Chiefs, Ravens prevail on Christmas; LeBron James, Austin Reaves, Lakers sink Warriors late

Good morning to all, but especially to …

THE KANSAS CITY CHIEFS …

Santa sure looks a lot like Andy Reid, and he absolutely delivered on Christmas. The Chiefs clinched the AFC’s No. 1 seed with a 29-10 blowout of the Steelers. It’s the fourth time in seven seasons with Patrick Mahomes as starter that Kansas City has earned the No. 1 seed.

Mahomes threw for 320 yards and three touchdowns, one each to Travis Kelce, Xavier Worthy and Justin Watson.
Kelce moved ahead of Tony Gonzalez to become the franchise’s career touchdown receptions leader with No. 77 and went over 1,000 career catches. He’s one of 15 players in league history with at least 1,000 receptions.
And, yes, that was Reid in a Santa outfit delivering the good news of the No. 1 seed, first-round bye and home-field advantage to his team postgame. Mahomes was especially excited considering his wife is expected to give birth “any day now.”

Don’t look now, but the Chiefs’ offense is hitting on all cylinders as the postseason nears, Jared Dubin writes.

Dubin: “Just like last year, they have a rookie wide receiver (Worthy) coming into his own and becoming a major part of the offense as we head into the stretch run of the season. Just like last year, Kelce is not showing any signs of slowing down any time soon. … It will be 24 days until they play another meaningful game, so they’ll have plenty of time to get Kelce and Mahomes and Chris Jones, among others, healthy … That is very bad news for anybody else hoping to hoist the Lombardi Trophy in February.”

It’s also bad news for the Colts, Dolphins and Bengals, who may need Kansas City — likely sans Mahomes and many other starters — to beat Denver in Week 18.

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… AND ALSO A GOOD MORNING TO THE BALTIMORE RAVENS

For the second part of the NFL’s Christmas doubleheader, the Ravens were almost as good as Beyoncé’s halftime show, and that means excellent. Baltimore thumped Houston 31-2 to take the AFC North lead over Pittsburgh.

Lamar Jackson was outstanding, rushing for 87 yards, which included a 48-yard touchdown, and he passed Michael Vick to take the league’s career quarterback rushing record with 6,110 yards. He also threw touchdowns to Isaiah Likely and Mark Andrews.
Derrick Henry added 148 yards rushing and a touchdown. Overall, Baltimore ran for 251 yards, 141 of which came before contact, an overpowering performance.
Kyle Hamilton picked off C.J. Stroud, who was also sacked five times. Baltimore’s defense has been much improved of late.

The Jackson-vs.-Josh Allen MVP debate is a fascinating one.

Honorable mentions

And not such a good morning for …

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THE PITTSBURGH STEELERS

Over the last few weeks, the Steelers have not only fallen out of first in the AFC North. They’ve fallen out of true Super Bowl contender status — if they were ever there in the first place. Wednesday’s loss wasn’t just the Steelers’ third straight defeat, but their third straight blowout loss to teams their record suggests they should at least be competitive against.

I very much believe that there are no bad wins. But I also believe you can learn things much more meaningful than just the result. Here’s what we’ve learned about the Steelers: They need splash plays on both sides of the ball to succeed. That means explosive plays on offense and tackles for loss and turnovers forced on defense.

Since Russell Wilson took over for Justin Fields in Week 7, the Steelers have the sixth-most splash plays. But they also rank 26th in offensive success rate (one spot ahead of the Giants) and 18th in defensive success rate (one spot ahead of the Bengals) over that span. It’s really hard to beat good teams relying so heavily on splash plays. Here’s how Pittsburgh’s fared with Wilson against teams currently in playoff positions.

Week 10: Beat Commanders by 1
Week 11: Beat Ravens by 2 (despite scoring zero touchdowns, and Justin Tucker missing two field goals)
Week 15: Lost to Eagles by 14
Week 16: Lost to Ravens by 17
Week 17: Lost to Chiefs by 19

I understand there are injuries, but everyone has injuries. The Chiefs had usual left guard Joe Thuney making his third career start at left tackle and were also without All-Pro defensive tackle Chris Jones. Yet Kansas City racked up five sacks and allowed zero.

Long story short, the Steelers have gone from 10-3 to 10-6 in 11 days, and none of the three losses have been close. Mike Tomlin always has high-floor teams. He’s never had a losing season. But at some point, the ceiling has to rise — Pittsburgh’s last playoff win was in the 2016 season — and I can’t see this team being a factor deep into the postseason.

I don’t have much to say about the Texans. Stroud’s regression is concerning — he called this “one of the worst games of my whole career” — and Houston also doesn’t look long for postseason play.

Not so honorable mentions

NBA on Christmas Day: Austin Reaves lifts Lakers to win

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The NFL may have joined the Christmas party, but NBA action on the holiday is always a joy, and this year was no exception. Four of the five games went down to the wire, none tighter than Lakers-Warriors. After two Stephen Curry 3-pointers in the final seconds tied things up, Austin Reaves blew past Andrew Wiggins and finished the layup with one second left for a 115-113 win.

Curry and LeBron James have had plenty of memorable duels and plenty of big Christmas performances, and this one was both. Curry finished with 38 points and eight 3-pointers, most ever on a Christmas Day game; James had 31 points and 10 rebounds.

But it was Reaves who stole the show with 26 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, just the third triple-double of his career. With Anthony Davis leaving early with an ankle injury, Los Angeles needed someone to step up alongside James, and Reaves more than answered the bell.

Here was the rest of the action:

The Knicks beat the Spurs, 117-114, with Mikal Bridges (41 points) and Victor Wembanyama (42 points, 18 rebounds) staging an epic duel. New York got an “A” in James Herbert’s grades.
The Timberwolves blew nearly all of a 28-point lead before holding on for a 105-99 win over the Mavericks. Anthony Edwards came up huge late and finished with 26 points. Dallas, meanwhile, is worried Luka Doncic could miss significant time with a calf strain.
The 76ers earned their best win of the season, a 118-114 triumph over the Celtics in Boston. Tyrese Maxey (33 points, 12 assists) was magnificent, and Joel Embiid (27 points) played well, too. Caleb Martin (23 points) was huge off the bench, making a career-high seven 3s. Philadelphia has won eight of its last 11.
Surviving the non-Nikola Jokic (25 points, 15 rebounds) minutes is definitely a thing with Denver, but it’s also a thing that didn’t happen for the Nuggets in their 110-100 loss to the Suns. Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal each scored 27 and host Phoenix racked up 30 assists against only nine turnovers.

Naughty and nice lists for remaining College Football Playoff teams

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We’re just over a week away from the College Football Playoff quarterfinals, and in the Christmas spirit, Tom Fornelli assessed the naughty and nice of the eight teams remaining.

Ohio State stole most of the spotlight in the first round, but Texas was plenty impressive in dispatching Clemson, 38-24. The Longhorns’ run game led the way, but don’t sleep on the other side, Tom writes.

Fornelli: “Nice: Defensive line — Texas is the new Georgia when it comes to defensive linemen. Last year’s Longhorns line featured Byron Murphy and T’Vondre Sweat …This year’s line might be better. Vernon Broughton and Alfred Collins have been phenomenal on the interior, while Trey Moore and Barryn Sorrell have handled the edge. Sprinkle in some Colin Simmons, Jermayne Lole, Ethan Burke and Bill Norton … It’s an elite defense, and it all starts up front for the Longhorns.”

What we’re watching Thursday

GameAbove Sports Bowl: Pittsburgh vs. Toledo, 2 p.m. on ESPN
Rate Bowl: Rutgers vs. Kansas State, 5:30 p.m. on ESPN
Thunder at Pacers, 7 p.m. on NBA TV
Seahawks at Bears, 8:15 p.m. on Amazon Prime
68 Ventures Bowl: Arkansas State vs. Bowling Green, 9 p.m. on ESPN
Jazz at Trail Blazers, 10 p.m. on NBA TV