Chiefs try to secure home-field advantage in the AFC when they visit Pittsburgh on Christmas

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Mike Tomlin wasn't in the mood to get into a semantic argument.

Yes, the Kansas City Chiefs have played a ton of close games this season.

Yet the idea that two-time defending Super Bowl champions are somehow more gettable than they've been? That's a nonstarter for the longtime Pittsburgh Steelers coach.

“I guess I don’t know how dominant they need to be,” Tomlin said. “I mean, they’re 14-1.”

Even during a season in which the Chiefs often have looked ordinary as much as they've looked extraordinary, a victory in either of their final two games would assure them of home-field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs in their bid to become the first team in the Super Bowl era to win three straight titles.

They'll get their first crack on Christmas Day in Pittsburgh. Playing on a holiday is hardly new for Kansas City. Doing it in the middle of the week though?

“It was definitely exciting until I realized it was on Wednesday,” Mahomes said with a laugh.

Oh, and on a streaming platform, too. The meeting marks the end of a brutal stretch for both teams that required them to play three times in 11 days.

The good news? After being on Netflix, they'll get to relax. How restful each team's break will be, however, likely depends on the outcome.

With a Chiefs victory, Mahomes and his creaky ankle and most of their other regulars might get two-plus weeks off ahead of the divisional round.

The Steelers (10-5) don't have that luxury, not after consecutive lopsided losses to Philadelphia and Baltimore dropped them into a tie with the Ravens atop the AFC North.

Still, beating Mahomes for the first time in four tries would go a long way toward restoring some of the swagger that's seeped out while getting bullied by two of the league's elite.

“I think that opportunity to play on Christmas Day, play the defending world champs and who they are and what they’ve done, it’s a great opportunity for us,” Steelers quarterback Russell Wilson said. “And really is a testament to who we can be.”

Marquise “Hollywood” Brown gave what had been a middling Kansas City offense a jolt last week in his regular-season debut, catching five passes for 45 yards. He had missed the entire season after hurting his shoulder during the first game of the preseason. Brown's presence also took some of the attention away from first-round pick Xavier Worthy, a fellow speedster, who had seven catches for 65 yards and a touchdown in the best game of his career.

"We’ll get (Brown) involved more and more as the season goes on,” Mahomes said.

The Steelers are hoping wide receiver George Pickens will be available after he missed the past three games with a balky hamstring.

Pittsburgh's offense has struggled to generate much downfield without its leading receiver. Wilson is averaging 167.7 yards passing without Pickens, compared with 271 yards when the 6-foot-3 Pickens is in the lineup.

“He’s one of the best receivers in the National Football League, without a doubt,” Wilson said of his 23-year-old teammate. “The things that he can do with the football, his catching radius is remarkable. So I think the best thing that he brings is he strikes fear in that defense.”

A fear that's been lacking without him.

Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce has just two touchdown receptions this season, his most recent coming Nov. 10 against Denver. That means the four-time All-Pro has failed in six consecutive games to get the one TD catch he needs to break a tie with Tony Gonzalez (76) for the franchise record. Kelce has 89 catches for 739 yards this season.

The Chiefs started All-Pro left guard Joe Thuney at tackle for the second straight week against Houston, and the result was the best protection Mahomes has had all season. But then right tackle Jawaan Taylor hurt his knee, and that forced the Chiefs to put Wanya Morris — who had lost the left tackle job — into the lineup.

Meanwhile, the Chiefs are still hoping that former Pro Bowl left tackle D.J. Humphries will recover from his hamstring injury in time for the playoffs.

“It’s important that these guys — as they go through the ebb and flows of the season and game by game — is they stay locked in, they stay focused,” Chiefs offensive coordinator Matt Nagy said. “We always are supporting them.”

Pittsburgh's defense has been battered physically and mistake-prone mentally of late. The Steelers have given up more than 400 yards in consecutive games for the first time since 2019, and now they have to find a way to shore everything up on short rest against a quarterback who has thrown for 14 touchdowns in three games against Pittsburgh.

Tomlin expressed disgust about giving up a pair of touchdown passes to tight ends against the Ravens, with a lack of communication being at the center of the problem on both plays. Tomlin said it's simply too late in the season for that to be happening and challenged his veteran-laden group to tighten up.

“It is frustrating but, at the same time, we’re human,” linebacker Patrick Queen said. "This is when you’re supposed to taking off as a defense, not falling back.”

AP Sports Writer Dave Skretta in Kansas City, Missouri, contributed to this report.

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Pittsburgh Steelers running back Jaylen Warren (30) runs with the ball as Baltimore Ravens cornerback Marlon Humphrey, right, and linebacker Malik Harrison try to stop him during the first half of an NFL football game, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Pittsburgh Steelers running back Najee Harris (22) takes a hit from Baltimore Ravens cornerback Marlon Humphrey (44) during the second half of an NFL football game, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin looks on during the second half of an NFL football game against the Baltimore Ravens, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Russell Wilson, left, gestures while scrambling against Baltimore Ravens defensive tackle Broderick Washington during the first half of an NFL football game, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Kansas City Chiefs running back Kareem Hunt, front, is congratulated by teammates after scoring during the first half of an NFL football game against the Houston Texans Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce (87) gains a first down as he is stopped by Houston Texans safety Eric Murray (23) and linebacker Henry To'oTo'o (39) during the second half of an NFL football game Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid watches play against the Cleveland Browns during the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/David Richard)

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes drops back to pass during the first half of an NFL football game against the Houston Texans Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Ed Zurga)

JENIN REFUGEE CAMP, West Bank (AP) — Gunfire has rung out for days from the West Bank's Jenin refugee camp. But this time, it’s not Israeli forces that are facing off against armed groups. It is the forces of the Palestinian Authority clashing with Palestinian gunmen.

The Palestinian Authority, which administers parts of the occupied territory, launched a rare crackdown earlier this month that has sparked one of the worst armed confrontations between Palestinians in years. The authority says it wants to bring law and order to what's long been a hotbed of militancy and a place where it has little control.

Its ability to contain armed groups there will reverberate far beyond the West Bank. The Palestinian Authority wants to position itself to take over governance in Gaza once the war there ends. But confronting Palestinians at a time when many view the authority as a subcontractor for Israel could deepen divisions in Palestinian society.

Here is a look at the days of fighting between Palestinians in the West Bank:

Earlier this month, security forces for the Western-backed Palestinian Authority stormed into Jenin refugee camp, a restive militant stronghold, and began a crackdown against armed groups.

Fighting has raged in the streets of the camp, and armored cars are seen patrolling. Palestinian security forces have taken over part of a hospital, using it as a base and shooting from inside, according to the United Nations.

At least one militant from the Islamic Jihad group has been killed as have two security force members, according to the Palestinian forces. About 50 people have been arrested.

At least two uninvolved civilians have been killed and some wounded. The fighting prompted the main U.N. agency for Palestinians, UNRWA, to suspend its services, including schooling. The violence has disrupted safe access for Palestinians to other services, including water and health. It also has complicated the restoration of services destroyed in previous Israeli raids of the camp.

The urban, built-up refugee camp in the northern West Bank houses Palestinians whose families were displaced in the 1948 war surrounding Israel's creation. It has long been a center for Palestinian militancy and a bastion of armed struggle against Israel. The militant groups Islamic Jihad and Hamas operate freely there, and its streets are regularly lined with posters depicting slain fighters as martyrs for the Palestinian cause.

The Palestinian Authority, which administers the main Palestinian population centers of the West Bank as part of interim peace agreements with Israel from the 1990s, has little presence in Jenin. Many people view the Palestinian Authority forces with suspicion and see them as serving Israel's interests because of security coordination that has facilitated Israel's own crackdowns on Palestinians.

The refugee camp and the adjacent city of Jenin have long been targets of Israel in its stated bid to stamp out militancy. Since the start of the war in Gaza, which has sparked a wave of violence in the West Bank, Israel has raided or carried out airstrikes in Jenin multiple times, killing dozens and leaving heavy destruction.

Palestinian health officials say Israeli raids throughout the West Bank since Oct. 7, 2023, have killed more than 800 Palestinians. Israel says most of these are militants, but youth throwing stones and people not involved in confrontations have also been killed.

According to Brig. Gen. Anwar Rajab, the spokesperson for the Palestinian security forces, the raid is meant to impose law and order and restore peace and security. The troops were focused on “eradicating” Iran-backed groups that were trying to incite “chaos and anarchy,” he added. The raid will end when those goals are reached, according to the security forces.

But the raid is also shining a spotlight on the Palestinian Authority's ability to impose order and security in a restive area. With no clear vision for who will administer postwar Gaza, the raid could convince skeptics that the authority has what it takes to rule the Palestinian enclave. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is considering an agreement with Hamas that would create a committee of politically independent technocrats to administer the Gaza Strip after the war. The committee would report to him.

The Biden administration sees a rehabilitated Palestinian Authority as the best option to govern and secure postwar Gaza. The U.S. has for years invested heavily in training the Palestinian security forces, and the administration has seen its re-entry into Gaza, after being routed by Hamas in 2007, as a feasible replacement for Hamas, whose rule Israel has sought to end with the war.

Israel rejects this idea, seeing the Palestinian Authority as too weak to be able to contain Hamas. It says it will maintain open-ended security control over Gaza.

The incoming Trump administration has not yet laid out its vision for postwar Gaza, but Trump's first term was overwhelmingly supportive of Israel's positions.

Palestinians are not strangers to divisions within their society, with the most prominent the rift between Hamas and Abbas' Fatah party. The parties fought bloody street wars in Gaza before Hamas forced Fatah out of the territory, and the sides have failed to reconcile since.

Since then, the Fatah-dominated Palestinian Authority has tried to diminish Hamas' influence in the West Bank, often with Israel's help.

Reeling from the yearslong internal rift, Palestinians have staged general strikes and protests calling for unity. But the raid could deepen the perception of the Palestinian Authority as a facilitator of Israel's whims and potentially undermine any popular support for it to return to effectively rule Gaza.

Goldenberg reported from Tel Aviv, Israel.

Armored Palestinian security vehicles are seen on the road as Palestinian forces mount a major raid against militants in the Jenin refugee camp in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Monday, Dec. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)

Closed shops during a general strike called as Palestinian security forces mount a major raid against militants in the Jenin refugee camp in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Monday, Dec. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)

Journalists take cover from gunfire as Palestinian security forces mount a major raid against militants in the Jenin refugee camp in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Monday, Dec. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)

Armored Palestinian security vehicles are seen on the road as Palestinian forces mount a major raid against militants in the Jenin refugee camp in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Monday, Dec. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)

Palestinians sit in front of closed shops during a general strike called as Palestinian security forces mount a major raid against militants in the Jenin refugee camp in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Monday, Dec. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)

Palestinians sit in front of closed shops during a general strike called as Palestinian security forces mount a major raid against militants in the Jenin refugee camp in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Monday, Dec. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)