Mets Have High Hopes For This Not-so-secret Bullpen Weapon

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Chiefs coach Andy Reid is planning to give running back Isiah Pacheco most of the week off to rest his sore ribs. Reid hasn’t decided who else will get time off before their regular-season finale in Denver. The Chiefs (15-1) already have clinched the No. 1 seed in the AFC playoffs, and with it the lone first-round bye, rendering their game against the Broncos meaningless to them.

By CHARLES ODUM ATLANTA — Quinn Ewers showed off his diplomatic skills on Monday when the Texas quarterback was asked about a verbal challenge from Arizona State counterpart Sam Leavitt leading up to their College Football Playoff quarterfinal matchup. Ewers, after all, has good experience in letting his play on the field settle quarterback debates.

Two days of hindsight and film review later, Broncos coach Sean Payton on Monday acknowledged he’s revisited his own critical decision at the end of regulation in Saturday’s overtime loss to Cincinnati. He did not say, though, that he’d have gone for two and the win rather than kicking an extra point to force overtime after Denver scored to get within 24-23 of the Bengals with eight seconds left in regulation. “Oh certainly,” Payton said when asked if he’d reconsidered since the game ended in a 30-24 Bengals victory.

Troy Renck: When you retire, you move to Florida. When you get brushed up against by a defender in soccer, you flop. When you do your job well one day a year, you call yourself Santa. It’s the law. So, too, it seems, is making New Year’s resolutions. Most involve dropping weight, working out, things that inspire us to dream big and quit in two weeks.

While union ski patrollers walk a picket line at Utah’s Park City Mountain Resort, on strike for better pay and working conditions, officials at Arapahoe Basin are awaiting the results of an upcoming election that could result in the formation of a patrollers union there. More than 70% of A-Basin’s patrollers signed a petition supporting organizing efforts last month; it has since been filed with the National Labor Relations Board.

The Broncos will put their playoff aspirations on the line Sunday afternoon. Denver’s Week 18 home game against Kansas City is set for a 2:25 p.m. kickoff. The league finalized the schedule for the final week of the regular season on Sunday night. Sean Payton’s team must win its season finale against the Chiefs to ensure a playoff spot after losing its past two games at the Los Angeles Chargers and Cincinnati.