Holthus on TheFan965:

"Patrick Mahomes will have the longest layoff in NFL history for a QB from his last regular season action to his first playoff game."

"But I will tell you, since the league has gone to 17 games...this team, for it to back up mentally and emotionally...I've seen what happens to this team."

"If that leads to a slow start, I don't think it will last long. The best chance this team had for a threepeat is the fact that they got this bye and these 23 days to get ready."

Holthus said the Chiefs could play Humphries AND Thuney at LT Saturday. :shrug:

Why tho????

Get ready to taste the sweet nectar of Humphries end zone Chiefs fans!

Now is not the time to f*** around.

#HOUvsKC #NFLPlayoffs officiating crew cheat sheet

HOME teams are 4-0 SU & 2-2 ATS in Clay Martin's playoff career, favored by an avg of -4.5 pts.

One playoff game was a 22-17 KC win vs #Browns in 2020 & also #Texans 45-17 win vs #Browns in 2023

The Chiefs are 6-0 SU & 2-4 ATS w Martin, favored by an avg of -7.5 pts in those contests

Most recently, their 19-17 Black Friday win vs. #Raiders in Week 13, which ended w' the illegal shift penalty on Las Vegas as time expired

The makeup of this crew points to an emphasis on OFFENSIVE penalties

The combination of FALSE START/OFFENSIVE HOLDING will be key in this game

That combination accounted for 47.4% of Clay Martin's penalties in 2024 (No.1 in NFL)

OFFENSIVE HOLDING without a doubt the No.1 issue for #KansasCity, they rank 3rd overall but are excellent in the false start category ,ranking 26th

However, the Houston Texans are also an above avg penalized offense in BOTH these categories

Traditionally, the NFL look to reduce these calls in the playoffs, so both teams should be provided some leeway

THIRD DOWN ALERT

Clay Martin led crews calling just 17.3% of penalties on THIRD DOWN, second FEWEST in the #NFL

Additionally, the Martin/Hochuli crews calling some of the fewest defensive penalties on THIRD down, both in the bottom three of crews . Leeway will be provided on the money down if form holds.

The #Chiefs an above avg penalized DEFENSE third down, the Texans a way above avg penalized OFFENSE on 3rd down

#KansasCity OFFENSE ranks 11th as a BENEFICIARY of AUTOMATIC 1ST DOWNS via PENALTY.

#Houston OFFENSE ranks 29th as a BENEFICIARY of AUTOMATIC 1ST DOWNS via PENALTY.

Houston has improved from a penalty perspective down the stretch & they're going to need to put together a season best performance penalty-wise on Saturday . If they are behind the chains via false start or offensive holding too often, it's going to be near impossible to win at Arrowhead

The Chiefs always reduce penalties in the playoffs, & by a significant amount vs regular season games

The officiating angles & the playoff history of Andy Reid/Patrick Mahomes point to a home team victory to open the #DivisionalRound

Chiefs are actually 11-3 with him as ref since 2017

Bills are 8-2 with him since 2018

Ravens are 4-2 with him since 2018

They’ll be fine. Starters had 3 weeks off in 20 and we jumped out to a 13-3 early lead vs Cleveland in the Divisional

My guess is they think Humphries is almost there conditioning wise but might give him breaks here and there or in the 4th.

I think that means Thuney starts.



And they move him only if interior is a huge issue.

I would rather he felt 30 years old. You could pretty much count on TK doing something stupid 1-2 times per game early in his career. Throwing the ref's flag, etc.

Not sure Mitch has ever been the insider who breaks news in any capacity. But in any case, the uncertainty of who starts there at least steals a very small amount of time from the Texans.

I'd be surprised at this point if it's not Thuney.

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I'm sure that Andy Reid is telling the team to concentrate on one game at a time. It's
too early to think about the Super Bowl. Houston just beat a good team by 20 points.

i feel like the whole “resting starters is bad!!” thing came from Peyton chokejobs bc Andy was doing this shit for years in Philly and his issue wasnt one and dones lol