Superstar’s ‘disgusting’ $780k brain fade; why Chiefs have lost their ‘aura’ — NFL Talking Points

It’s been a frustrating season for Chase and the Bengals, who have been without star quarterback Joe Burrow since Week 2 and are languishing at the bottom of the AFC with a 3-7 record.

Without Chase for the must-win clash against the red-hot Patriots next week, Cincinnati’s playoff hopes are all but over.

WHY KANSAS CITY HAVE LOST THEIR ‘AURA’

The Kansas City Chiefs have had such a grip on the NFL for several seasons, but that appears to be loosening.

The Chiefs have won five of the last six AFC titles, turning those into three Super Bowls (2019, 2022, 2023). They’ve been the benchmark of the NFL.

An even crazier stat is their reign of dominance within their division. They’ve won the AFC West in every season since 2015.

However, that streak is in grave danger.

The 9-2 Denver Broncos are the red-hot favourites to collect their first division title in ten years.

The Broncos’ 22-19 win over the Chiefs in Week 11 was their eighth straight of the season. More importantly, it gave Denver a 3.5 win buffer on the 5-5 Chiefs in the race for the division.

While the AFC West is slipping from their grasp, what’s more worrying for Kansas City is the battle they face to make the playoffs.

If the season ended today, they’d miss out. NFL.com’s playoff probability calculator have them a 52% chance to progress.

There’s still plenty of time left for the Chiefs to right the ship and make another Super Bowl push, but it’s clear that major adjustments need to be made by coach Andy Reid.

Even though they are relatively healthy across the park, the Chiefs are struggling in a few phases offensively.

Star quarterback Patrick Mahomes placed the blame on his shoulders after the loss.

“I think we’re really talented and we’ve got a lot of great players, but it’s about being more consistent. I think it starts with me,” Mahomes said.

“There’s times where I’m firing and we’re moving the ball down the field at ease. But there’s times where we go in spurts where I miss a throw or a [pass] protection call.

“We haven’t been consistent enough to win games. It starts with me.

“It sucks. Don’t get me wrong.

“We’ve been losing these close games recently, but we’ve played some good football in spurts. It’s just about being more consistent.”

While Mahomes says the onus is on him, one NFL expert believes a changing of the guard is firmly at play.

Given their success over the past several years, Kansas City has held a mental edge over their opponents, but NFL analyst and former offensive lineman Damien Woody says that is gone.

“I think the aura is gone in Kansas City. I really do,” Woody said on ESPN.

“It is kind of like New England from the past where half the battle was mental going up against that team but I think now teams are going into this game and thinking, ‘the hell with Kansas City’

“Last year they won a bunch of one score games before being thrashed by the Eagles in the Super Bowl

“Guess what, this year, they are one for five in one score games. They’re not able to finish these type of games.

“I don’t think teams are scared of the Kansas City Chiefs.”

Things don’t get much easier for the Chiefs. They have a date next week with the 9-2 Indianapolis Colts.

THE BIG PROBLEM WITH SHEDEUR’S SHAKY DEBUT

The Shedeur Sanders era began in unceremonius fashion on Monday (AEDT).

After weeks of anticipation, Sanders finally saw the field in an NFL game, replacing the injured Dillon Gabriel at QB.

Gabriel suffered a concussion in the first half and didn’t return, with Sanders taking over at the start of the second half.

Sanders, the son of NFL legend Deion, failed to impress, with the Browns coughing up a 16-10 lead to the Ravens.

A fifth-round pick in the 2025 NFL draft, Sanders went 4/16 for 47 yards and an interception.

His performance has been panned in the US media, but Sanders has also had several jumping to his defence following comments from Browns coach Kevin Stefanski.

Stefanski admitted that Sanders, who has been the team’s backup for the past month, has had next to no training reps with the Browns’ first team offence during that span.

It’s a hard scenario to fathom given how important the QB position is to a team and Sanders has to be ready to go if the starter suffers an injury.

Sanders started the season third on the depth chart behind Joe Flacco and Gabriel.

When Flacco was traded to the Bengals in early October, Gabriel was promoted to starter with Sanders the new second stringer.

In response to Stefanski’s admission, former NFL MVP Cam Newton made a stunning call.

“I’ll put it this way. I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again: I do not think Kevin Stefanski wants Shedeur Sanders to succeed in Cleveland,” Newton said on First Take.

“The reason being is don’t tell me what he said. Don’t tell me what he’s saying. I’m going off of actions. All right, let’s go off actions. The actions is if I’m Shedeur or if I’m a Shedeur Sanders fan, I would not want him to take the field because that’s going to consistently be the display.

“They are not a good team, but this is the thing that really irks me the most is because he doesn’t get any reps.”

NFL Hall of Fame tight end Shannon Sharpe was also scathing on Stefanski.

“At no point in time… so you don’t think Dillon Gabriel can possibly get hurt… There is no possible way anything can possibly go wrong that you want to give Shedeur one or two reps with the ones?” Sharpe said.

“Here we are in Week 11, the man got drafted in May and at no point in time he had taken one snap with the ones, it’s very disappointing.”

Sanders will get the opportunity to train with the first team offence this week, with the Browns set to name him starting QB for their Week 12 clash against the Las Vegas Raiders.

RETRIBUTION FOR NO. 1 PICK AFTER HISTORIC DAY

Up until this season, Bryce Young’s NFL journey has been nothing short of treacherous.

Picked by Carolina No. 1 overall in the 2023 draft, for the most part of his brief career, Young has looked anything like a high draft pick.

Across his first two seasons, Young copped criticism from all over for his poor and inconsistent play, was benched several times and struggled to inspire a team desperate to regain relevancy.

Several pundits and plenty of Panthers fans wrote him off and labelled him a bust. While he’s not an established star yet, the 24-year-old would have changed the opinion of many with his form this season.

With Young at quarterback, the Panthers compiled a 6-22 record across his first two seasons.

2025 has been different though. The Panthers are relevant again.

Not only that, but they are knocking on the door of a playoff spot.

Young’s form is a massive reason why. Against the Falcons this past weekend, the quarterback set a new franchise record for passing yards in a game (448).

Carolina are 6-5 this season, with Young 6-4 in the games he has played in. Through 11 weeks, they’ve already matched the number of wins they had in the previous two seasons combined.

Young’s 448 yards against the Falcons breaks the previous record set by former Panthers superstar Cam Newton, who the franchise also spent the first overall pick on in 2011.

Young has struggled in patches this season, including last week in a upset loss to New Orleans, but those issues have been far less common than they were in his first two seasons.

A reason behind Young’s improvement has been the addition of a true No. 1 receiver in Tet McMillian., who was the eighth overall pick earlier this year.

“Bryce and just our whole offense was getting a lot of backlash just the past week about, obviously, the passing yards,” McMillan said.

“But everybody in the locker room knew it was bound to happen. We knew that we had in our bag, and specifically Bryce. But I mean, Bryce went out there and balled for sure.”

TROUBLED STAR FACING HUGE JAIL SENTENCE

Former NFL star Antonio Brown could be sentenced to up to 30 years in prison in his attempted murder case stemming from a shooting earlier this year, Florida prosecutors said on Monday.

Brown, a star receiver in Tom Brady’s 2021 Super Bowl-winning Tampa Bay Buccaneers team, was extradited from Dubai to the United States last week to face charges in the case.

The 37-year-old, who has already pleaded not guilty to the charge, appeared briefly on Monday during a virtual arraignment held by Miami-Dade Circuit Court.

Assistant State Attorney Stephanie Cruz said Brown could be sentenced to “30 years state prison, with a 20-year minimum mandatory” if convicted.

Brown’s defence lawyer Mark Eiglarsh said Brown would see a trial by jury over the case while Judge Marisa Tinkler-Mendezset a further hearing for December 22.

Police have alleged that Brown fired multiple shots after grabbing a handgun from a security guard during an altercation atan amateur boxing event in Miami on May 16.

Brown addressed the incident in a post on X on May 17, saying he had been “jumped by multiple individuals who tried to stealmy jewellery and cause physical harm to me.” The incident is the latest in a long line of legal problems faced by Brown, whospent most of his career with the Pittsburgh Steelers before linking up with NFL great Brady and the Buccaneers in 2021.

Brown was accused of sexual assault by a former trainer in a 2019 civil suit which he later settled, and also pleaded no contestto burglary and battery in 2020 after an incident with a removal truck company outside his home.

Brown’s NFL career came to an end after he famously removed his jersey and stormed off the field during a Tampa Bay game againstthe New York Jets in 2022.

– AFP