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<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
By Tim Byrnes<\/p>\n
Happy Holidays to all of you. The Broncos traveled to Arrowhead Stadium looking to maintain the top seed in the AFC, while the Chiefs were trying to avoid their fifth consecutive loss.<\/p>\n
Week 17 began in Kansas City:<\/p>\n
Christmas Day:<\/b><\/p>\n
Denver (12-3) @ Kansas City (6-9): Denver 20-13<\/b><\/p>\n
The Chiefs implosion continued in ugly fashion, as the home team managed just 139 total yards, and only 10 first downs. Denver controlled the clock all game and had a 71-42 advantage in total plays.<\/p>\n
Broncos quarterback Bo Nix (182 yards passing-TD\/ 42 rushing-TD) was responsible for more points and out-produced the Chiefs on his own. Tied 13-13 at the two-minute warning, fourth-and-two on the nine-yard line, Nix drew Chris Jones offsides, giving the Broncos first-and-goal. Nix hit RJ Harvey for the one-yard game winning touchdown three plays later.<\/p>\n
Replacing injured Patrick Mahomes, Chris Oladokun managed just 66 yards passing and a score, while primary contributors Kareem Hunt (38 yards) and Travis Kelce (36 yards) continued their subpar seasons.<\/p>\n
Saturday:<\/b><\/p>\n
Houston (10-5) @ LA Chargers (11-4): Hou 20-16<\/b><\/p>\n
10 plays into the game, the Texans had a 14-point lead and looked like they would run away with the game. Quarterback CJ Stroud (244 yards-2 TDs) hit Jayden Higgins (2-88-TD) for a 73-yard touchdown on the opening drive, and fellow receiver Jaylin Noel (3-54-TD) for a 43-yard score on the ensuing possession.<\/p>\n
Stroud managed just 102 yards and two interceptions the remainder of the game, but the vaunted Houston defense held its 14th team to 21 points or less, led by hard-hitting Azeez Al-Shaair\u2019s interception and six crushing tackles. Derek Barnett added two of the Texans five sacks, and Henry To\u2019oTo\u2019o added 12 tackles.<\/p>\n
Usually reliable for the Chargers, Cameron Dicker “The Kicker\u201d missed a 32-yard field goal attempt, and a late extra-point, which was the difference in the game.<\/p>\n
Sunday Night:<\/b><\/p>\n
Chicago (11-4) @ San Francisco (11-4): SF 42-38<\/b><\/p>\n
Twelve drives over 60 yards, 936 yards of offense, and 11 touchdowns made this matchup one of the most entertaining games of the year.<\/p>\n
Brock Purdy (303 yards passing-3 TDs\/ 28 rushing-2 TDs) had his second consecutive game totaling five touchdowns, and Christian McCaffrey dominated by rushing for 140 yards and a touchdown and adding 41 more yards receiving.<\/p>\n
Linebacker TJ Edwards intercepted Purdy on the first play from scrimmage and returned it for a touchdown to begin Chicago’s scoring.<\/p>\n
D\u2019Andre Swift ran for two scores and Caleb Williams threw for 330 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Bears. Chicago marched down to the two-yard line but ran out of time as receiver Luther Burden III (8-138-TD) pulled up lame with a hamstring injury to end the game.<\/p>\n
Other Games:<\/b><\/p>\n
Dal 30 – Was 23 (Thursday)<\/p>\n
Min 23 – Det 10 (Thursday)<\/p>\n
Bal 41 – GB 24 (Saturday)<\/p>\n
Cin 37 – Ari 14<\/p>\n
Cle 13 – Pit 6<\/p>\n
NO 34 – Ten 26<\/p>\n
Jax 23 – Ind 17<\/p>\n
Mia 20 – TB 17<\/p>\n
NE 42 – NYJ 10<\/p>\n
Sea 27 – Car 10<\/p>\n
NYG 34 – LV 10<\/p>\n
Phi 13 – Buf 12<\/p>\n
Monday Night:<\/b><\/p>\n
LA Rams (11-4) @ Atlanta (6-9): Atl 27-24<\/b><\/p>\n
The Rams completed a self-destructive week for SoFi football, losing to another inferior team. Falcons running back Bijan Robinson, who ran for 195 yards and a touchdown and had a touchdown receiving, showed that the Rams defense hasn\u2019t changed much from the team that was punked by Philadelphia’s Saquon Barkley who rushed for 205 yards and two scores to end last season. Robinson broke off one of the longest touchdown runs in Monday Night Football history with a 93-yard burst just before halftime. Tony Dorsett had the longest with a 99-yard touchdown run.<\/p>\n
Matthew Stafford threw for 269 yards and two scores but had trouble finding his favorite target Puka Nacua, who had five catches for 47 yards and a touchdown. Stafford also tossed an uncharacteristic three interceptions.<\/p>\n
The loss has LA likely facing Philadelphia in the playoffs, and the draft pick acquired from Atlanta stands at #11 going into Week 18.<\/p>\n
Byrnes Picks:<\/b><\/p>\n
Week 17 Results:<\/strong><\/p>\n (8-8) (160-95-1)<\/p>\n Week 18 Picks:<\/b><\/p>\n New Orleans over Atlanta<\/p>\n Buffalo over NY Jets<\/p>\n Chicago over Detroit<\/p>\n Cincinnati over Cleveland<\/p>\n Denver over LA Chargers<\/p>\n Kansas City over Las Vegas<\/p>\n LA Rams over Arizona<\/p>\n Green Bay over Minnesota<\/p>\n New England over Miami<\/p>\n Dallas over NY Giants<\/p>\n Philadelphia over Washington<\/p>\n Pittsburgh over Baltimore<\/p>\n San Francisco over Seattle<\/p>\n Carolina over Tampa Bay<\/p>\n Jacksonville over Tennessee<\/p>\n Houston over Indianapolis<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Tim Byrnes Happy Holidays to all of you. The Broncos traveled to Arrowhead Stadium looking to maintain the top seed in the AFC, while the Chiefs were trying to avoid their fifth consecutive loss.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-93947","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-stories-news-notes-around-professional-football"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93947","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=93947"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93947\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":93952,"href":"https:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93947\/revisions\/93952"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=93947"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=93947"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=93947"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}