San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Powerhouses highlight last matchups
Stefon Diggs walked off the field inside Arrowhead Stadium back in October with two very distinct feelings: elation that his Bills had avenged an AFC title game loss to the Chiefs and the conviction that they would meet again.
Get ready for the latest throw-down between two of the league’s best teams Sunday night.
Fresh off a near-perfect 47-17 blowout of New England last weekend, Diggs and the Bills are in Kansas City, Mo., for the divisional round of the playoffs. And awaiting them are Patrick Mahomes and the highflying Chiefs, who turned around their season after a lackluster start and then throttled Pittsburgh 42-21 in their wild-card matchup.
“They’ve got all the talent in the world,” Diggs said. “They’ve been playing at a high level. They’ve been to the Super Bowl twice. They have a hell of a quarterback, hell of receivers, good defense — they’re a great team.”
Turns out he wasn’t the only one who anticipated another showdown, either.
“We’ll probably play them a lot of times. It’ll be great competition,” Mahomes said, “and it’s definitely going to be a great challenge for us as a team to compete with them.”
Indeed, it’s difficult to find a game with more star power than this one.
Josh Allen threw five TD passes against the Patriots to set a Bills playoff record, while Diggs and resurgent running back Devin Singletary give him plenty of playmakers. On the other side, the Buffalo defense featuring All-Pro safety Jordan Poyer and running mate Micah Hyde led the league in just about every meaningful statistical category.
Buffalo, which has lost eight consecutive playoff games away from home, scored on each of its first seven drives against the Patriots and became the first NFL team to finish a playoff game with no punts, field goals or turnovers.
“It’s tough to have a perfect game,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said, “and they did a nice job with it last week.”
As for the Chiefs? Well, they’ve merely won their past five playoff games at Arrowhead Stadium.
Mahomes became the first player to throw for at least 400 yards and five touchdowns with fewer than 10 incompletions in the postseason in last week’s romp past Pittsburgh. His familiar targets, Travis Kelce and Tyreek Hill, did most of the work while the suddenly stout Kansas City defense held the Steelers to 44 yards in the first half.
“We don’t want to have that feeling that we had there last year. We know our season ended there last year,” Allen said, “and now we have to do everything in our power to put our foot forward and make sure that it doesn’t end there this year.”
Rams-Buccaneers: Von Miller has amassed more than 100 career sacks in the regular season, 71⁄2 in the playoffs. The future Hall of Fame outside linebacker said this past week that he could recall every one of the sacks he recorded against Tom Brady, the most successful quarterback in NFL history.
“It’s just one of those things,” Miller said. “Whenever he decides to retire, those are the sacks that you are going to remember.”
Miller, lineman Aaron Donald, outside linebacker Leonard Floyd and the rest of the Los Angeles Rams pass rushers aim to create more memories Sunday when they play Brady and the defending Super Bowl-champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers in an NFC divisional-round game at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla.
The Rams’ pass rush is regarded as one of the major keys for the team if it is to advance to the NFC Championship Game.
The Rams had 50 sacks during the season, which ranked third in the NFL. Last Monday, they recorded two in their 34-11 wild-card victory over the Arizona Cardinals.
Brady was sacked four times in a 31-15 wild-card victory over the Philadelphia Eagles last Sunday.
Now Brady, 44, will face the Rams behind an offensive line that includes center Ryan Jensen and All-Pro right tackle Tristan Wirfs, both of whom are questionable because of ankle injuries.
Asked if he is worried about pass protection because of offensive line questions marks, Buccaneers coach Bruce Arians did not hesitate.
“I’d be worried if they were all healthy,” he told Rams beat reporters during a conference call. “So, yeah, if they’re not healthy, I’m hellaciously worried.” The Buccaneers activated running back Leonard Fournette from injured reserve and promoted wide receiver John Brown from the practice squad, meaning Brown — who has 27 career playoff receptions — could make his Bucs debut if activated for the game. Brown’s elevation likely signals that speedster Cyril Grayson (hamstring) still isn’t ready. Briefly: Pittsburgh Steelers defensive coordinator Keith Butler retired, less than a week after his 19th season with the team ended in a blowout playoff loss to Kansas City . ... New general manager Joe Schoen and ownership interviewed Buffalo Bills defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier for the vacant opening as New York Giants head coach.