13 HRS AGO - Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images Because of the concussion protocol, Mahomes’ weekly media availability came on Friday — two days later than usual. Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes ended all uncertainty when it comes to his status for Sunday’s AFC championship against the Buffalo Bills when he took the podium to speak with the media on Friday via Zoom conference call. “Yeah, I actually just got out of the protocol,” said Mahomes, muttering the words Chiefs fans were hoping to hear since Sunday. “The week has been a bunch of testing, a bunch of different things just to make sure that I’m good to go. No lingering effects or anything like that, but everything’s been good, and I went through what the three or four doctors have said and everything has looked well, and I’m out of it now.” Mahomes was injured on an option play during the third quarter of the team’s 22-17 Divisional round win over the Cleveland Browns. Mahomes noted that the Chiefs had run the same Collapse

17 HRS AGO - Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images Kansas City plays Buffalo for the AFC championship on Sunday at 5:40 p.m. Arrowhead Time. Each practice day of the season, the Kansas City Chiefs release an official injury report leading up to the next game. The Chiefs host the Buffalo Bills for the AFC championship on Sunday at 5:40 p.m. Arrowhead Time. Here is the Chiefs’ final injury report of the week with official injury designations: Chiefs Bills Some notes Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes was a limited participant at practice all week, but on Friday, he revealed that he had cleared the concussion protocol. He will start on Sunday. Only one Chiefs player has been ruled out for the game — linebacker Willie Gay (ankle) — which was to be expected. Gay suffered a high-ankle sprain in Week 17. If the Chiefs win, there is a chance Gay could be ready for the Super Bowl in two weeks. Five other Chiefs — cornerback Bashaud Breeland (concussion/shoulder), Collapse

21 HRS AGO - Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images The game preview edition of the Arrowhead Pride Laboratory is here, and the Nerd Squad has six points to watch in the AFC championship. On this week’s game preview edition of the Arrowhead Pride Laboratory, we talked about three focus points on offense — and three on defense — as the Kansas City Chiefs look to hoist the Lamar Hunt trophy in Arrowhead Stadium †for the second straight year. Here are the focus points to watch on Sunday: Offense All eyes on Patrick Lavon Mahomes We are pretty sure we’ll see the best player in the world in Arrowhead on Sunday — all signs point to him passing the concussion protocol. It obviously remains to be seen if there are any adverse effects from what forced him out of last week’s game early. What’s more — Mahomes experienced some kind of toe issue earlier in the game that initially caused some problems the remainder of the first half. He looked good enough in the second half to run the option play that Collapse

1 DAY AGO - Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images Chiefs special teams coordinator Dave Toub has not ruled it out. Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Tyreek Hill made his mark on the NFL rather quickly in 2016 — when he earned the Chiefs’ lead punt-return role as a rookie. Given his reported sub-4.3 40-yard time, it probably wasn’t all that surprising. In 39 regular-season punt returns, Hill picked up 592 yards (15.2 yards per return) and scored two touchdowns; he also scored on a kick return. The “Tyreek Chant” punt-return touchdown against the then-Oakland Raiders remains one of the breakout moments of his career. As is well known now — Hill was named a first-team All-Pro that season... as a return specialist. But as time when on, so too did Hill’s offensive usage. Hill became so good as a receiver that Chiefs head coach Andy Reid began integrating him more into the game plan, and eventually, Hill grew into one of the league’s finest at the position. Hill had fewer returns in 2017 and even Collapse

1 DAY AGO - Photo by Stephen Lew/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images With eyes on the injury report, the Chiefs may need to adjust on the fly this week as they prepare for the Bills in the AFC championship The Kansas City Chiefs will take on the Buffalo Bills for the second time this season on Sunday — and in this matchup, there is one significant, obvious difference: this game is for the AFC championship. Back in Week 6, circumstances surrounding COVID-19 changed the game’s scheduled time from a Thursday night to an early Monday afternoon in Buffalo. Throwing in the rain, Bills quarterback Josh Allen only mustered 14 completions for 122 yards but still managed two touchdowns with an interception. He also rushed eight times for 42 yards. The Bills dropped to 4-2 in the loss, then went 9-1 in their remaining games. In the final 10, Allen threw for 2,833 yards, 21 touchdowns and six interceptions. Allen no doubt improved as the year carried on, but defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo Collapse

1 DAY AGO - Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images Kansas City plays Buffalo for the AFC championship on Sunday at 5:40 p.m. Arrowhead Time. Each practice day of the season, the Kansas City Chiefs release an official injury report leading up to the next game. The Chiefs host the Buffalo Bills for the AFC championship on Sunday at 5:40 p.m. Arrowhead Time. Here is the Chiefs’ second official injury report of the week: Chiefs Bills Some notes Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes was a limited participant for the second day in a row Thursday. The Chiefs initially announced him as a full participant before revisiting his status later Wednesday afternoon. More on what Mahomes did on Thursday can be found here. Andy Reid confirmed that both Mahomes and Bashaud Breeland remain the concussion protocol. All other Chiefs in question for Sunday were limited participants, except for linebacker Willie Gay Jr. (ankle) and running back Le’Veon Bell, who was added to the Collapse

1 DAY AGO - Photo by Bryan M. Bennett/Getty Images To make it to the Super Bowl, the Kansas City defense will have to limit a powerful Buffalo offense. The Kansas City Chiefs now face the next challenge in their mission to repeat as Super Bowl champions in 2020: the Buffalo Bills. While Kansas City played Buffalo on the road back in Week 6 — picking up 26-17 victory on Monday Night Football — the team doesn’t appear to be taking their opponent in the AFC championship game lightly. As always, that starts with Andy Reid. The Chiefs’ head coach admires his Bills counterpart, Sean McDermott, who served under Reid from 2001 through 2010 with the Philadelphia Eagles. “He deserves coach of the year,” Reid declared to reporters on Friday. “I mean, he’s taken a franchise there — both he and his general manager — have put this thing together with some bold moves and production here now, so I think he’s done tremendous.” It will be the second game in as many weeks in which the Chiefs will need to Collapse

2 DAYS AGO - John Sleezer/Kansas City Star/Tribune News Service via Getty Images Chiefs headlines for Thursday, January 21. The latest How the Bills can win 2021 Super Bowl: Lighting a fire under the offense and keeping drives alive the key | CBS Sports 3. Buffalo’s secondary needs to stand tall The Bills defense is playing some of their best ball and it’s a group that’s recently tightened in the red zone. As my colleague Chris Trapasso points out, during the regular season, the Bills surrendered a touchdown on 60.6 percent of their opponents’ trips there, the 14th-lowest rate in the league. In two postseason games, Buffalo has allowed a touchdown on just two of its opponents eight red-zone trips (25 percent). Also, Taron Johnson turned an opponent’s red zone trip into six points for Buffalo with his pick six against the Ravens! If the Bills want to win the Super Bowl, that secondary is going to have to continue to play good football. While Philip Rivers passed for 309 yards and two Collapse

2 DAYS AGO - Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images Championship game prep ⏰ pic.twitter.com/5vxQvFXYhf— Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) January 20, 2021 The most-watched 16 seconds of anything in Kansas City on Wednesday? Collapse