gone about putting this thing together," head coach Andy Reid said, while also pointing to the latitude given to him by chairman Clark Hunt and team president Mark Donovan.

"They're all part of that, giving us the opportunity to do what Brett can do by bringing these guys in," Reid said. "But the process he goes through, he's relentless. He's committed. He's got a great eye for talent. He's fearless when it comes to the trades and drafts and all those things. It's been fun for me to watch."

Reid used to hold both titles of coach and general manager when he was with the Philadelphia Eagles, Kansas City's opponent in the Super Bowl next weekend. But when he took over the Chiefs in 2013, he decided to step away from front-office work and focus solely on his first love: coaching.

The decision to draft Mahomes four years later got his blessing, of course, and it was then-GM John Dorsey who had the final say. But it was Veach, then the co-director of player personnel, who stood on the table and stumped for him.

Veach took over as general manager the following year and began putting his thumbprint on the rest of the team.

He invested heavily in defense, particularly when it comes to rushing the passer, and made sure veteran safeties could back up young cornerbacks acquired through the draft. On offense, he rebuilt the entire offensive line through free agency and the draft, then spread money around the skill positions without investing too heavily in any one player.

That led to Veach's biggest decision since drafting Mahomes: trading Tyreek Hill to the Dolphins.

Veach could have given the All-Pro wide receiver a massive contract extension last offseason, but doing so would have hamstrung the team for years to come. So, Veach sent him to the Dolphins for draft picks and financial flexibility.

He used both to build a team that is heading back to the Super Bowl.

"I think it's a confirmation that we have confidence in our process," Veach said. "It just goes to show that I have a really talented staff and I think the hard work pays off. We have a process and we're always going to be motivated to continue to add talent and depth to this roster and provide Coach and Pat what they need."

On offense, the Chiefs had to replenish at wide receiver after trading Hill and losing Byron Pringle and Demarcus Robinson in free agency. They signed JuJu Smith-Schuster to a one-year prove-it deal, Marquez Valdes-Scantling to a three-year contract and drafted Skyy Moore, who does many of the same jet sweeps that made Hill such a defensive terror.

Having tight end Travis Kelce, every bit as dangerous as the best wide receivers, helps the cause.

ESPN's Eric Moody notes that Kelce has averaged 9.3 targets and 6.9 receptions per game during the regular season and postseason. FantasyPros' Derek Brown adds to that, pointing out that Kelce has upped his game this postseason, garnering a 34.2 percent target share averaging 11 receptions and 90.5 receiving yards with a 50 percent end zone target share and 2.62 yards per route run in the team's playoff run.

He's had at least 95 receiving yards in seven of his last eight playoff games.

In those eight games he's scored nine touchdowns. Since Week 15, the Eagles have been 23rd in catch rate and 26th in receiving yards per game allowed to tight ends.

As for those wideouts. ... Mahomes credited Reid and offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy for the way Kansas City's offense evolved this season.

Some thought the Chiefs' offense would decline after trading Hill, but Mahomes said on Monday that he thinks the coaching staff had a good plan all along for keeping the offense humming.

"We accepted the challenge as players, the coaches and Coach Bieniemy accepted the challenge," Mahomes said. "We lost an all-time great receiver in Tyreek Hill, someone that did a lot of great things for us, but we've got a lot of great receivers as well, and coach Bieniemy and Coach Reid, they went in there and learned what their strengths were, and we maximized that this year.

"It's not just the players, it's the coaches, it's everybody in that building."

Beyond the receiving corps, the Chiefs rebuilt their offensive line the previous year, and it returned largely intact, so the other focus was on the ground game. The Chiefs took a flier on Pacheco in the seventh round, and by the midpoint of the season, he had supplanted injury-prone former first-round pick Clyde Edwards-Helaire atop the depth chart.

As Football Outsiders' Aaron Schatz pointed out, big games by opposing running backs were the connecting string through most of the Eagles' lesser performances this season, which leads him to believe the Chiefs will stick with the ground game more than they usually do, knowing that's the Eagles' (relative) weakness.

So Pacheco could be busy. ...

Meanwhile, besides the quarterback, the biggest contract on the books belongs to Chris Jones. And like Mahomes, there's an argument to be made that the big defensive tackle, with 15 1/2 sacks this season, has vastly outperformed it.

Veach knows the value in pressuring the quarterback, though. It's why the Chiefs traded for Frank Clark and gave him a big contract, signed veteran Carlos Dunlap this past offseason and used a first-round pick on George Karlaftis.

The Chiefs had to replace Tyrann Mathieu's leadership on the back end of the defense, so they signed safety Justin Reid in free agency. Little did Reid know that he'd spend all season tutoring a quartet of rookie defensive backs -- Trent McDuffie, Jaylen Watson, Joshua Williams and Bryan Cook -- who came up huge in the AFC title game against the Bengals.

Harrison Butker has been one of the league's best kickers going on six years, but an ankle injury sustained in the opener led to a shaky season. He came back to drive through the winning field goal in the final seconds against Cincinnati.

Tommy Townsend merely earned All-Pro honors while setting several franchise milestones for punting this season.

So it's a solid roster, but it's definitely Mahomes that keeps it all on track. ...

And for Schatz, that's how Kanas City wins this game.

"It's simply about trusting that offense is more consistent and predictable than defense," Schatz wrote. "And quarterback play is the most important part of that. The Chiefs have the best quarterback in the game. That's one tiebreaker. The second tiebreaker is getting a point and a half (the Eagles are favored). I doubt the game comes down to a single point, but I'd rather have that point than not.

"The third tiebreaker is that the extra week off before the Super Bowl enhances the things that make Reid a great coach -- game-planning and player preparation -- rather than the things that make Nick Sirianni a strong coach, such as his in-game decisions. ..."

Other notes of interest. ... Regarding Smith-Schuster, if the Chiefs win and her plays at least 50 percent of their offensive snaps, the former Steelers gets another $1 million.

As noted above, his contract was sold as a one-year, $10.75 million, "prove-it" deal.

As Profootballtalk.com reported at the time, that was a misrepresentation of Smith-Schuster's deal, which had only a $3.25 million base. The other $7.5 million came in incentives that, at the time of the signing, looked pretty tough for Smith-Schuster to hit.

But Smith-Schuster has already hit most of them.

In addition to hitting various catch-total and receiving yardage incentives in-season, by hitting 65 catches and 900 yards, Smith-Schuster also made himself eligible for two postseason incentives: $1 million for playing at least 50 percent of snaps in the AFC Championship Game if the Chiefs win, and $1 million for playing at least 50 percent of snaps in the Super Bowl if the Chiefs win.

Unfortunately for Smith-Schuster, he played only 45 percent of the Chiefs' offensive snaps in the AFC Championship Game, so he missed out on that incentive. But he can still get $1 million for playing 50 percent of snaps in the Super Bowl, if the Chiefs win.

Add it all up, and Smith-Schuster so far this season has made his $3.25 million base and $4.5 million in incentives, for $7.75 million so far. He can push it to $8.75 million on Sunday, and then he can hit free agency in March, knowing that he bet on himself with an incentive-heavy contract, and it paid off. ...

On the injury front. ... Reid said last week that he doubted wide receiver Mecole Hardman would be healthy enough to play in Super Bowl LVII and the team officially ruled him out on Monday.

Hardman has been placed on injured reserve after aggravating a pelvis injury in the AFC Championship Game. Hardman had not played since Week 9 before returning to action against the Bengals.

While Hardman is out of the picture for the Chiefs, Edwards-Helaire is back in it.

Edwards-Helaire has been activated from injured reserve after missing the last nine games with an ankle injury.

Reid told reporters on Tuesday that the team will wait to see how the practice week plays out before deciding if Edwards-Helaire will work his way back into the mix with Pacheco, McKinnon and Ronald Jones.

"We'll practice him this week and see where we're at," Reid said at his press conference. "Jones has done a good job for us, too. We'll see how that all works out. It's good to have him back, for sure."

Pacheco and McKinnon's roles would seem to be secure given how important they've been to the offense on the way to the Super Bowl.

That likely wouldn't leave much for Edwards-Helaire to do if he is in the lineup, but time will tell how things play out.

Hardman was one of three Chiefs wideouts to leave the win over the Bengals with injuries. Reid said last week that he is optimistic about having Smith-Schuster and Kadarius Toney back for Sunday's game.

Both receivers were listed as questionable on the team's off-week injury report, but Toney says there's no question about it.

Toney told USA Today he's "definitely" playing in the Super Bowl.

A first-round pick of the Giants in 2021, Toney was a disappointment in New York but has become an important part of the offense since he was traded to Kansas City during the 2022 season. After Hardman was placed on injured reserve, Toney became even more important.

So it's good news in Kansas City that Toney is good to go. ...

In other good news. ... Doctors cleared cornerback L'Jarius Sneed from concussion protocol, allowing him to return after playing only four snaps in the AFC Championship Game.

"I feel 110 percent," Sneed said Monday night.

As Profootballtalk.com notes, the Chiefs have used rookies Trent McDuffie and Jaylen Watson extensively this season. McDuffie played 59.4 percent of the defensive snaps in the regular season and Watson 52.7 percent. With Sneed out early in the championship game, the Chiefs needed Joshua Williams in a bigger role.

The 2022 fourth-round pick, who had played only 38 percent of the defensive snaps in the regular season, played 59 of 66 snaps against the Bengals.

Sneed's return will help the Chiefs against an offense featuring playmakers A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith.

"Huge," defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo told NFL Media. "When we didn't have him last week, it was a huge concern. The young guys stepped up, but L'Jarius is really important to us. He's our leader back there. He makes plays for us. Played a lot of different positions, and I'm glad he's cleared and ready to go."

But McDuffie, Watson and Williams have enough experience now that the Chiefs trust them.

"We know if something happens, we can fall back on those guys," Spagnuolo said. "Those guys haven't blinked all year long when they've had to go in. It's a credit to the guys that coach them. . . . It's a really close unit together. It's been huge. L'Jarius is certainly a leader of that group."

For the record, the Chiefs practiced in pads Monday. They will have a light practice Tuesday before the three official practice days of the week.

Reid said every player practiced Monday and will practice again Tuesday.

"We're all doing well there," Reid said Tuesday morning.

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