oped into another big-play receiver. The Chargers also

Jaguars linebacker Telvin Smith says he has been involved in two errant calls the last two weeks.Smith says the NFL notified the team that he shouldn’t have been flagged for leading with his helmet while tackling New England receiver Chris Hogan in Week 2. Then Jordan Akins Jersey , officials missed a holding call on Tennessee left tackle Taylor Lewan on a third-down play late last week that essentially allowed the Titans to run out the clock.Smith believes he would have tackled quarterback Marcus Mariota for a loss on the third-and-1 play. Instead, Mariota gained 15 yards.Smith also says officials need to be held more accountable.“It’s very frustrating,” he said. “That could have been a game-changing call. … We can’t do nothing about that, you know what I mean? So I don’t care if it was a holding call or not. We lost that game. We’re onto this week.“But that is where I think we must address this game. Put more pressure on them the same way pressure is being put on us to stay off that quarterback, don’t put your body weight on him. Got to have better eyes. You’ve got to be more detailed. You’re asking the players to do the same thing. You’re asking the coaches to coach us doing the same thing. Well, now let’s get on to the officiating crew about.”REMEMBER, HE CAN THROWThe Bengals are prepared to see receiver Mohamed Sanu fling the ball on Sunday. After all, nobody knows better about his accuracy.Sanu completed all five of his passes during four seasons in Cincinnati, including a 73-yard touchdown to A.J. Green and an 18-yard scoring toss to Andy Dalton. He threw a 51-yard TD to Julio Jones last season, leaving him a perfect 6 for 6 for 228 yards and three touchdowns for his career heading into the Bengals’ game at Atlanta on Sunday.“If anyone knows about it, we do,” Dalton said.Dalton’s TD catch during a 33-7 win over Tennessee in 2014 made him the only quarterback in Bengals history to score on a catch. He pitched the ball to Sanu and drifted off to the left for a cross-field pass. Cornerback Blidi Wreh-Wilson decided to try for the interception instead of hitting Dalton and missed the ball. Dalton made the catch, ran down the sideline and dived into the end zone.“I should have gotten killed, that’s what I remember,” Dalton said. “We had it drawn up all week for it to be perfect: ‘Oh, I’m going to be wide open.’ But I wasn’t wide open. Luckily, I was able to make the play.“Mo has the stats. It’s not like he’s been throwing to wide-open guys, either. His arm talent is crazy.”HALFTIME ADJUSTMENTS MYTHWhenever a team has much more success in the second half than the first half, it’s assumed the coaching staff made excellent “halftime adjustments.” Philadelphia Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz considers that notion a myth.“It makes a nice story, but there is really no such thing as halftime adjustments in the NFL, as much as you guys would like to write about it,” Schwartz said. “You’re adjusting after every series. After every series, you’re updating your checks Keke Coutee Jersey , you’re putting fires out, you’re trying to get ready for the next series.”In Philadelphia’s case, the defense has been more stingy in the second half during Schwartz’s tenure.“We have a resilient bunch of guys,” he said. “We have a smart bunch of players. When you put something in front of them, they very rarely make a mistake a second time. I think that probably plays more into it than any adjustment or anything else.”TYRANN’S TECHNOLOGY ZONEHouston safety Tyrann Mathieu returned to Arizona this week to open a technology zone at a Boys & Girls Club in Phoenix.Mathieu was drafted by the Cardinals and spent his first five years in Arizona before signing with the Texans this offseason. Though he no longer plays in Arizona, he still feels a strong connection to the city and team. He wants to keep giving back there because the Cardinals took a chance by drafting him despite his dismissal from LSU for violating team rules as a junior.“Coming from LSU, I had a lot of different things I was going through,” he said. “And I felt like Arizona, the community embraced me, my teammates embraced me and at the end of the day they gave me a second chance to do what I wanted to do. Always grateful for that and always try to keep that in the back of my mind.”Mathieu thought the technology zone would be good for kids who are looking to get involved in things others than sports.“Everybody can’t play sports and I don’t want kids to get their mind wrapped into that,” he said. “There are so many different opportunities for them … so I’m hoping that they can use it and it creates a passion for them, and they find out things about themselves that they didn’t necessarily know.”The room includes areas where kids can sing, learn videography and photography, and features a green screen where they can produce short videos to show their friends.Mathieu spent time with the kids in Arizona on Tuesday and loved the excitement they showed in exploring the room. He’ll continue to monitor feedback from the room and hopes to open more such spaces in Arizona, Houston and in his hometown of New Orleans.NATIONAL TEAM COACHUSA Football selected Eric Kasperowicz of Pine-Richland High School in Gibsonia, Pennsylvania, to head the 2019 U.S. Under-19 national team. Comprised of the country’s top high school seniors, it will play a to-be-determined foreign national team on Jan. 18 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.Since becoming Pine-Richland’s head coach in 2013, Kasperowicz has led his Rams to a 57-14 (.803) record, including the school’s first Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association Class 6A state championship last season.“It’s a great honor to represent the United States and to coach some of the top football-playing student-athletes in the country,” Kasperowicz said. “There’s a rich tradition of success with our Under-19 national team and those who have led it. I look forward to continuing that tradition.”Established in 2010, the International Bowl is the longest-running annual series of high school-aged international football teams. The 2019 event will convene 16 teams from four continents across four age divisions.U.S. Under-19 national team alumni include Rams running backTodd Gurley Deshaun Watson Jersey , the 2017 NFL Offensive Player of the Year; Patriots defensive lineman Malcom Brown; Seahawks linebacker Shaquem Griffin; Ohio State quarterback Dwayne Haskins; and Wisconsin running back Jonathan Taylor.USA Football is a member of the U.S. Olympic Committee and is the sport’s national governing body.MONTANA’S LEAGUEJoe Montana has a new league.The Hall of Fame quarterback has joined the Fan Controlled Football League (FCFL), which bills itself as the first professional football league in which fans call all the shots. Montana will be the league’s chief strategic adviser and an investor.The FCFL says all key decisions will be made by the fans, from picking a team name and logo to drafting players, hiring coaches and setting up a playbook. It will feature 7-on-7 play in a high-tech production studio arena with 50-yard fields and 8-yard end zones.Sounds a lot like Arena Football.Each of eight teams based in one location will have 18-man rosters, and talent will be chosen from open tryouts and some national combines. The top 100 rated players will participate in a two-day draft in which the fans select the teams.The FCFL plans a 14-game regular season with two playoff games and a championship contest. Each game will last one hour, the league says.“I’m tremendously excited to be partnering with the FCFL,” Montana said. “What this team has created is innovative, engaging, and will energize the digital age football fan. Fans will hire the coaches, draft the players and call all the plays in real time. It’s a real-life video game and the future of sports.” For the first time in a decade, the top seed in the AFC playoffs goes to a team not led by Tom Brady or Peyton Manning.The Kansas City Chiefs earned the No. 1 seed for the first time since 1997 after switching from Alex Smith to Patrick Mahomes , the sensational second-year star who reminds so many of Brett Favre.The New England Patriots lost five times on the road but still managed to win their customary first-round bye, slipping past the Houston Texans to earn a week off to rest for the 10th consecutive year.They’re the only teams back in the AFC playoffs following a year of comebacks.The Texans return from a year’s absence thanks to the remarkable rebounds of J.J. Watt and Deshaun Watson . The Chargers rode a refined Philip Rivers to their first playoff berth in five years, and the Colts crashed the playoff party for the first time since 2014 behind Andrew Luck’s rousing return .The Colts visit the Texans on Saturday in the wild-card round, and on Sunday the Chargers play at Baltimore, where the Ravens ended a four-year drought by rallying behind Lamar Jackson , the last of the “Big Five” rookie QBs drafted in the first round, but the first to make it to the playoffs.Strength and weakness of each of the six AFC playoff teams:1. KANSAS CITY CHIEFS (12-4). AP Pro32 Ranking: No. 4. Last Lombardi: Super Bowl 4, 23-7 over Minnesota on Jan. 11, 1970.SHOOTOUT: The Chiefs haven’t had a true franchise QB since Len Dawson led them to their only Super Bowl title. But after letting him learn the ropes under Alex Smith, Mahomes broke out with one of the best seasons in NFL history for a first-year starter (5,097 yards and 50 touchdowns ). K.C. scored at least 26 points in every game, the only team ever to do so.STRIKEOUT: The defense is a dud. Their four losses this season came when they put forth as much resistance as tissue paper: shootout losses to the Rams Zach Cunningham Jersey , Patriots and Seahawks and a fourth-quarter meltdown against the Chargers. Of course, those are all playoff-bound teams. Don’t forget on offense the ouster of RB Kareem Hunt , who had 14 TDs. The Chiefs have gone 3-2 since cutting last year’s rushing champ.SHOUTOUT: “I always feel like there is a bull’s-eye every week, and that’s OK. That’s the way you want it. We’ve earned the right to be in this position.” — Coach Andy Reid.2. NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS (12-4). AP Pro32 Ranking: No. 5 (tie). Last Lombardi: Super Bowl 51, 34-28, OT, over Atlanta on Feb. 5, 2017.FAR OUT: At 41, he finally showed signs of age this season. But having Tom Brady on their roster makes the Patriots a title contender. Coming off an MVP season, Brady fell off — by his lofty standards — with 4,355 yards, 29 TDs and 11 interceptions. Getting a week off to rest is important because the Patriots have not been a wild-card team since 2009, when they were blown out by Baltimore.FLAME OUT: Every time Brady has won a Super Bowl ring, he had a star-studded defense helping him. The Patriots have given up 30 or more points five times this season, going 2-3. They haven’t been able to get to the quarterback like last year, when they were tied for seventh in the league with 42 sacks. This season, they tied for 30th with just 30 sacks.SHOUTOUT: “11-5 is nothing to be sad about. I mean, we fought pretty hard and put ourselves in a decent position here, and now we’ve got to go try to take advantage of it.” — Brady.3. HOUSTON TEXANS (11-5). AP Pro32 Ranking: No. 7. No Lombardis.ROUT: QB Deshaun Watson is healthy again as evidenced by his eight TD throws and no interceptions in the last six games while running for 276 yards and four TDs. DeAndre Hopkins was second in the NFL with a career-high 1,572 yards receiving. J.J. Watt and Jadeveon Clowney combined for 25 sacks and 34 tackles for loss. Watt also forced seven fumbles after playing just eight games over two injury-shortened seasons.POUT: The Texans enter the playoffs thin at receiver behind Hopkins after losing Will Fuller (knee) midseason and Demaryius Thomas , a trade deadline pickup from Denver, to a torn Achilles tendon last month. There is also concern about the porous O-line after Watson was sacked an NFL-leading 62 times this season. That kind of duress can negate any franchise QB. Adding to the pressure is a less-than-impressive ground game.SHOUTOUT: “This team is one of the few teams to come back from 0-3 and to qualify for the playoffs and win the division. We have a tough football team.” — Coach Bill O’Brien.4. BALTIMORE RAVENS (10-6). AP Pro32 Ranking: No. 9. Last Lombardi: Super Bowl 47, 34-31 over San Francisco on Feb. 1 D’Onta Foreman Jersey , 2013.BREAKOUT: The Ravens are dangerous if rookie QB Lamar Jackson shows the same poise he displayed in leading Baltimore on a 6-1 streak after taking over from an injured Joe Flacco. With Jackson efficiently operating the run-pass option , Baltimore controlled the clock and the rested defense manhandled opponents. John Harbaugh’s Ravens boast the NFL’s second-ranked rushing attack and No. 1 defense.DROPOUT: Baltimore beat the Chargers in L.A. on Dec. 22, but QB Philip Rivers should be ready for the rematch against a defense that last week was burned by Baker Mayfield for 376 yards and three TDs. Jackson ran for nearly 700 yards, but with only one career game of 200 yards passing, there’s still some question whether he can bring Baltimore back from a deficit with his arm.SHOUTOUT: “This is what a real team looks like. They block out all the outside, turn to each other for strength and are there for one another. … This is the best team I’ve been around.” — Harbaugh.5. LOS ANGELES CHARGERS (12-4). AP Pro32 Ranking: No. 5 (tie). No Lombardis. Lost Super Bowl 28 to San Francisco 49-26 in 1995.CLOUT: Philip Rivers had a 105.5 passer rating in 2018, equaling his career best. Melvin Gordon had 1,309 yards from scrimmage and 14 TDs and Austin Ekeler emerged as a change-of-pace back. Keenan Allen led the team in catches again but Mike Williams developed into another big-play receiver. The Chargers also aren’t fazed by hitting the road , where they were 7-1 with wins at Seattle, Pittsburgh and Kansas City.DOUBT: The Chargers head into the playoffs with only one healthy starter at linebacker. Denzel Perryman and Jatavis Brown are out with season-ending injuries and their replacements are undersized, something opponents will certainly scheme to exploit. They’ve been outscored 43-14 in the first quarter of the past six games as Rivers has thrown an interception on the first drive in each of the last three games.SHOUTOUT: “We just had to be in the playoffs. Our goal is to try to make a run and try to get to the Super Bowl.” — CB Casey Hayward Jr.6. INDIANAPOLIS COLTS (10-6). AP Pro32 Ranking: No. 8. Last Lombardi: Super Bowl 41, 29-17 over Chicago on Feb. 4, 2007.BLOWOUT: The Comeback Colts got into the playoffs with a three-pronged combo they’ve rarely had: balanced offense, stout defense and championship-caliber QB. Andrew Luck came back from a partially torn labrum in his throwing shoulder with the best overall season of his career. The revamped O-line allowed a league-low 18 sacks and the Colts have allowed 16.4 points over last eight games.BURNOUT: The Colts will spend the playoffs on the road with a roster that lacks much postseason experience. Only four players from Indy’s last playoff team in 2014 will be active Sunday: Luck, T.Y. Hilton, Anthony Castonzo and Adam Vinatieri. Take out three players who own Super Bowl rings — Vinatieri, Jabaal Sheard and Najee Goode — and the other 46 players on the roster have a total of six playoff wins.SHOUTOUT: “That’s every team’s goal at the beginning of the season, to get into the dance, and we have climbed the mountain far enough to get into the playoffs. But our ultimate goals are still out there.” — Vinatieri.