NFL divisional round previews
Three things to know about each game
Time, TV: 4:35 p.m. ET, NBC Line: Chiefs by 5
1. QB play: This matchup features the favorite for league MVP in the Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes and the seeming choice for comeback player of the year in the Colts’ Andrew Luck. The two combined for 9,690 passing yards and
89 passing touchdowns. Both also had issues with interceptions: Luck with 15 and Mahomes with 12.
2. Strength on strength: This matchup features an Indianapolis offensive line that gave up the fewest sacks in the NFL (18) against one of the league’s most prolific pass rushes, the Chiefs tying for first with 52 sacks. When Luck has time to throw, he can pick apart defenses. Generating pressure in Luck’s face will be key for a Kansas City defense that ranked second-to-last in passing yards allowed. 3. Elements of familiarity: Though Colts coach Frank Reich never served as an assistant under Chiefs coach Andy Reid, there should be plenty of overlap and familiarity between staffs. Eagles coach Doug Pederson, whom Reid closely mentored as a player and coach, was Reich’s boss in Philadelphia from
2016 to 2017. Reich has indicated how influential Pederson has been in his own rise to head coach, and Reid’s fingerprints are all over the scheme Pederson and Reich ran while both worked in Philly. Reich has incorporated much of that in Indianapolis. That shared knowledge could be instrumental for both staffs in trying to craft a defensive plan. The last time these two faced in the postseason, the Colts dealt Reid and the Chiefs a 45-44 loss in a 2013 wildcard game after Kansas City held a
28-point second-half lead. It was the second-worst collapse in postseason history. The only one worse: The Oilers blew a 32-point lead in a 1993 wild-card game against the Bills, who were quarterbacked by Reich.