By Arnie Melendrez Stapleton DENVER (AP) — The Denver Broncos and the Los Angeles Chargers felt good about their chances heading into the playoffs in large part because they had played the reigning two-time Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs so tough this season. Their wipeouts in the wild-card round show they’re not as close to overtaking the Chiefs as they may have thought. The Broncos (10-8) would have swept Kansas City (15-2) were it not for a blocked field goal as time expired in Week 10 that preserved the Chiefs’ 16-14 escape at Arrowhead, and Denver ended its eight-year playoff drought with a 38-0 shutout…
Author: AP News
By John Hanna/AP TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas’ top elections official launched a campaign for governor Wednesday after building his public profile by pushing back against unfounded election conspiracy theories and breaking with fellow Republicans on voting rights issues. Secretary of State Scott Schwab is the first candidate to confirm plans to seek the GOP nomination in 2026 to replace term-limited Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly. He announced his campaign in an online video, giving the August 2026 primary race an early start. Schwab has repeatedly vouched for the integrity of Kansas elections on his two-term watch, despite President-elect Donald Trump’s false assertions that the…
By Melina Walling/AP A nasty dose of winter weather has pummeled much of the U.S. from Kansas to the East Coast, leaving many Americans to dig out of the blizzard — including farmers. And more is on the way, with the polar air expected to continue to grip some places until at least Friday. Farmers always watch the weather, but depending on where they’re located and what they produce, winter always presents mental challenges for growers, said Carolyn Olson, an organic farmer in southwestern Minnesota who is also vice president of the Minnesota Farm Bureau Federation Board of Directors. Producers know that the timing…
DENVER (AP) — Patrick Mahomes spent a chilly Sunday afternoon strolling the sideline in a jacket and sweatpants, with a handwarmer pouch secured around his waist. The Kansas City quarterback was just trying to keep warm on a rare game day off. Next up, the real thing for Mahomes and the Chiefs as they go for a Super Bowl three-peat. This game, a 38-0 loss to the playoff-bound Denver Broncos, has already been flushed from memory. It was a meaningless regular-season finale for a Chiefs squad that had already secured a first-round bye courtesy of being the AFC’s top seed.…
By Rob Maddi Nine Baltimore Ravens, including two-time NFL MVP Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry, were selected for the Pro Bowl Games. The Detroit Lions are next with seven players and the Minnesota Vikings and Philadelphia Eagles each have six players on the NFC roster. Patrick Mahomes wasn’t selected to the AFC roster for the first time since becoming Kansas City’s starting quarterback in his second season. Mahomes, a three-time Super Bowl MVP and six-time Pro Bowl pick, wasn’t among five Chiefs chosen. Teammate Travis Kelce made it for the 10th time. Washington’s Jayden Daniels is just the fourth rookie…
By John Hanna/AP TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Republicans made claims about illegal voting by noncitizens a centerpiece of their 2024 campaign messaging and plan to push legislation in the new Congress requiring voters to provide proof of U.S. citizenship. Yet there’s one place with a GOP supermajority where linking voting to citizenship appears to be a nonstarter: Kansas. That’s because the state has been there, done that, and all but a few Republicans would prefer not to go there again. Kansas imposed a proof-of-citizenship requirement over a decade ago that grew into one of the biggest political fiascos in the state in recent memory. The law,…
By John Hanna TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas official who is an informal adviser to President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team on immigration issues doesn’t expect mass deportations to prompt arrests of migrants at sensitive locations such as schools and churches. But Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach does expect Trump to take action that will spark a legal challenge over the citizenship status of children born in the U.S. to immigrants living in the country illegally. He also expects Trump to encourage local and state law enforcement officers to help with efforts to arrest and detain migrants. Kobach has for two decades…
By Dave Skretta KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Kansas City Chiefs are opening the practice window for wide receiver Marquise Brown, who has been on the injured list since hurting his shoulder in their preseason opener, a person familiar with the decision told The Associated Press on Friday. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the team had not announced the move. Brown will have a 21-day window to practice before the Chiefs must decide whether to activate him, though his return could come much sooner than that. Brown will not play in Sunday’s game in Cleveland, but he could return…
By Dave Skretta KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Pick your adjective to describe the Kansas City Chiefs this season — charmed, serendipitous, fortunate or just plain lucky — and it probably fits, and not just because they keep winning games that come down to the wire. Every time they need help at a position, they’ve found someone sitting on the couch, seemingly waiting for their call. First it was wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster, who returned to the Chiefs just before the season after Marquise Brown was lost to shoulder surgery. Then it was running back Kareem Hunt, who likewise returned to his former team when Isiah…
By Josh Dubow In a season on pace for a record number of close games, no team has been better at pulling them out late than the two-time defending champion Kansas City Chiefs. Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs tied an NFL record last week by winning their 10th game this season by seven points or fewer — a feat accomplished only once before by the 1978 Houston Oilers — when Matthew Wright doinked in a 31-yard field goal on the final play for a 19-17 victory over the Chargers. Kansas City has won three times on a walk-off field goal and is the…