KANSAS CITY Germaine Pratt Jersey , Mo. (AP) — and the response from their fan base was a collective shrug followed by some frantic Google searches.Who had heard of Dee Ford outside the SEC? Or Chris Jones, for that matter?Ford was a speedy, athletic but raw pass rusher out of Auburn whom many draft pundits considered a risky reach when the Chiefs chose him 23rd overall in 2014. Jones had a solid if unspectacular career at Mississippi State before the Chiefs took him with the No. 37 overall pick two years later.Yet those two have been the lone bright spots on a blighted Chiefs defense.Ford has piled up 12 sacks and forced six fumbles in a contract year, giving the Chiefs a tough but welcome financial decision to make this offseason. Jones has at least one sack in an NFL-record 11 consecutive games and his 15½ this season is second only to Rams star Aaron Donald.Together, they have more sacks than the Raiders, Giants and playoff-bound Patriots.“I don’t think too much about it,” said Jones, who was among the more noteworthy Pro Bowl snubs this season. “We’re just trying to win games. That’s what is most important right now.”Especially given the stakes this week: The Chiefs must beat Oakland on Sunday to win the AFC West and earn the No. 1 seed in the playoffs, or risk potentially dropping to the No. 5 seed.Yet the Chiefs probably wouldn’t be in such a position without Ford and Jones http://www.bengalscheapshop.com/cheap-authentic-ryan-finley-jersey , and simply making that statement speaks volumes to what they’ve accomplished in their young careers.Ford dealt with a series of injuries that kept him on the sideline about as much as the field, and he struggled to adjust to the NFL game. He was almost exclusively a pass rusher at Auburn, but learning the nuances of pass coverage and stopping the run took a few years.Sure, there were bright spots along the way. But nothing resembling his breakthrough this season.“I think Dee, he’s healthy, feels good about the things he is doing,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said. “He’s doing a good job of setting the edge, which kind of gets overlooked just because of his pass rush. He is playing good football right now.”Ford had three sacks and forced two fumbles in a win over the Broncos earlier this season, and his steady play has allowed him to remain on the field even in obvious running situations.In other words, he’s developed into a well-rounded linebacker.One that’s about to get paid handsomely.The Chiefs can’t afford to let him go in free agency Renell Wren Jersey , so Ford is an attractive candidate to get the franchise tag. And with a salary cap expected to be about $190 million next year, that means giving Ford more than $16 million — a substantial bump from the roughly $8.7 million he’s making this year.They could also sign him to a long-term deal, though Khalil Mack just shattered the market with his $141 million, six-year deal with the Bears. Eight figures for Ford is hardly out of the question.Then there is Jones, who lost about 25 pounds since last season and has become one of the top interior pass rushers in the NFL. He started his sack streak in Week 5 against Jacksonville, and not only has Jones had at least one in each game since, but he has five games with more than one.Throw in enough versatility to adequately defend the run, and enough personality to make him a fan favorite, and Jones becomes the kind of cornerstone upon which the Chiefs can build.“His body fat is way down. He works his fundamentals and techniques. That’s what he does,” Reid said. “He still has room to grow http://www.bengalscheapshop.com/cheap-authentic-michael-jordan-jersey , which is great. He isn’t tapped out by any means. I will tell you it all started in the offseason. Now it is paying off for him as the season has gone on.”It’s going to pay off in another ways. Jones still has one year left on his rookie deal, and an extension now would be costly for the Chiefs. But the alternative is to wait until the 2020 season ends, at which point they’ll be up against everybody else in free agency in need of a pass rusher.All that lies in the future, though. Ford and Jones insist they are focused solely on the present, and that means preparing for a game against Oakland with major playoff implications. RENTON, Wash. (AP) — When kicker Jason Myers became a free agent in the offseason following a Pro Bowl campaign last season, Seattle was near the top of his destination list.Good thing for Myers that Seattle special teams coordinator Brian Schneider had the kicker as the clear top option for solving the Seahawks‘ kicking situation.“The way I looked at it, when I evaluated college kickers, I had Jason Myers at the top of my board,” Schneider said Thursday.A year after losing a training camp competition in Seattle and watching Sebastian Janikowski claim the job T.J. Hockenson Jersey , Myers is back with the Seahawks. But this time there is no competition.Coming off a season where Myers hit 33 of 36 field goal attempts and earned the first Pro Bowl selection of his career, the Seahawks are banking on Myers to solidify an unsettled position.“It feels the same. I was very comfortable with everybody last year. Big part of the reason why I came back,” Myers said. “Everything kind of felt like I never left in a way so just kind of building off what we did last year.”Seattle has sought stability at the kicking position since losing Stephen Hauschka in free agency after the 2016 season. The Seahawks opted for the Blair Walsh experiment in 2017, but he missed eight field goals that season, including missed kicks that played a major role in three Seattle losses. Last year, the Seahawks brought in Janikowski and Myers to compete for the job, but ultimately went with the veteran in what turned out to be his final season before retirement.Schneider said Seattle tracked every kick from offseason workouts through the early preseason games last season and Janikowski won the job in the eyes of the team.“It was fair, they told me to come out here and compete and that’s what I do. I do that whether it’s just me out here or somebody else,” Myers said. “I’m always trying to get better personally. That’s what I was doing last year and what I’m going to try and do this year.”Janikowski wasn’t bad, hitting 22 of 27 field goals http://www.lionscheapshop.com/cheap-authentic-jahlani-tavai-jersey , including three game-winning kicks. But Myers had the better season after being claimed off waivers by the New York Jets. The 27-year-old Myers kicked an NFL-record five field goals of at least 55 yards last season. He also had six field goals of at least 50 yards, setting a Jets franchise record. Myers set another team mark by making seven field goals against Indianapolis last season.He was the first Jets kicker to be selected to the Pro Bowl in franchise history.“(It was) a fresh start, kind of. What I went through two years ago, I took it as more of a learning experience than trying to get down on myself for getting let go in Jacksonville,” Myers said. “I took that as a positive and I knew I was hitting the ball well out here last year and it kept clicking back there in New York.”