Magicgames II » Justin Houston has played long enough

KANSAS CITY Bashaud Breeland Jersey , Mo. ?for the Kansas City Chiefs to have heard Arrowhead Stadium roaring in victory and silenced in defeat, along with just about every decibel in between.What floated through the crisp December air on Sunday night was something new.It started quietly, grew slowly and finally reached a crescendo: “MVP! “MVP! MVP!”The chant was directed at the sheepish quarterback standing on the Kansas City sideline, the one with the curly Mohawk and easy smile. He was chosen in the first round of the draft to be the long-underachieving Chiefs’ savior, and Patrick Mahomes shattered even the loftiest of expectations while leading the team to a third consecutive AFC West title and No. 1 seed in the playoffs.“First time I’ve ever heard that,” said Houston, who has played his entire eight-year career with the Chiefs, before confidently adding: “I’m pretty sure it won’t be the last with that guy.”The 23-year-old Mahomes capped the finest regular season in franchise history in style, throwing for 281 yards and two touchdowns in a 35-3 blowout of the Raiders on Sunday. The scoring strikes were of 67 yards to Tyreek Hill and 89 yards to Demarcus Robinson, the latter giving the first-year starter more than 5,000 yards passing and 50 touchdown throws on the season.Only six quarterbacks have thrown for that many yards in a season, and only Peyton Manning with the Broncos and Tom Brady with the Patriots have thrown that many touchdown passes.Manning is the only one with 5,000 and 50 in the same phenomenal year.Not surprisingly, he was voted the league’s most valuable player that season.Mahomes will have to wait until the night before the Super Bowl to find out whether he took another stride in Manning’s footsteps. That’s when The Associated Press announces the league’s most coveted award. No Chief has won it, though Priest Holmes in 2002 was the AP Offensive Player of the Year.Indeed, there are plenty of worthy MVP candidates.Rams running back Todd Gurley may have been even better than when he won top offensive player last season, running for 1,271 yards and a league-high 17 touchdowns. On the opposite side of the ball, Aaron Donald piled up 19 1/2 sacks for the Rams in one of the best seasons ever for a defensive tackle.Saints quarterback Drew Brees and Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers also have had superb years.Raiders coach Jon Gruden won’t have a say in the MVP voting 鈥?a nationwide panel of 50 media members who cover the league will decide 鈥?but he did see the Rams earlier this season and the division-rival Chiefs and Chargers twice apiece. And Gruden was left with his jaw hanging open after watching Mahomes shred his defense in their regular-season finale Sunday.“He’s a trick-show artist. This guy here is an amazing quarterback,” Gruden said. “If you counted the top 20 throws he made at Texas Tech, they were the top 20 throws in the country. He’s an amazing talent and it is a credit to Andy (Reid) for trading up and getting him, and it is a credit to them for letting him watch a guy like Alex Smith for a whole year.”It’s not just that Mahomes has shattered records Anthony Sherman Jersey , either. It’s that his rare ability 鈥?a big arm, sharp intellect, uncanny poise and natural leadership 鈥?has helped those around him flourish, many of them setting records in their own right.100View Gallery Gallery:View from the sidelines: NFL cheerleaders 2018Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports | Raj MehtaTight end Travis Kelce set the Chiefs record with 103 catches this season, topping by one Tony Gonzalez’s mark of 2004. Kelce also broke Rob Gronkowski‘s NFL record for tight ends with 1,327 yards receiving, though the 49ers‘ George Kittle topped him later in the day.Wide receiver Tyreek Hill had 101 yards receiving against the Raiders, matching the club record with his sixth 100-yard game. Hill’s total of 1,476 yards easily eclipsed Derrick Alexander’s mark of 1,391 yards receiving, which had stood since the 2000 season.Together, Kelce and Hill became the first pair of teammates in NFL history to each total 1,300 yards receiving and at least 10 touchdowns apiece in the same season.“It’s been special: 1-5’s a different guy,” Kelce said of his quarterback. “He’s a special individual. What he does for this team, the community, is unbelievable. It sure has been a pleasure to play with him and to witness the greatness that he’s been able to put out there on the field.”Altogether, the Chiefs became the first NFL team to score at least 26 points in every game, and their total of 565 points represented the third most by any team in history. And the result was a third straight division title for the first time in franchise history, and a potential path all the way to the Super Bowl that runs right through Arrowhead Stadium.The scary thing for the rest of the league? Mahomes is just getting started.“In a world of great players, for him to do the things he’s done is phenomenal,” Reid said, “and he will continue to do that. He still has room to grow. That’s the exciting part and something for Kansas City to be very excited about. His work ethic and everything else is MVP-caliber level. He comes to work with a purpose Dustin Colquitt Jersey , makes everyone feel a part of it, makes everyone around him better and has done that for our organization, for all of us, his fans and coaches and owner too.” MEXICO CITY — The NFL’s decision to move the regular-season game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Los Angeles Rams due to the poor condition of the turf at Azteca Stadium has left many Mexicans disappointed, angered and wondering how it will affect the country’s future relationship with the league.After consulting with the players association and local officials, the NFL determined the conditions of the venue did not meet the standards for playability and moved the game back to the Los Angeles Coliseum. The Rams (9-1) and Chiefs (9-1) will face off Monday night in a much-anticipated game between the top two teams in each conference.Based solely on the teams’ records, the game was going to be the best matchup ever played outside the United States.But Mexico blew it.“Colossal shame” was the headline of the sports newspaper Record: “The league takes away the best game of the season due to the lousy state of the field that Estadio Azteca was not able to fix. The NFL has left, and its return is in jeopardy.”Azteca officials changed the playing surface from natural grass to a hybrid in May, but the turf hasn’t been ideal for several months due to its intense use. Since July 21, America and Cruz Azul, the two Liga MX teams that share the stadium, have played 23 games between them in the stadium, and the women’s professional team from America has played another seven games there.The stadium also hosted two concerts by Colombian singer Shakira on Oct. 11 and 12, and another from music channel Telehit on Nov. 7 that left the field in its worst condition in years.“I feel devastated, angered and ashamed, all of that together,” said former NFL kicker Raul Allegre, who is Mexican and works as an analyst for ESPN Deportes. “I’m still trying to figure out how small minds were so irresponsible in the preparations for a game of this magnitude. I know that the world does not revolve around the NFL, but this is a great event not only for the sport but for the country, and it is inconceivable how it was taken so lightly.”According to an NFL study released last year, the game between the Oakland Raiders and the Houston Texans played in 2016 generated a $45 million impact on the local economy. The Mexican government said that last year’s game between the Raiders and the New England Patriots topped that number.The game is usually scheduled on the third weekend of November, when Mexicans celebrate the Revolution’s anniversary Rashad Fenton Kansas City Chiefs Jerseys , and the authorities organize additional activities in order to entice fans to spend the entire weekend in the capital. For this year’s game, the fan-fest that drew more than 300,000 fans in Chapultepec Park was moved to the Zocalo, the country’s main square located in downtown Mexico City, in an attempt to draw even more fans. The NFL office in Mexico and the Sports Institute of Mexico City also scheduled 5k and 10k races for Sunday.Local authorities have not said whether those events will continue.“We have to learn from this experience so it won’t happen again in the future,” said Horacio De la Vega, director of the sports institute in Mexico City. “Everyone needs to assume their own responsibility in this. I think that the crew that takes care of the field in Azteca should have put more attention in such a big issue as the playing field is, and that did not happen.”Many fans are also angered because they already paid airfares and hotel fees that are probably lost.“I’m very upset because I already purchased my plane tickets and they canceled the game at the last minute. They promised to reimburse my money for the game ticket, but what about the other expenses, who is going to be held accountable for that?” said Víctor Reynoso, a Rams fan who was planning to come to the capital from the northern city of Monterrey.Reynoso is probably not alone, according to Mexico’s Tourism Secretary; around 30,000 fans typically visit the city for the weekend of the game.The federal government, through the Tourism Secretary, pays the NFL $14.5 million for each game. Last year, the NFL and Televisa, which owns Estadio Azteca, announced that they had signed an extension to bring back games until the 2021 season.But it’s uncertain what will happen after Televisa failed to present a field up to NFL standards. Several NFL owners are wary of additional games at Azteca, and while the league is still keen on playing games in Mexico, it might be ready to consider other venues there. Monterrey and Guadalajara have stadiums capable of hosting NFL games, and both cities will be hosting 2026 World Cup matches.100<button class="view-gallery">View Gallery</button> Gallery:View from the sidelines: NFL cheerleaders 2018Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports | Raj Mehta