Then people wonder if those four lucky clubs are going to be rusty when they return in the divisional round.The football world finds out this weekend when the Chiefs Jerry Tillery Jersey Color Rush , Patriots, Saints and Rams get into postseason action.That January week off is coveted for a variety of reasons. Playing one less game decreases the chances of getting knocked out of the Super Bowl chase. Healing injuries is a critical piece of the puzzle. Extra time to strategize, particularly against an unfamiliar opponent, is a bonus.And yet, there¡¯s always the question of getting stale.¡°I think, really, you could look at it where if you want to maintain your rhythm and your routine and being able to play ¡ª it¡¯s been a couple weeks off ¡ªbut I think the players would say that the rest is definitely the best way to go,¡± Rams coach Sean McVay says.¡°Getting as healthy as possible for us where we¡¯re about as healthy as you could ask to be going into the divisional round. So, I know we¡¯ve certainly looked at it as a positive. It¡¯s been a good chance for guys to kind of get refreshed, rejuvenated. There¡¯s a good buzz in the building this week building into Saturday night.¡±That would be when the Rams (13-3) host the Dallas Cowboys (11-6), who eliminated Seattle in the wild-card round.The other matchups are AFC top seed Kansas City (12-4) hosting Indianapolis (11-6 after beating Houston) to open things. On Sunday, it¡¯s New England (11-5) at home for the Los Angeles Chargers (13-4 after winning at Baltimore), andNFC top seed New Orleans (13-3) home for defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia (10-7 after a victory at Chicago).So what if Neil Young was correct that rust never sleeps? Are the Chiefs, Patriots or Saints in need of some WD-40?New England safety Patrick Chung notes the bye was ¡°a good time to rest up, hang out with my family, chill out Cheap Jerry Tillery Jersey , get my mind off football. We¡¯re locked in now.¡±Teammate Phillip Dorsett senses the opposite of rustiness: ¡°Having a week off from football, it¡¯s tough, but a lot of guys wanted to go back out there, it¡¯s a big game coming up ¡­ definitely excited to go out there and start playing.¡±INDIANAPOLIS AT KANSAS CITYThe Colts are 4-0 in the postseason against the Chiefs, 2-0 at Arrowhead Stadium. They are on quite a roll after going 1-5, with an efficient offense that protects its quarterback better than any team, allowing sacks on only 2.7 percent of Andrew Luck¡¯s passes. That could be a key because the Chiefs¡¯ defense is one-dimensional, with a strong pass rush but otherwise plenty of holes.Of course, keeping pace with Kansas City¡¯s dynamic offense led by All-Pro quarterback Patrick Mahomes is a major challenge.Kansas City scored a franchise-record 565 points, third most in NFL history. Mahomes led the league with seven games with a 100-plus passer rating (Luck was third with five). Mahomes set a franchise record for TD passes (50), touchdown-interception differential (plus-38) and 300-yard passing games (10).Worth focusing on: The tight end production for Indy¡¯s Eric Ebron, who had 15 touchdowns this season, and KC¡¯s Travis Kelce, second among TEs with 1,336 yards receiving. He has a catch in 79 straight games.DALLAS AT LOS ANGELES RAMSThese franchises have split eight postseason games, and the Rams are the most frequent playoff opponent for Dallas. The Cowboys last won a road playoff game in 1993 on their way to a Super Bowl title Youth Jerry Tillery Jersey , but their next playoff victory will be their 36th, tying Pittsburgh for the most in NFL history.Rams All-Pro defensive tackle Aaron Donald topped the NFL with 20 1-2 sacks, nearly twice as many as Cowboys leader Demarcus Lawrence¡¯s 10 1-2. Under former Dallas coach Wade Phillips, LA¡¯s defense had 41 sacks to the Cowboys¡¯ 39, yet the Rams had 97 more sack yards.Worth focusing on: This game could be decided on the ground, which means All-Pro Todd Gurley for the Rams and second-teamer Ezekiel Elliott for the Cowboys. Elliott won the rushing title for the second time in three years, but Gurley was sidelined late in the schedule by a knee injury. Gurley led the league in touchdowns with 21, 17 rushing.LOS ANGELES CHARGERS AT NEW ENGLANDNew England was 8-0 at Gillette Stadium, the only perfect home record in the league. And the Chargers were a league-best 7-1 on the road ¡ª some say they don¡¯t really have home games considering they play in a temporary stadium built for soccer ¡ª and won at Baltimore last Sunday.Quarterback Philip Rivers enters Sunday¡¯s game with a 1-7 record against the Patriots, including 0-4 in Foxborough and 0-2 in the playoffs. There is concern about leading rusher Melvin Gordon, who hurt his knee in Baltimore.Conversely, Tom Brady is 2-0 in the playoffs and 6-2 in regular-season meetings.Worth focusing on: The secondaries. If the weather is decent, Brady and Rivers will be testing defensive backfields of varying accomplishments. There often have been gaping holes in New England¡¯s coverages, while the Chargers have an All-Pro in rookie safety Derwin James, and another standout back there in Desmond King.PHILADELPHIA AT NEW ORLEANSThey call him St. Nick around Philly, and the way Nick Foles has performed Los Angeles Chargers Jerseys 2019 , why not? He guided the Eagles to the championship and was Super Bowl MVP last year after replacing an injured Carson Wentz. This time, with Wentz sidelined again, Foles got the struggling Eagles into the postseason, then helped them beat the Bears in the wild-card game.He¡¯ll need to be plenty, well, saintly against New Orleans and its collection of Saints, the league¡¯s top team in the regular season. Drew Brees has had perhaps the best season of his Hall of Fame-caliber career. And of all the teams coming off byes, New Orleans is the most balanced. Oh, yeah, the Saints also routed the Eagles 48-7 in November, before Philly won six of the next seven, including the 16-15 verdict in Chicago.Worth focusing on: Again, the secondaries. The Eagles have prospered despite a rash of injuries there, and the Saints¡¯ DBs can be had when the guys up front don¡¯t get in a QB¡¯s face. CARSON, Calif. (AP) ¡ª It looks as if Melvin Gordon has picked the right time to return to the Los Angeles Chargers backfield.The Pro Bowl running back is expected to see his first action on Sunday when the 2-2 Chargers host the winless Denver Broncos in an AFC West matchup. Gordon held out for 64 days due to a contract dispute before reporting back to the team on Sept. 26. He was moved to the active roster two days later and did not play in last week¡¯s 30-10 win at Miami.Gordon will face a Broncos defense that is third worst in the league against the run after Jacksonville¡¯s Leonard Fournette ran for 225 yards last week.Article continues below ...¡°He looks good. It¡¯s great to have him back,¡± Chargers offensive coordinator Ken Whisenhunt said of Gordon. ¡°You never know when a player has been out like that for a while what the chemistry is going to be like once he comes back. I give Mel a lot of credit. He has handled it really well. He¡¯s done a nice job in how he has interacted with the team and gone about his business. He¡¯s genuinely excited to be back.¡±Gordon has had two games against the Broncos in which he had 155 scrimmage yards or more. One of those was last season when he had 156 (69 rushing Jerry Tillery Los Angeles Chargers Jerseys , 87 receiving) in a Week 11 loss. The fifth-year running back has gained 120 scrimmage yards or more in six of his last seven games against division opponents.Gordon also returns to an offense that did not sputter in his absence. Austin Ekeler is fifth in scrimmage yards (490) and leads all non-kickers in scoring with six touchdowns (36 points).Denver cornerback Chris Harris Jr. said one of the adjustments the Broncos might make on run defense is bringing the secondary closer to the line of scrimmage to put pressure on the outside.Offenses facing the Broncos have thrown the ball 48.3% of the time. According to Inside Edge, that is the third-lowest passing rate in the league. Denver coach Vic Fangio offered another solution to the run defense woes.¡°We just have to play more physical and be able to hang in there on the blocks better, tackle better and just play better,¡± he said.Here is what else to watch as the Chargers and Broncos renew their rivalry:STATE OF THE WESTAfter a 2-2 start for the second straight season, Los Angeles needs a win to at least keep undefeated Kansas City in its sights. The Chargers are 19-6 the past two seasons under coach Anthony Lynn in games played after September.Fangio is off to the worst start by a first-year coach in franchise history. It is only the fourth time Denver has been 0-4 and the first since 1999, the season after John Elway retired.Joe Flacco said the Broncos will look back on this rough start and see it made them tougher, and Phillip Lindsay agrees:¡°You have to go through hard times,¡± he said. ¡°For example, we were struggling in the red zone at first. Now we¡¯re starting to get the groove of it. You have to punch through. Once you can get through, once you get that first win, everything starts to roll. That¡¯s just kind of how the NFL is. You just need some kind of momentum to go your way and what better time than a divisional game versus the Chargers there and get a win like we did last year and start rolling from there.¡±MOUNTING INJURIESThe Chargers have 10 players on either injured reserve or the reserve/non-football illness list, including three starters. They could be without four more additional starters against Denver. Defensive end Melvin Ingram (hamstring) has already been ruled out, while wide receivers Mike Williams (back) and Travis Benjamin (knee) are likely to be game-time decisions.DUO DONEThe Broncos no longer sport the league¡¯s best pass-rushing duo in Von Miller and Bradley Chubb, who tore his left ACL last week and needs season-ending surgery. The pair had produced 29½ sacks in 20 games together. Replacing Chubb is a rotation of rookies Malik Reed and Justin Hollins and sixth-year pro Jeremiah Attaochu, who played for the Chargers from 2014-17.Moving Miller around to counter increased double-teams and create some mismatches is a possibility. ¡°But they know his number,¡± Fangio said. ¡°Unless we can change his number in between every series Russell Okung Jerseys Stitched , they¡¯ll find him. He just has to keep trudging along. The one on ones will come eventually.AIRING IT OUTPhilip Rivers is tied for third in the league in passing yards (1,254) while Keenan Allen is tied in receptions (34) and leads in yards (452).Rivers is going for this third straight game with 300 or more yards, two or more touchdowns and a passer rating in triple digits. His 44 TD passes against Denver are his second most against an opponent.¡°It is a little different preparing for them this week. It¡¯s the same guys in a lot of spots, but a different scheme,¡± said Rivers of the Broncos. ¡°It¡¯s a good defense. They¡¯ll challenge the heck out of us. The secondary is playing really well.¡±UNDRAFTED & UNDAUNTEDEkeler, who¡¯s from Eaton, Colorado, and attended Western State in Gunnison, Colorado, has a big fan in Broncos Pro Bowl running back Lindsay, who grew up in Denver and attended the University of Colorado in Boulder.The two trained together with Panthers running back Christian McCaffrey, another Colorado native.¡°There¡¯s a lot of good talent here in Colorado,¡± Lindsay said. ¡°You just have to give it an opportunity and give it a chance. There is just so many kids in California and Texas that you get overshadowed, but if you¡¯re good, you¡¯re good.¡±