The NFL's one-season rule change could have complicating factors for the Kansas City Chiefs further down the line, but their task for Week 18 is simple: beat the Las Vegas Raiders and earn a bye to the divisional round.
With the Buffalo Bills and the Cincinnati Bengals – both rivals for the first seed in the AFC – to finish the year having played only 16 games, neither will be able to catch the Chiefs should they defeat the Raiders.
That will not necessarily mean an AFC Championship Game at Arrowhead Stadium, with a neutral venue potentially coming into play, but it does assure them of a week off and a favourable route through the postseason.
Fans in Buffalo and Cincinnati could reasonably be frustrated, and their hopes of the Chiefs being halted rest with an unlikely Raiders victory.
The Chiefs are 9-1 in their past 10 games against the Raiders, and their most recent nine meetings – including a high-scoring defeat in 2020 – have seen Kansas City score at least 28 points.
Only the Los Angeles Rams against the Green Bay Packers, between 1949 and 1953, have ever scored 28 or more points in 10 straight encounters.
Even in Las Vegas, there is little reason to believe that sequence will end this week, given the Chiefs' dominant road form this year.
They have scored 264 points across eight games away from Arrowhead, meaning the Chiefs will have scored the third-most road points in a season in NFL history if they hit their average of 33.0 again.
MVP frontrunner Patrick Mahomes loves playing the Raiders, too, having thrown more touchdowns in this matchup (26) than in any other.
In 2022, he has passed 5,000 passing yards (5,048) and 250 rushing yards (329) in a season for the second time in his career; only two other quarterbacks in NFL history have ever enjoyed one such campaign (Jameis Winston in 2019 and Justin Herbert in 2021).
Yet the Raiders improbably have their own in-form QB, with former New England Patriots backup Jarrett Stidham last week impressing in his first career start.
Stidham threw for 365 yards and three TDs against the San Francisco 49ers, joining Mike White last season as the second QB in the Super Bowl era to mark his first start with 350 passing yards and three passing TDs.
Repeating that performance against the highly motivated Chiefs is a tough ask, though.
Falcons surprisingly pick quarterback Penix at No. 8
The Atlanta Falcons saw an opportunity and seized.
The Falcons pulled off a shocker, selecting Washington quarterback Michael Penix Jr. with the eighth pick in Thursday's NFL draft.
Although Atlanta signed Kirk Cousins to a four-year, $180million contract this offseason, the team obviously views Penix as the quarterback of the future.
With the Falcons picking Penix, four quarterbacks have been selected in the top eight picks for the first time in the common draft era (1967).
And while four QBs went ahead of him, many scouts all agreed that Penix has the best arm on deep throws among all the quarterbacks in this year's draft class.
As a senior last year, he won the Maxwell Award as the top collegiate player in the United States and finished second in Heisman Trophy voting, throwing for an FBS-best 4,903 yards with 36 TDs and 11 picks.
The left-handed throwing Penix led the Huskies to last season's the national title game, but after passing for 430 yards and two touchdowns in the CFP semi-final win over Texas, he threw for 255 yards and two interceptions in a 34-13 loss to Michigan.
In addition to his deep-ball accuracy, Penix also excels at getting rid of the ball quickly and avoid taking a sack, as he was sacked just 11 times despite attempting an FBS-high 555 passes in 2023. Among the 44 quarterbacks with at least 350 pass attempts, only four were sacked a fewer number of times.
Despite his big arm and pocket presence, some teams were a bit concerned about his age and injury history.
Penix will be 24 years old when the 2024 NFL season gets under way after beginning his collegiate career in 2018 at Indiana. After an up-and-down four years with the Hoosiers, which included a second-team All-Big Ten selection in 2020 but also two season-ending injuries, Penix transferred to Washington prior to the 2022 season.
In his first season with the Huskies, Penix earned second-team All-Pac 12 honours after ranking second in the FBS in passing yards with 4,641 to go with 31 touchdowns and eight interceptions.
He was able to stay healthy during his two years at Washington, and will now join an Atlanta offence that also has last year's No. 8 pick in Bijan Robinson.
Marvin Harrison Jr. headed to Cardinals, is first non-QB drafted
With players like Chris Olave, Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Garrett Wilson entering the league in recent years, Ohio State has become a factory for NFL wide receivers.
Marvin Harrison Jr. might be the best of the bunch.
The Arizona Cardinals selected Harrison with the fourth overall pick on Thursday, making him the first non-quarterback to come off the board.
With several teams still looking for their future quarterbacks, some experts thought the Cardinals could trade the No. 4 pick, but they ultimately stayed put to take Harrison.
The son of the eight-time Pro Bowl receiver and Indianapolis Colts great, Harrison Jr. spent three seasons at Ohio State. In his last two seasons in Columbus, he totalled 144 receptions for 2,474 yards and 28 touchdowns.
Harrison is a two-time All-American and won the Fred Biletnikoff Award last year as college football’s best receiver.
With good athleticism and a 6-foot-4, 205-pound frame, Harrison checks all the boxes to project as a No. 1 NFL receiver.
In a pre-draft interview with ESPN on Thursday, Harrison said his goal is to be “the best receiver to ever play.”
Harrison joins a Cardinals team that is looking to recover from a 4-13 season and wants to build around quarterback Kyler Murray.
Commanders take QB Jayden Daniels 2nd in NFL draft
The Washington Commanders are confident that they have found their franchise quarterback.
With the second overall pick, the Commanders selected LSU’s Jayden Daniels, one of the most electric dual-threat quarterback prospects in recent memory.
The reigning Heisman Trophy winner led LSU to a 10-3 season last year and threw for 3,812 yards and 40 touchdowns with only four interceptions. He added 1,134 yards on the ground and 10 rushing touchdowns.
On Wednesday, Daniels downplayed reports that he was unhappy with the Commanders conducting a group interview with other top quarterback prospects.
“I'm blessed to go wherever I'm called,” Daniels told reporters. “Whoever calls my phone, whoever gives the card to the Commissioner that says my name, I'm blessed to go and they're going to get my all.”
Daniels later clarified that he was “one hundred percent” heading to Washington.
Despite gaudy production in his senior year, scouts were split on Daniels’ professional prospects, with some wondering if he possesses the pocket passing skills required for the NFL.
At 6-foot-4 and 210 pounds, Daniels is larger than most dual-threat prospects, and his ability to avoid turnovers his senior year was very promising.
But Daniels’ Heisman season is an outlier among his five seasons in college – three at Arizona State and the final two at LSU.
In his first 43 NCAA games, Daniels had a 143.8 passer rating. That number skyrocketed to 208.0 last season.
Due to his extended college career, Daniels will celebrate his 24th birthday during his rookie season in the NFL, making him significantly older than fellow top quarterback prospects Caleb Williams and Drake Maye.
Daniels joins a Commanders squad that went 4-13 last season with Sam Howell and Jacoby Brissett at quarterback.
Dan Quinn replaces Ron Rivera as Washington’s head coach, and former Arizona Cardinals coach Kliff Kingsbury will take over as the Commanders’ offensive coordinator.
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