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- Mar 19, 2019
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• Week 5: Indianapolis Colts at Kansas City Chiefs; 8:20 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 6; NBC’s Sunday Night Football
The Colts will be looking to avenge their season-ending loss to the Chiefs in the Divisional Round of the playoffs, a 31-13 decision on Jan. 12 at Arrowhead Stadium. The Chiefs would go on to fall to the New England Patriots, 37-31, the following week in the AFC Championship Game.
Led by quarterback Patrick Mahomes, the league’s Most Valuable Player in 2018, the Chiefs last season finished 12-4 and claimed the AFC West Division title. Kansas City had the league’s most potent offensive attack, as their franchise-record 565 points — and 35.3 points per game average — were the third-most in NFL history. The Chiefs led the league in yards per play (6.84) and yards per game (425.6).
Mahomes had an incredible first full season as a starting NFL quarterback, finishing with 383-of-580 completions (66 percent) for 5,097 yards with a league-best 50 touchdowns and 12 interceptions for a 113.8 quarterback rating.
The Chiefs’ defense, meanwhile, ranked tied for first in the NFL with 52.0 team sacks. Defensive end Chris Jones had 15.5 sacks, including one in 11 straight games, an NFL record.
But Kansas City in 2019 will have to figure out how to generate pass rush without the likes of Dee Ford and Justin Houston, who combined for 22 sacks last year. Ford on March 12 was traded to the San Francisco 49ers, and the team released Houston, who eventually signed a free agent deal with the Colts on March 21.
If the Colts can defeat the Chiefs, it will be their first victory over a team that had eliminated them from the playoffs the previous season since Week 12 of the 2008 season, when they went on the road and defeated the San Diego Chargers, 23-20. The Chargers had defeated the Colts, 28-24, in the Divisional Round of the 2007 playoffs the season prior.