RASHAD FENTON

Patrick Mahomes walked onto the field for the start of the Kansas City Chiefs’ mandatory three-day minicamp with his right tackle standing off to the side in a bucket hat and his Pro Bowl left tackle nowhere to be found.

Patrick Mahomes threw for 404 yards and five touchdowns, Travis Kelce caught a TD pass and threw another one, and the Chiefs sent Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger into his expected retirement with a 42-21 win in the wild-card round of the playoffs Sunday night.

The Steelers had running back Najee Harris and wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster available for their wild-card playoff game against the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday night.

The AFC North champion Cincinnati Bengals won’t play quarterback Joe Burrow this week to make sure he is healthy for the first round of the playoffs.

Another 21 NFL players were placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list Tuesday, including Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Tyreek Hill, cornerback Rashad Fenton and tight end Blake Bell.

Patrick Mahomes threw his first two touchdown passes in nearly a month, Clyde Edwards-Helaire added two more scores on the ground, and the Kansas City Chiefs forced five turnovers in rolling to a record-setting 48-9 victory over the Las Vegas Raiders.

Clyde Edwards-Helaire ran for 63 yards and a touchdown in his return from injured reserve as the Chiefs beat the Cowboys 19-9.

Patrick Mahomes threw five touchdown passes and returned to his usual form after a surprisingly shaky stretch this season, and the Kansas City Chiefs moved into first place in the AFC West with a 41-14 victory over the Las Vegas Raiders.

Josh Allen threw three touchdown passes and ran for another score as the Buffalo Bills beat the Kansas City Chiefs 38-20 on Sunday night.

Patrick Mahomes threw five touchdown passes three different ways, including three to Tyreek Hill, and the Kansas City Chiefs beat the Philadelphia Eagles 42-30 on Sunday.

Kansas City Chiefs coach Andy Reid was back to work Wednesday as if nothing was amiss, three days after he was taken to the hospital with an illness and dehydration following a loss to the Los Angeles Chargers.

Justin Herbert’s touchdown toss to Mike Williams with 32 seconds to go lifted the Los Angeles Chargers to a 30-24 victory over the Chiefs.

Patrick Mahomes led the Chiefs to touchdowns on his only two chances with the ball as Kansas City beat the Minnesota Vikings 28-25.

(AP Photo/Jason Behnken, File)The big money that accompanies franchise tags for the 2021 season is going to receivers, safeties and linemen. So wideouts Chris Godwin, who helped the Buccaneers win the Super Bowl, and Chicago's Allen Robinson were tagged just before Tuesday's NFL deadline. Barring their teams working out long-term deals by July 15, they will earn about $19 million, $18 million and $13.7 million, respectively. The going rate for safeties under their first tag is around $10.5 million, which Maye and Marcus Williams will make in New Jersey. RECEIVERSThe 25-year-old Godwin earned $2.13 million in 2020 when he had 65 receptions for 840 yards and seven touchdowns in 12 games.

– It was an easy decision for Daniel Sorensen to sign with the Kansas City Chiefs as an undrafted free agent. No fewer than 22 players drafted in the third round or later — or not all — are on the Chiefs roster as they finish their prep work for the Super Bowl. The Chiefs have won consistently for the better part of a decade, with a roster dotted by more stars than there are in the nighttime sky. When injuries popped up on the offensive line, the Chiefs plugged a big hole with Nick Allegretti, a seventh-round pick in 2019. “When they're looking for guys to add to our roster,” Chiefs offensive line coach Andy Heck said, “they're looking for guys that love football, love to compete.

Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen (17) is sacked by Kansas City Chiefs defensive end Frank Clark (55) during the second half of the AFC championship NFL football game, Sunday, Jan. 24, 2021, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)Josh Allen led the Buffalo Bills to their first AFC championship game in 27 years. The Bills were unable to solve the Chiefs twice this season. They were trampled in a 26-17 loss in Week 6 in a game rookie Clyde Edwards-Helaire had 161 yards rushing. On the bright side, the Bills made tremendous strides over last season, which ended with Buffalo squandering a 16-0 third-quarter lead in a wild-card playoff loss at Houston.

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes celebrates after the AFC championship NFL football game against the Buffalo Bills, Sunday, Jan. 24, 2021, in Kansas City, Mo. – It took the Kansas City Chiefs five frustrating decades to make their third Super Bowl appearance. That’s not how you’re supposed to play football.”It capped a bitter night for the Bills, who had reached their first AFC title game since beating Kansas City at home on Jan. 1, 1994. You don't beat Kansas City by kicking field goals from the 3-yard line, though. He’s fast.”Any hopes the Bills had of a comeback were dashed when Rashad Fenton picked off a tipped pass deep in Kansas City territory.

The Kansas City Chiefs won their first NFL title since 1970 when they beat San Francisco in last year's Super Bowl. What we get Sunday is a matchup of dynamic offenses and overlooked defenses, the top two teams in the conference. Kansas City (15-2) has the confidence of a reigning champion and a charisma few NFL teams can match. That could provide an edge over Bills rookie Tyler Bass — except that Bass has been very reliable all season. Buffalo punter Corey Bojorquez and Kansas City rookie Johnny Townsend were two of the most dependable in the AFC.

And when Carr threw an early interception Sunday that helped the Chiefs take a commanding lead, well, it seemed as if history was repeating itself. “I've had a lot of sad walks up that ramp,” Carr said later, “but you know what? Not today.”Instead, the oft-criticized quarterback steadied his shaky team, outplayed Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes and led the Raiders to a 40-32 victory. But the Raiders (3-2) recovered a squib quick, Jacobs rumbled for a first down as the Chiefs (4-1) burned timeouts, and Carr sneaked for the crucial first down. But that's how these things go.”The Chiefs tied it at halftime, and the game slowed down during a scoreless third quarter.

Kansas City Chiefs cornerback Rashad Fenton (27) celebrates with teammate Daniel Sorensen (49) after intercepting a pass during the second half of an NFL football game against the New England Patriots, Monday, Oct. 5, 2020, in Kansas City. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)NEW YORK – With nearly all NFL teams already a quarter of the way through the regular season, there are four teams off to a 4-0 start: the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs, the Seattle Seahawks, the Green Bay Packers and the Buffalo Bills. And those teams maintained the top four spots in the latest AP Pro32 poll. “Still good enough to beat the Patriots to keep Kansas City unbeaten, and still good enough to complement a very, very good defense.”The Seahawks followed at No. “You could not have overestimated the leap Josh Allen would make in his third NFL season,” said Jenny Vrentas of The Monday Morning Quarterback.

The National Football League is celebrating another victory as the league finished its 100th regular season with a 5% gain in average viewership compared to last season, according to data provided to CNBC. For the second consecutive season, the NFL increased its average TV viewership, improving to 16.5 million per game, and expecting to finish with more than 180 million in total viewers for the 2019 regular season. Last year, the league averaged 15.8 million viewers and league games finished with 46 of the top 50 telecasts during the season. This season, NFL games finished with 47 of the top 50 telecasts. Dating back to the 2016 season, the league suffered a fall in ratings and even experienced a 9.7% drop in viewership for the 2017 season.