By Fred Liggett
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Welcome to another Christmas Day special where the Kansas City Chiefs are one of the featured teams by the NFL as they showcase the league’s best teams on a holiday where families gather together for a number of reasons. For the second year in a row the Chiefs get the star treatment and get scheduled to play in front of a national audience. Last year the Chiefs played at home and came away with a 20-14 loss to divisional rival Las Vegas. This time the Chiefs travel to Pittsburgh for all the fun of an AFC matchup against another first place team.
Both the Chiefs and Steelers have done well for the NFL to set this up as a must see game on Netflix. The Chiefs enter at 14-1 and once again the AFC West Division Champions. The Steelers are 10-5 and come in as the AFC North Division leaders. The television coverage will be different this year as this game will air on Netflix rather than one of the normal television networks that carry NFL games. Something else to think about on this game day is the color commentator being JJ Watt whose brother TJ Watt will be on the field playing defensive end for the Steelers.
The high noon kickoff time is expected to work well with those celebrating Christmas with families gathered around the TV set to see who comes away with a big win late in the 2024 season. Last year the QB dual between Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes and Steelers QB Russell Wilson occurred when the Chiefs played the Denver Broncos. Wilson left for the Steelers in the off season and has performed very well in front of those known to wave a Terrible Towel at games. The Chiefs are enjoying a three-game winning streak over the Steelers with all three games coming in an Andy Reid vs Mike Tomlin coaching matchup.
The Chiefs have never won 15 regular season games in their franchise history but have the chance to do it on a memorable holiday for them and their fans. To accomplish the feat the Chiefs will have to overcome the beating the players are taking by playing three games in just 11 days. Speaking of injuries, the team reported DE Chris Jones as out for practice and OT Jawaan Taylor was limited in the afternoon practice. The Steelers have their own injury woes to worry about as they hope to see the return of starting WR George Pickens to the team’s lineup.
No need to remind the Chiefs what happened last Christmas on their home field. Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes when the 2024 schedule came out was quick to say he was “ready to redeem myself” as he and his teammates don’t want to repeat the feeling of leaving the field with a loss on Christmas Day. In addition to that the Chiefs offense has enjoyed the return of WR Hollywood Brown providing the team with another deep weapon as they try to secure the AFC’s number one seed in the upcoming playoffs.
Thanks to the Chiefs still having plenty to play for and the thought of having time off before the playoffs begin expect a best effort performance by the team. The Steelers defense led by All Pro TJ Watt will be tough to overcome but the Chiefs defense will also be tough on the Steelers offense led by the familiar Russell Wilson. The Chiefs give a big gift to their fans with a Christmas day win this year as they return home to celebrate being 15-1 on the season. That’s What I REID Into It for this Christmas Day game.
