鈥?The Kansas City Chiefs played so well without Marcus Peters last week that some wondered whether they were better off without the talented yet volatile All-Pro cornerback.Peters provided quite an answer to that question Saturday night.Returning from a one-game disciplinary suspension
Jeremiah Attaochu Jersey 49ers , Peters picked off Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers twice and caused another fumble in a dazzling performance. Kansas City added another interception of Rivers and rolled on offense to a 30-13 victory and a stronghold on the AFC West lead.“Marcus went out there and played lights-out football,” said Chiefs safety Ron Parker, who had the other pick. “I think he came back with an ego. He wanted to prove to us that he missed us.”He proved it with his actions, even if he didn’t want to say it in words.Peters refused to speak to reporters this week, then declined to speak again after the game, even though players can be subject to fines if they do not handle media responsibilities.There were plenty of others in the Chiefs’ locker room willing to speak for him, though.“Definitely not surprised,” said Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith, who threw for 231 yards and two scores. “He’s such a competitor on top of what kind of player he is. He’s got amazing ability, he has such great feel for the game 鈥?just a heck of a competitor.”But that competitiveness had boiled over in recent weeks, and led to embarrassing incident in New York when he chucked an officials’ flag into the stands during a loss to the Jets. Those antics, and a blowup with an assistant coach on the team bus, earned him a one-game suspension from coach Andy Reid.“He has a chip on his shoulder. That’s how he plays the game
Authentic Da'Ron Payne Jersey ,” Chiefs cornerback Darrelle Revis said. “Coming back from his suspension, really contributing to this win, it’s big.”Kareem Hunt had 155 yards rushing and a touchdown, and hauled in seven catches for 51 yards and another score, as Kansas City (8-6) beat the Chargers (7-7) for the eighth straight time.Now, they need only win one of their final two games to clinch the AFC West and a playoff berth.The Chargers, meanwhile, have to win out and get a lot of help if they want to reach the postseason, a disappointing turn of events for a team that had already dug out from a 0-4 start.“At this point we don’t control our own destiny,” Chargers coach Anthony Lynn said. “We lost that today. We can win out but we need some help. All we can control is these next two weeks.”TYREEK THE FREAK: Chiefs WR Tyreek Hill showed off his speed on a 64-yard touchdown catch, beating Chargers CB Casey Hayward. It was Hill’s seventh touchdown reception of the season. “He almost overthrew me,” Hill said of Smith’s throw. “I went to the sidelines and gave him crap for it.”INJURY WOES: Chargers LB Denzel Perryman (hamstring), S Adrian Phillips (ankle)
Cheap D.J. Fluker Jersey , DT Corey Liuget (knee) and LT Russell Okung (groin) were among those to go down Saturday night. RB Austin Ekeler also hurt his hand after fumbling the ball away in the second half. “We had a bunch of guys come out of the game today,” Rivers said. “That’s not an excuse but that certainly didn’t help.”DIVISION DOMINANCE: Reid improved to 10-3 against the Chargers, including his time with Philadelphia, while Smith improved to 7-1. The organization’s streak of eight consecutive wins ties the franchise record of eight straight over the Chargers from 1990-93.STILL CLIMBING: Rivers’ lone touchdown pass went to Antonio Gates, the 86th time he’s connected with his trusty tight end. That broke a tie with the 49ers’ Steve Young and Jerry Rice for the second-most connections between a quarterback and pass-catcher, trailing only Peyton Manning and Marvin Harrison. The longtime Colts teammates connected for 112 touchdowns.LOOKING AHEAD: The Chiefs can clinch the AFC West with a win over the Dolphins next Sunday, while the Chargers head to the Meadowlands to face the Jets with fading postseason hopes. “Just keep going,” Rivers said. “We’ve got two games left. Finish it the right way.” Dustin Byfuglien is a big problem for Vegas.
The 6-foot-5, 260-pound Winnipeg defenseman can do it all, as the Golden Knights saw up close when he helped the Jets win Game 1 of the Western Conference finals with a goal and an assist.
”We got moving our feet right away,” Byfuglien said. ”And the ice opened up.”
Byfuglien has a powerful shot, as he showed with a slap shot 1:05 into the Jets’ 4-2 victory .
The 33-year-old former forward, who played right wing for the Chicago Blackhawks during their Stanley Cup run in 2010
Chiefs Robert Golden Jersey , can join a rush on offense in even-strength situations and plays on the power play. The NFL-sized player is nimble enough to skate fluidly and he handles the puck with soft hands. Byfuglien can crunch opponents against the boards or on the open ice with checks and kill penalties with savvy positioning.
In Game 1, he did all of that and more.
”You saw the Dustin Byfuglien spectrum,” Jets coach Paul Maurice said. ”He can shoot the puck a ton. He can make soft-hand plays and he can be as big and strong as you want out there.”
Vegas center William Karlsson was asked to compare Byfuglien with any other player in the league. And he was stumped.
”He’s kind of one of a kind,” Karlsson said.
If the expansion Golden Knights can’t figure out a way to keep the puck away from Byfuglien and work around him offensively, their inaugural season may not last beyond this series.
Game 2 is Monday night in Winnipeg.
Byfuglien leads the league’s defensemen with 15 points and five multi-point games in the playoffs.
”When he is on his game, he is as good as anybody,” Vegas coach Gerrard Gallant. ”He’s a big strong man and can play the game any way you want to play it.
”Buf is a good player, but hopefully we don’t give him too many chances to load up like we did (in Game 1) and take that big shot.”
The Blackhawks gave Byfuglien a shot to play in the NHL, taking a flyer on the Minnesota native in the eighth round with the No. 245 pick overall in 2003. He played his first full season in the league five years later and had 11 goals and five assists for Chicago during the 2010 playoffs.
Byfuglien didn’t get to celebrate the championship for very long because the Blackhawks traded him to less than three weeks after hoisting the Cup. Chicago sent him to the Atlanta Thrashers, who became the Jets, to help manage its salary cap. He has become a three-time All-Star with the franchise and a player respected enough on the blue line to be in the running for the Norris Trophy six times.
Byfuglien, though, got off to a slow start offensively this season with a slump that seems improbable for a player with five goals in 13 playoff games this year. He began the season with a 29-game goal drought and finished with eight goals
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”He had a helluva year and it was masked by the fact that he didn’t score a goal for a long time and didn’t generate points,” Maurice said. ”The question was `What’s wrong with Dustin Byfuglien?’ And the answer was, `Absolutely nothing,’ because our hockey team was winning and he was playing right.”
Byfuglien has been businesslike around reporters lately, appearing to be focused on his tasks instead of showing off tricks with a cosmetic tooth he can pop in and out of his mouth with his tongue. When a reporter asked about the Atlanta hat he wore in the dressing room before Game 1, wondering if it was a nod to his season with the Thrashers, he wasn’t in the mood to play along.
”The what?” he asked. ”I don’t even know what hat I got on.”
Byfuglien also wasn’t interested in comparing the Jets’ run to his success with the Blackhawks.
”That was a while ago,” he said.
Discussing the challenges of facing Vegas goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury also didn’t interest him.
”Get it behind him,” he said. ”Shoot pucks and hopefully they go in.”
His first shot against Fleury found the back of the net, and the blast probably pushed the netting to its limit because it was so powerful.
”That first goal was a bomb,” Vegas defenseman Deryk Engelland said.
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