The Chargers won nine games the past two seasons, tied for fourth-fewest in the NFL. They have won four playoff games the past 22 years. They’ve never won a Super Bowl , the only championship in their 57 seasons coming in 1963 while playing in the now-defunct AFL.
Los Angeles has a reputation for supporting a winner.
Despite its recent history, the city’s newest franchise hopes to be a winner its new city can support.
Former Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator and interim coach Anthony Lynn on Friday agreed to a four-year contract to become the Chargers’ head coach. He is expected to be introduced at a Los Angeles-area news conference next week. Lynn inherits control of a losing roster in a town with little patience for one.
But winning games is soon ahead, the Chargers believe.
The franchise is not blind as to where it stands on the totem pole of Los Angeles sports teams, a mere face in the crowd — and initially an unwelcome one. On Wednesday, shortly after learning about the forthcoming relocation from San Diego, Pro Bowl cornerback Jason Verrett listed some positives to joining the larger market, citing potential branding and business opportunities.
There was, however, a caveat.
“I feel L. A. is overpopulated,” Verrett said. “That’s probably going to be the hardest thing, just having so many teams out there and now putting another team out there.”
This, too, is where the Chargers can distinguish themselves.
The Rams, at least on the field, blundered in their return to Los Angeles this season, going 4-12. Now, it is the Lynn-led Chargers’ turn to attempt a splash. Players and coaches have discussed for several weeks their outlook for 2017. Making a stamp on a new city wasn’t exactly their thinking in November and December, but returning to the playoffs for the first time since 2013 surely would be the first step to building a fan base.
There are reasons for optimism.
Having identified a head coach is one. Lynn, 48, will be looked upon to infuse an added toughness to a locker room with an ever-creative tendency to lose close games. Eighteen of the Chargers’ 23 losses the past two years were decided by a one-score margin, including nine of 11 this season.
“One thing that’s very clear about Anthony Lynn is he’s a leader,” said John Spanos, club president of football operations, in a statement. “He’s a natural-born leader. … He is really going to communicate and connect with our players. He’s had a number of great coaching influences in his life and as a former player who won two Super Bowls, Anthony knows first-hand what championship pedigree is all about.
“We couldn’t be more excited to have him lead our franchise into this exciting new era of Chargers football.”
In 2016, the Chargers had a glimpse of what might have been had major injuries not taken their toll.
In Week 1, wide receiver Keenan Allen made Kansas City All-Pro cornerback Marcus Peters look average while the Chargers built a 21-3 halftime lead. Allen was not on the field for the third quarter; he tore his anterior cruciate ligament late in the second and went on injured reserve for the season.
In Week 2, during a blowout win over the Jaguars , running back Danny Woodhead similarly was off to a fast start to his season. Similarly, he exited in the second quarter with a torn ACL and was lost for the season.
After Week 3, linebacker and defensive co-captain Manti Te’o (Achilles) was placed on IR. After Week 4, it was Verrett. Twenty players finished the season there. With an off-season to return to health, the March free-agency window and resources such as the No. 7 overall draft pick, the Chargers have plenty of pieces to work with.
Now, with a skeptical Los Angeles watching, they must make all the pieces fit. The Chargers’ last run of consecutive playoff berths came from 2006 to 2009.
“It’s a matter of doing it,» quarterback Philip Rivers said in late December, «but you just feel we’re about to have this window of another chance to do something special. … You start to say: These next one, two, three years, we’re going to have as good of a chance since [2006-09]. I believe. It’s just a matter of how it all plays out. »
Lindsey Thiry and Nathan Fenno discuss the Chargers’ announcement they are moving to Los Angeles.
New Rams Coach Sean McVay talks about his vision for the team.
The Rams introduced Sean McVay as their new coach. Bill Plaschke, Gary Klein and Lindsey Thiry react to his first news conference.
Chargers owners Dean and John Spanos talk about the team as it prepares to relocate to L. A.
The Chargers are moving from San Diego to Los Angeles. Will there be a turf war with the Rams? Gary Klein and Lindsey Thiry discuss the possibility.
The Chargers are moving from San Diego to Los Angeles. Will there be a turf war with the Rams? Gary Klein and Lindsey Thiry discuss the possibility.

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Maya Moore has been watching the Connecticut women’s basketball team intently, cheering for it to keep winning.
The former Huskies great, who was instrumental in the previous 90-game winning streak, hopes that this team can keep its record run going and shatter the mark her group set a few years ago.
“I don’t feel like it’s their streak and we have our streak. We all kind of share everything this school accomplishes,” Moore said.
“I’ve watched them play a couple of times. They are the same UConn, same unselfish passing. I’m proud of who they are and who they can be. That’s why I want them to succeed. If they were doing things differently, things might be different.”
Moore remembered the buildup when her Huskies were chasing the UCLA men’s record of 88 consecutive wins in 2010. There was so much more “outside noise” as they approached the vaunted mark with comparisons between men’s and women’s basketball, and questions whether the Huskies were good for the sport.
Moore said Coach Geno Auriemma did a tremendous job keeping the team focused on the task at hand – winning the next game – instead of focusing on the bigger picture or paying any attention to those outside the team’s inner circle.
“The coaches did such a good job of shielding us from it,” she said. “Being undefeated and the streak weren’t our main focus. We didn’t want to get swayed from the ultimate goal of playing great basketball. At the same time you knew what was there. You wanted to win and I think for us, it really brought out the best in us. We wanted to play well; our freshmen had to grow up fast.”
The Huskies, led by Moore, didn’t see their streak last much longer after topping UCLA’s mark against Florida State. They lost to Stanford nine days later.
“It was such a big deal to us when we did it,” Moore said. “Maybe not in the moment but looking back, it’s such a legacy-defining accomplishment. The first to win 90 games in a row. Big picture, no one can take away from that streak, that time together, the uniqueness of that group we had over those games.”
This current run that UConn is on should go a lot longer. The team equaled the record mark Tuesday night in a rout of No. 20 South Florida. That game was over nearly as quickly as it started. UConn scored the first nine points and rolled to a 102-37 victory – the biggest victory over a ranked opponent in school history. While Auriemma and his players have been reticent to talk about the streak, they did celebrate the accomplishment after the game.
“Some things you just can’t really explain, you just have to enjoy it,” Auriemma said. “We don’t set out to do these kinds of things. We don’t set out to set records, break records or keep track of records. We set out to play as hard as we can, play with as much energy as we can.”
With about two minutes left in the game, fans were given signs that read “90 and counting” on one side. On the other was: “The Two longest win streaks in college basketball.”
When the final buzzer sounded, the players put on T-shirts celebrating the accomplishment. A video played with well wishes from former players, including Breanna Stewart and Morgan Tuck, who were key for the first 75 wins of the current run.
“I thought our record was safe,” Moore said. “But then as I saw the last graduating class, as well as how the current players continued to develop, I thought they had a good chance to catch us.”
The Huskies should break their record Saturday at SMU. They haven’t lost an American Athletic Conference game since joining the new league in 2013-14. So the only real potential obstacle before the NCAA tournament is a home game against No. 5 South Carolina on Feb. 13. That would be the school’s 100th consecutive victory.
Auriemma has said repeatedly that the streak will end sometime. He set up the schedule this year with test after test for his young squad. Seven of UConn’s first 12 games featured opponents ranked in the Top 25, including at No. 2 Notre Dame, No. 3 Baylor and at No. 4 Maryland. The Huskies passed all of those exams to keep the run going.
“Honestly, I don’t sit here and figure out how many games we’re going to win in a row,” he said. “We’ve done it before.”
Before the 90-game run that Moore helped accomplish from 2008-10, UConn ran off 70 straight from 2001-03. Who’s to say there won’t be another one when this streak ends?
“As long as Coach Auriemma is there,” Moore said, “I wouldn’t be surprised by anything they do.”
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Posted 10:23 p.m. today
Updated 37 minutes ago
McGinn: Confidence is building throughout the lineup.
Medlin: Canes grant boy’s wish to play with team
RALEIGH, N. C. — Jeff Skinner had two goals and an assist, Brock McGinn also scored twice and the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Buffalo Sabres 5-2 on Friday night.
Carolina swept its three-game series against Buffalo and won its third straight game overall. The Hurricanes are 14-4-1 at home, including 13-1-1 in the last 15 games in Raleigh.
Skinner scored two goals early in the second period, the first one giving him his 300th NHL point.
Carolina’s Cam Ward stopped 36 shots while playing in his 600th NHL game, all with the Hurricanes.
Buffalo’s Anders Nilsson had 33 saves.
Victor Rask scored Carolina’s other goal. William Carrier and Brian Gionta scored for Buffalo.
Buffalo took advantage of a mistake to claim the lead 4:24 into the game. Carolina defenseman Jaccob Slavin, attempting to clear from the right corner, instead sent the puck straight to the Sabres’ Ryan O’Reilly. He set up Carrier for a tip-in from the left side of the net.
Skinner put the Hurricanes ahead with two goals in 55 seconds. At 1:48 of the second, he beat Nilsson glove side on a rush, and then at 2:43, he beat Nilsson stick side from the right circle.
McGinn then made it 3-1 at 6:51, taking a pass from Elias Lindholm in the low slot and lifting it over Nilsson to the upper left corner of the net.
Gionta halved the lead on a short-handed rush at 11:49, picking up the loose puck on a ricochet from behind the goal and taking advantage when Ward lost his stick.
Rask gave the Hurricanes some breathing room at 4:15 of the third, following Noah Hanifin’s shot that caromed off the end boards to beat Nilsson in traffic. Skinner had the secondary assist.
McGinn sealed it at 7:58, scoring from the low slot on Jordan Staal’s pass from behind the net.
NOTES:
The game was played on Carolina coach Bill Peters’ 52nd birthday. … Buffalo D Zach Bogosian played in his 500th game. … Ward is fifth among active goalies in games played. … Buffalo D Josh Gorges (hip) missed his second straight game while G Robin Lehner (illness) was out for his third. … RW Ty Rattie, D Klas Dahlbeck and D Ryan Murphy were healthy scratches for Carolina. … Staal extended his points streak to three games with his assist on Skinner’s first goal.
UP NEXT
Sabres: Host Dallas on Monday.
Hurricanes: Host the New York Islanders on Saturday in the finale of their four-game homestand.

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WASHINGTON — There are no huge games in January. At least, not for the Blackhawks, who haven’t been in any true danger of missing the playoffs in six years, and who have won the Stanley Cup as a No. 1 seed and as a No. 6 seed.
But there certainly are games that carry a little more weight than others, that offer a sterner test. And after sweeping through four middling teams on their recent homestand, the Hawks were looking forward to measuring themselves against two of their fellow contenders this weekend — the Washington Capitals, who came in to Friday’s game having won seven straight, and the Minnesota Wild, who are just two points back with a whopping five games in hand.
Well, the Hawks didn’t measure up at all on Friday night, getting blown out 6-0 by the Capitals in what can only be described as a total team failure. They were awful with the puck, awful without the puck, and it led to the most awful lost of the season, eclipsing a 5-0 loss in Edmonton on Nov. 21. And despite the tougher opponent, this one was somehow far worse.
“We just pretty much did everything we said we wouldn’t do, or weren’t supposed to do,” defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson said. “That was one of those two or three games that you have a year [when] you’re just being outplayed really bad. That was probably as outplayed as I’ve been in a long time.”
Corey Crawford stops the puck against Washington right wing T. J. Oshie during the first period Friday night. (AP Photo)
The only debate after the game was whether the Hawks should stew on the loss, or flush it.
“You can’t forget these games,” said a clearly fuming Jonathan Toews after the loss. “You’ve got to let them sink in, you’ve got to learn from them You’ve got to use it, get pissed off, and use it the right way, to address the glaring issues that were present.”
Trevor van Riemsdyk, who was a minus-3 on the night, agreed, saying, “It’d be a waste not to try and use that in some sort of positive manner.”
But Joel Quenneville didn’t want anything to do with it.
“Let’s forget about this one, because there’s nothing good about it,” he said.
Yes, the Capitals are very good, as their eight straight victories show. But the Hawks didn’t even put up a fight. The game was over after one period, with the Hawks down 3-0, with plenty of blame to go around. The bottom-two defensive pairings of Brian Campbell-Brent Seabrook and van Riemsdyk-Michal Rozsival struggled. Corey Crawford was off his game. And the Hawks had little to no puck possession, getting outshot 14-5 and out-attempted 30-11 in the first period.
The Hawks have had similarly poor starts throughout the season, but the Capitals actually made them pay for it.
“Ugly start, that’s for sure,” Quenneville said.
The Hawks showed some life in the second period, taking nine of the first 11 shots. But a Vinnie Hinostroza goal was overturned after a coach’s challenge (the referee ruled Marian Hossa, tied up with Brooks Orpik, interfered with Capitals goalie Braden Holtby). The game then effectively ended when Washington had all three shots on a Hawks power play, then made it 4-0 on Tom Wilson’s goal.
Oshie chased Crawford when he made it 5-0 at 8:11 of the third, and Jay Beagle continued his unlikely mastery over the Hawks with his second goal of the game (and sixth in eight career games against the Hawks) with 1:32 to go.
The Capitals had six players with at least two points, and Holtby has now gone five straight games without allowing an even-strength goal. As for the Hawks? Nothing. No player stood out. No unit played well. No silver lining was available.
“I don’t think anyone is happy with the way they played out there,” Hjalmarsson said. “That was just an overall bad performance.”
And Minnesota’s coming.
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Greely High is one of the three unbeaten boys’ basketball teams remaining in southern Maine.
The Rangers have had to work overtime to keep it that way.
On Tuesday, Greely fell behind 20-3 out of the gate, recovered, coughed up a fourth-quarter lead, then needed three thrilling overtimes to get the 82-74 victory at Yarmouth. The week before, the Rangers never led in the second half at Falmouth, rallied from an eight-point deficit and won in overtime.
“This is a great learning experience for us,” Coach Travis Seaver said after the Yarmouth win. “It’s important to take pieces from this game that can make us better. It’s great to be on the winning side of a game like this but we can point to 10 things that we still need to do better.”
Greely and the rest of the contenders out of the Western Maine Conference will have no shortage of quality tests before the playoffs.
Seven of Greely’s nine remaining games are against teams that had winning records entering Friday night. That includes rematches against always tough rivals Cape Elizabeth (7-2, six straight wins) and Falmouth (7-2).
Also left on Greely’s schedule are several teams – Biddeford (5-4), Fryeburg Academy (7-3), York (6-4) and Westbrook (7-3) – that are improved compared to last season. Greely is at Biddeford on Saturday.
“That’s the great thing about our league. There are so many competitive teams,” Seaver said.
Matt McDevitt of Greely and Alek Medenica of Yarmouth, two 6-foot-7 seniors, combined to make 13 3-pointers in the game, seven for McDevitt. The two friends relished playing in front of an increasingly frenzied crowd in cramped John C. Stroud Gymnasium.
“Those are some great moments. I’m going to remember those forever, honestly,” McDevitt said.
Medenica, in his second season with Yarmouth, grew up in Belgrade, Serbia, where his father (and current Yarmouth assistant coach) Jagos Medenica was a professional player.
“I don’t think we’re ever going to find something like this in the playoffs. This was above and beyond just because of the atmosphere and how crazy it was, and the shots that were being made and the level of play,” Medenica said. “My ears were still ringing when I came out. I came from Serbia where you go to a basketball game, when you come out you can’t hear. It was just like a little flashback to being in Serbia.”
Thornton won its first eight games by an average of 19.9 points. The Golden Trojans met their first serious challenge Thursday with a 56-53 win against Deering, handing the Rams their second loss. Thornton hosts South Portland (8-1, eight straight wins) next Friday in AA South’s premier game of the season, then is at Portland (8-1) the following Tuesday.
“Those are the games that everyone needs to play in,” said Thornton Coach Bob Davies. “Those games help us work on things. (Against Deering) we get up by 10 and then we give it back. It’s about being able to make a shot or get a rebound we should have got.”
Thornton has been led offensively by seniors Austin Boudreau (30 points on 10 3-pointers in a 61-40 win against Gorham) and Evan Christensen, and junior David Keohan. But it’s the team’s depth and chemistry that pleases Davies.
“The kids like playing basketball together and that’s a big part of it,” Davies said.
Medomak Valley has won eight games by more than 10 points. Six of its remaining eight games are against teams it has beaten.
Coach Mike Murphy said Brett had been complaining of numbness in her leg and went for an MRI, which revealed a weakness in the bone. Brett was told to stay off the leg for 6 to 12 weeks and is using crutches.
“It’s a huge loss,” said Murphy. “In her mind there’s a chance she’ll come back. She’s doing everything they tell her. Basically she’s coaching kids off the bench right now.”
Sophomore Victoria Garand has stepped into the starting position, but Murphy said all his players have stepped up.
“The effort level has gone way up,” he said. “The kids are just playing harder, all the individuals, to make up for the lack of rebounding and leadership Amanda provided.”
Deering is 7-3 and ranked third in Class AA North.
Murphy said doctors will take another look at the leg on Feb. 1. Brett is hopeful she can play in the tournament, so she’s trying to stay in shape by swimming.
“We hope to keep it going,” said first-year head coach Steve Freeman. “Every game we play is a big game. The league is so equal. Except for the top (Greely), anything can happen on any night.”
Freeman said the Wildcats’ success has been based on defense and maturity. On any given night, the Wildcats will have a different leading scorer. But their defense has really improved.
“The girls have come together, they believe in each other and they believe in what we’re trying to do,” he said.
Seniors Maddie Cogger, Reilly Smedley and Lily Posternak have been instrumental in the streak, said Freeman, as has freshman guard Nina Howe. “She’s really showing what she can do now,” Freeman said of Howe. “She’s so quick and determined. She’s not very tall but she goes to the glass as hard as any 6-footer.”
Howe, Cogger, Posternak and senior Morgan Chapman give York a nice four-player rotation at guard that allows the Wildcats to keep up the defensive pressure.
Besides the valuable Heal points the Trojans picked up, Coach Eric Marston said, “More than anything, psychologically it was a big one. We had lost those three in a row, all to quality teams, but I think we were at the point of ‘Can we do it?’ We’ve been focusing all year on getting better every game. But at some point you’ve got to win.”
The win lifted the Trojans to 6-4 and into fourth place in Class AA South.
Thornton’s home game Saturday at 5 p.m. against Bangor – its third game of the week against a team nicknamed Rams – will be its Hoops for Hope game, a fund-raising event for cancer treatment. Last year’s Hoops for Hope raised around $20,000.
The team will hold an auction in the Linnell Gymnasium lobby during the game as well as a raffle. Students in grades 5-12 involved in basketball also have been raising money through collections. The Trojans will wear pink uniforms. “We do this to provide hope for cancer patients and their families,” said Marston.
No official records are kept but the website Maine High School Sports shows Schildroth’s 61 points tied for sixth all-time among Maine boys. The unofficial record of 82 points was set in 1921.
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By Jason Keidel
WFAN host Mike Francesa has long said the second round of the NFL playoffs is the best pure weekend of football every year.
It’s hard to argue with that. While Wild Card Weekend has its share of talent and temerity, the Divisional Round features the final eight teams, the best eight teams. The prior week just peels away the pretenders from the contenders.
And true to form, we’ve got four fine games over two days. Well, three great games and the Patriots vs Texans. Let’s take a look…
Seattle Seahawks (11-5-1) @ Atlanta Falcons (11-5)
Saturday, January 14, 4:35 p.m. ET
Atlanta has the home-field advantage and the point spread in their favor. Seattle has the playoff pedigree. Atlanta has the leading candidate for NFL MVP in Matt Ryan, who is 1-4 in the playoffs. Seattle has Russell Wilson, who is 8-3 in the playoffs.
How often will Richard Sherman face arguably the toughest cover in the sport — Julio Jones? That matchup alone is worth the price of admission. Pete Carroll would be wise to keep Sherman draped over Jones. During their October matchup, Jones caught four passes for 99 yards and a TD against cornerbacks not named Sherman.
And while Seattle is not the same ornery and dominant defense they were a year or two ago — especially without stellar safety Earl Thomas — they still boast the league’s third-best scoring defense (18.3 PPG). They will need every bit of it against the Atlanta’s top-ranked offense, which averaged 33.8 points per game.
The Falcons are the picture of balance, ranking third in passing and fifth in rushing, while Seattle’s defense ranks eighth and seventh, respectively.
Though the Jones-Sherman matchup beams from the marquee, perhaps Atlanta’s secret weapon may make the difference. Taylor Gabriel, Atlanta’s iteration of Tyreek Hill, has seven touchdowns on just 54 touches (according to SI.com). To counter Gabriel and the Falcons’ volcanic running game, the Seahawks will rely less on Sherman and more on the understated but very potent linebackers K. J. Wright and Bobby Wagner, who combined to register an astounding 26.5 percent of the team’s tackles.
These teams played earlier in the season, a 26-24 decision in favor of Seattle. The game ended on a very dubious call — or non-call — when Sherman clearly yanked Jones’s arm on a pass deep downfield. No flag. No win. Atlanta is looking for payback.
There’s just something about Seattle. Maybe it’s their defense. Maybe it’s Russell Wilson. Maybe it’s the overdue emergence of Thomas Rawls. Maybe it’s all three.
Seahawks, 24-20
Tom Brady (Photo Credit: Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
Houston Texans (10-7) @ New England Patriots (14-2)
Saturday, January 14, 8:15 p.m. ET
This is the only game in which the result is in little doubt. Depending on the sports book, the home-team Patriots are favored by 15 or 16 points. And under Bill Belichick the Patriots have won five playoff games by at least 17 points.
Texans head coach Bill O’Brien learned his NFL wares at the altar of Belichick. O’Brien left New England to coach in college, which he used as a funnel to the NFL. But it’s a stretch to say he has the inside scoop on the Patriots. If that were true, all of Belichick’s coaching minions would see similar success. So far, no one has.
Houston may have the leagues’ top-rated defense, but New England’s defense has allowed the fewest points. You can decide which stat is more salient. It doesn’t hurt that the Pats have Tom Brady, who will stand alone with five Super Bowl rings if his Pats can win three more games.
The Patriots have owned home-field advantage five times under Brady and Beclichick. They reached the Super Bowl four times. If someone is going to buck that trend, it likely won’t be Brock Osweiler. The good news is the Texans won’t have to travel to see the Super Bowl, since it’s being played in their stadium. They just won’t be a participant.
Patriots, 34-13
Check out Tony Gonzalez’s breakdown of the Texans-Patriots matchup.
Aaron Rodgers (Photo Credit: Dylan Buell/Getty Images)
Green Bay Packers (11-6) @ Dallas Cowboys (13-3)
Sunday, January, 15, 4:40 p.m. ET
The Packers have the other offense that puts some fright in opposing defenses. Especially when you consider the sizzling streak Aaron Rodgers is on. Not only did the Packers drop 38 on the best defense in the NFL (Giants), Rodgers also hasn’t thrown an interception in two months.
During the latest broadcast of Inside the NFL , Phil Simms said that Rodgers was the best pure thrower the sport has ever seen. Some of us have been saying that for years. If you’d like some proof, just turn on your television. If you’d like some stats, consider Rodgers has completed nearly 70 percent of his passes, for 2,029 yards, 19 TD, 0 INT and a pyrotechnic passer rating of 121.7 during the Packers’ seven-game winning streak. (Over their last eight games, Rodgers has 22 TD and still 0 INT.) Rodgers has also gone eight straight games with zero picks and 200 yards, while completing 60 percent of his passes, the second longest streak in history. The longest streak belongs to… Aaron Rodgers.
Folks love to laud Tom Brady over making mediocre players look sublime. But is Rodgers really flanked by Hall of Famers? Randall Cobb, Davante Adams and Ty Montgomery are hardly Jerry Rice, John Taylor and Roger Craig. Jordy Nelson, who is legit, was just ruled out for Sunday’s game.
Dallas has flipped the football orthodoxy on its head. With a rookie QB-RB tandem leading the way, the Cowboys were 13-2 before sleepwalking through a loss to the Eagles in the final game of the regular season. Dallas leads the league in rushing yards and time of possession. In this age of epic passing games, the Cowboys are decidedly old-school, true to their smash-mouth, NFC East roots, as the only NFL team to run the ball more than they throw it.
Not only is Green Bay on fire, but the Cowboys were already ranked 26th in pass defense. And now they are without suspended DE Randy Gregory. Rodgers doesn’t need any help to shred the best defenses in the sport. Dallas has one of the worst. No team in NFL history has ever won a playoff game with rookies as their leading rusher and passer.
Packers, 27-21
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Le’Veon Bell (Photo Credit: Joe Sargent/Getty Images)
Pittsburgh Steelers (12-5) @ Kansas City Chiefs (12-4)
Sunday, January, 15, 8:20 p.m. ET
Two teams emerged from Wild Card Weekend with a heavy offensive arsenal, strong enough to get pundits aboard the bandwagon. The Steelers are one of them.
With Pittsburgh’s big three — Ben Roethlisberger, Antonio Brown and Le’Veon Bell — fresh off their first playoff game together, the Steelers’ offense has to have defensive coordinators reaching for the Rolaids. All three looked fabulous in last week’s 30-12 win over the Miami Dolphins.
The Chiefs had a fabulous regular season, somewhat masked by the Patriots and the injury to Raiders QB Derek Carr. If Chiefs fans want some comfort, take it in Andy Reid, whose record as NFL head coach is 19-3 after a bye week. Add to it the Arrowhead home field and the fact that Big Ben has thrown nine touchdowns and eight interceptions, with a passer rating of 78.4, on the road this year. (He has 26 TD, 9 INT, and 102.8 passer rating at home.)
Forget the 43-14 beating Pittsburgh put on Kansas City in Week 4. The teams are different now, and that game was at Heinz Field. When the Chiefs play at home, their defense ranks first in turnovers per drive, seventh in points per drive and eighth in opponents’ total QBR. Also, all-world LB Justin Houston didn’t play in the first game. He’s here for the rematch.
Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin is catching some criticism for leaving Roethlisberger in the Miami game too long, as Big Ben tweaked his ankle on his final pass, when the Steelers had already sealed the game. Roethlisberger has shown he can play through almost any injury.
To a man, Kansas City has the most complete roster in the NFL, and former players say there isn’t a more ornery road game than one played at Arrowhead, where the Steelers visit this Sunday. If this game were to be played in Pittsburgh, or even on a neutral field, it would be hard to pick against their potent offensive trinity. But it won’t be. And Kansas City has this emerging gridiron nuke named Tyreek Hill.
Chiefs, 26-23
Jason writes a weekly column for CBS Local Sports. He is a native New Yorker, sans the elitist sensibilities, and believes there’s a world west of the Hudson River. A Yankees devotee and Steelers groupie, he has been scouring the forest of fertile NYC sports sections since the 1970s. He has written over 500 columns for WFAN/CBS NY , and also worked as a freelance writer for Sports Illustrated and Newsday subsidiary amNew York. He made his bones as a boxing writer, occasionally covering fights in Las Vegas, Atlantic City, but mostly inside Madison Square Garden. Follow him on Twitter @JasonKeidel.

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