A day of opening gifts and celebrating with family, Christmas festivities will have to wait for the Pittsburgh Steelers this year.
That's because they will be welcoming a 14-1 Kansas City Chiefs team to Acrisure stadium, with their goal of wrapping up the one seed in the AFC on the line.
But following news on Christmas morning, that quest may have just gotten a lot harder:
Chiefs expected to be without star DT Chris Jones
Chiefs star DT Chris Jones is not expected to play today against the Steelers just a week after tweaking his calf, source said. Steelers QB Justin Fields (abdominal) is unlikely to play and will most likely serve as the third (emergency) QB today. He could be back next week.
Ian Rapoport, NFL Media
https://x.com/RapSheet/status/1871893306789286058There is no understanding of how big of a game-changer Jones is. While Steelers rookie center Zach Frazier has stepped in and played at a high level given his lack of experience, facing the best interior defensive lineman in the league and a future first-ballot Hall of Famer would have been a different level of difficulty.
So It's a massive loss to not only the Chiefs' pass rush and defense but their entire team. Jones may not have the stat-padded season he's known for, as he currently sits at five sacks with two games remaining. However, his impact, or lack thereof will be noticed in a game that Patrick Mahomes noted as a big deal due to what's on the line:
"I don’t think you talk about it, but everybody knows. I mean, it’s – you want to get that one seed to get that bye (week) so that you’re basically winning a playoff game by getting the one seed," said Mahomes. Y"ou get that and you’ll have home-field advantage as well at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium which we feel like is a huge advantage for us. "You can’t put all your attention to it, all you can do is go out there and play football and know that we’re going to play a great football team and it’s going to take our best football to win.”
The Steelers on the other hand are returning three starters to the lineup on Christmas, headlined of course by the reinsertion of star WR George Pickens. And without Joey Porter Jr. on defense, we could be in for a shootout on Christmas day, especially with the way Patrick Mahomes' ankle is feeling:
"I think I’ll be in a better place ankle-wise. I mean, obviously, the body’s going to be sore with the short week and everything like that, but I think the ankle should be in a better place," Mahomes said after the Texans game. "As far as how I felt after this game compared to the one before, I’m definitely in a lot better place.”
