The Return of Le’Veon Bell and What it Could Mean for the Kansas City Chiefs
It’s Friday morning which means a few things:
1. Laddie didn’t get my post until either late last night or early this morning
2. I’m going to sleep in a little bit and just barely make it to work on time.
3. I am wearing something Chiefs and something red (normally a red Chiefs t-shirt but this week it will be Chiefs socks and a red button up due to my promotion at work being a more professional setting)
4. 3:00pm 5:00pm cannot come soon enough.
5. Arrowheadone.com is going to look toward the weekend.
This week the Chiefs will be traveling to Heinz Field for a primetime matchup on Sunday night with the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Steelers are a team that is headlined primarily by their offense led by QB Ben Roethlisberger. His primary weapons are the very dangerous Antonio Brown and the age defying De’Angelo Williams, behind that there doesn’t seem to be a clear next guy.
Sammie Coates has one trick that I’m sure he will hit at least once Sunday night but he can also put an opportunistic defense in position to add to a league-leading eight interceptions through three games. Jessie James is a TE who’s trying to fill the shoes of Big Ben’s longtime security blanket Heath Miller. He looks like he may have a chance to fill those shoes in time but there is some chemistry to be built with the play caller. Marcus Wheaton has only played in one game and in that one game he had one catch and three drops. That one catch was for two yards. The closest thing to a third threat is second-year man Eli Rodgers who hasn’t looked bad but he was spotted in a walking boot and is highly unlikely to go.
Without playing a single snap this year RB Le’Veon Bell has to be considered an immediate threat to the defense this weekend as he has been an explosive player when not injured or suspended for substance abuse program violations. Keep in mind that during the appeal process for Bell’s latest violation he had the suspension amended to be three games instead of four and he was allowed to participate in team practices through the first three weeks. What really concerns me about that is he has been working with Roethlisberger and the timing in the passing game.
According to Kevin Patra from NFL.com, Ben Roethlisberger has indicated this week that both Bell and Williams will be involved in the game at the same time with Bell being used as relief in the passing game saying he is one of the best receivers on the team. In the same article Bell referenced his success receiving last year and followed it up saying “I want to continue to grow, and as long as I keep going out there doing what I’m doing and don’t fall off from what I’ve learned already as they keep adding things on, I’ll be fine.” He also said he would like to dabble at the slot position this year.
What does this mean for our defense? It could mean offensive formations and shifts, like both Bell and Williams in the back field, that the Steelers have not shown yet this season which would mean that there would be no tape to study. While I’m sure that Sutton and staff have accounted for this and drawn up as much as you can with what you think you know is coming, which is never as good as having physical evidence to build your game plan around. There are going to be times when both Bell and Williams will be lined up in the back field this weekend and one of them will go into motion to a wideout spot trying to create a mismatch. How our defense reacts to those shifts and diagnoses the play before the snap is going to be the key in this game.
Bell continuously made linebackers look silly last year when they were required to cover him in the passing game so the easy answer is to pull a LB and add an extra man in secondary right? The problem with that is so far Williams seventh in rushing this year so if you pull an extra man from the box to cover Bell, Williams will get the ball on a handoff. This presents a major problem for our defense as they are ranked 23rd in the league against the run allowing 123 yards per game.
So what do we do if Bell and Williams both line up on the field? You make sure the Peters is on Antonio Brown with help over the top and then you focus on Bell and Williams. Yes, this will free up some of the other guys to make plays in single coverage but that’s ok. This Steelers team is built to win through their couple of heavy hitter, their prize fighters if you will. If we can minimize the impact that the big three will have in this game the Chiefs should be able to walk off of Heinz Field with the W. This will be no easy task but one that I think the Kansas City Thief and company should be able to at least keep within reach throughout the game. While I don’t think it is possible to keep them from having an impact at all in this game, nor do I expect them to not have some plash plays, it’s how they react to the splash plays that will make the difference. I don’t think the Chiefs defense is one to let a single play or a few plays define the day for them as they have played the entire 60 minutes in all three games to this point, even keeping the offense alive throughout that Texans debacle…
So what do you think Chiefs fans? Is the return of Bell and the new formations Todd Haley will employ be too much for Sutton and crew to handle? Do you think the defense will be able to take at least one of these three threats out of the game from a stats standpoint?