Chiefs-Raiders kicks off Week 18 doubleheader | KCSN Daily 1.2
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For the second consecutive year, Kansas City will play on Saturday in the final week of the NFL’s regular season. The NFL announced the full schedule for Week 18, flexing the Chiefs’ Week 18 game against the Las Vegas Raiders to Saturday, Jan. 7 at 4:30 p.m. ET. The game will be broadcast on both ABC and ESPN.
The results of this game are expected to have little impact on the playoff race, leading this game to be scheduled for the earliest possible time slot in Week 18. The NFL often reserves games with big playoff implications for the best time slots in the final week.
Chiefs HC Andy Reid actually anticipated playing on Saturday, instructing coaches to get an early start on the game plan.
“Yeah, we’ll see how it goes,” Reid said following Week 17. “We’ll be in and out of (meetings). What we’ve done is we have to take it as if we’re playing on Saturday. That’s how you have to go about it. So our coaches were working today and yesterday – this morning and yesterday – finishing up the run game and some of the pass game stuff. And so, we’ll get tomorrow to add a little bit to it and then we’re right into it. So, we’re treating it like (it’s a Saturday game) which is the only way you can do it. If they sprawl a Saturday on us, we have to be ready to roll.”
You can find a look at the full NFL Week 18 schedule down below:
If Buffalo defeats Cincinnati tonight, the Ravens’ Week 18 matchup with the Bengals will be played at 4:25 p.m. ET on CBS. If Cincinnati defeats Buffalo, that game will be played at 1:00 p.m. ET on CBS.
KCSN Live Postgame Show:
KCSN’s Kent Swanson, Craig Stout, and Matt Lane go live following the Kansas City Chiefs game against the Denver Broncos to break it all down.
Stats to know ahead of Week 18 vs. Raiders:
Series history: Chiefs vs. Raiders remains one of the most storied rivalries in the NFL, playing each other 127 times since 1960. Kansas City currently leads the all-time series 71-54-2, beating the Raiders in nine of their last 10 matchups. The lone win for Las Vegas came in October 2020.
Finishing strong: Dating back to Patrick Mahomes’ first start in 2017, the Chiefs are 4-1 in the final week of the NFL’s regular season. Their lone loss came in 2020 when the team rested their starters and opted to go with Chad Henne and backup players against the Chargers. In Andy Reid’s tenure with the team, Kansas City is 7-2 in the final week of the season.
Red zone: This could be a good week for the Chiefs’ red zone offense and defense. The Raiders rank 27th in the NFL on both offense and defense in terms of red zone scoring percentage. On offense, Las Vegas has converted just 48.9 percent of their red zone plays this season. K.C. boasts the worst red zone defenses in the league, allowing opponents to convert 69.2% of the time. Any advantage they can gain there would be huge.
(Photo via NFL)
Remember, vote for Kansas City Chiefs 2022 NFL Fan of the Year Nominee Dr. Amy Patel. You can vote multiple times until polls close on Wednesday, Feb. 9. Click the image above to listen to KCSN’s BJ Kissel exclusive interview with Dr. Patel.
KCSN Update:
KCSN’s Tucker Franklin sits down with Brett Kollmann to get his thoughts on the Kansas City Chiefs' win vs. the Denver Broncos and what he took away from the game. Later, they talk about the. AFC Playoff picture and what else is happening around the league.
Quotable:
“I think that they have done a good job of just continuously throwing me in there throughout the season, so I feel like I’ve gotten a lot of practice at it. Now it’s in the game environment, getting game reps and just getting comfortable with it but I mean, outside (or) inside, I love it all so whatever I can do to help the team out is what I’m going to do.” - Chiefs rookie CB Trent McDuffie on playing in the slot
“My dog. He’s got 5.5 (sacks on the season) – we can’t discredit the half. My dog, he works on it a lot with me after practice. We emphasize on getting to the quarterback with our front four and then with our front eight and he’s been taking it seriously and throughout the year he’s gotten better. We got to continue to push him to get better throughout the year.” - Chris Jones on Chiefs rookie DE George Karlaftis
Quick hits:
From ESPN: An interesting stat from ESPN’s Analytics writer Seth Walder — Sacks Created — which credits a player who earns the first pass-rush win on a given sack with a sack. This adds some context to just how valuable Chiefs DT Chris Jones has been to Kansas City this season.
Also from ESPN: Jeremy Fowler shared a little context about the type of season that Chiefs CB L’Jarius Sneed is having. Only one other defensive back since 1999 (Logan Ryan) has seen the type of production that Sneed has in 2022.
From Chiefs PR: In Week 17, Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes became only the second QB in NFL history with multiple seasons of 5,000+ passing yards & 40+ passing touchdowns. Drew Brees is the only other player with two such seasons.
Important dates ahead:
Saturday, Jan. 7 at 3:30 p.m. CT - Week 17: Chiefs vs. Raiders - Allegiant Stadium - Las Vegas, Nevada
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