Laddie Morse
With the Bye Week ahead, the Kansas City Chiefs take homage in the comfort of their Arrowhead home crowd before getting an extra week of rest. It’s one of the only things the NFL Scheduling Officials got right. The real question now is, whether the Chiefs will go into their Bye Week with a clean slate of 5-and-0… or… a blemished 4-and-1 record?
Much of the outcome of this game may depend on the injury report for each team. The Chiefs know they will be without offensive players: WR Hollywood Brown, WR Rashee Rice, and RB Isiah Pacheco… as well as DE Charles Omenihu on the defensive side of the ball. That is important because all of those players would be starters if they were healthy. For the Saints, it may come down to whether or not Taysom Hill can go or not? My understanding is, Taysom Hill is OUT for this game which should make defending the Saints much easier.
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Some may be wondering why I think Taysom Hill is so important? Here a podcast called, “Why Taysom Hill is the Most Important Player on the Saints Roster.” Hill’s record in games played is 7-and-2 and second only in games to Patrick Mahomes at 82-and-21 (percentage wise).
Also, With Willie Gay unable to go in this game, it should make life easier for the Chiefs offense. Chiefs fans may have forgotten that Willie Gay ran a 4.46 40 yard dash at the 2020 NFL Combine. Not I.
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ChiefsWire says HC Andy Reid discussed elevating CEH off of the Not Football Illness — NFI — list this week as he participated in practices:
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“Clyde, you saw was elevated. He’s got a 21-day window.
We’ll just get him back into the swing of things here and
see how he does and how he goes forward here the next
couple of days.”
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Weather
The weather for the game tonight should be idyllic, especially for football.
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As a reminder, the MNF game between the New Orleans Saints and the Kansas City Chiefs is scheduled to begin at 7:15 PM tonight.
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Chiefs Defense
Much has been written about the Chiefs defense, especially with CB L’Jarius Sneed moving on to the Tennessee Titans. The question many have wondered about… is whether or not Jaylen Watson can step up and make the plays that LJ made?
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Here’s Jaylen Watson in an “Under the Helmet” segment, talking about the Chiefs defense and his role (2:24):
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Who cares if Chris Simms interrupts in the middle of this video to say he predicts the Saints will pull off the upset. Many national pundits get it wrong anyway. I was hoping that Watson could step up to LJ’s level, but this video talks about him in the same breath with Pro Bowler Trent McDuffie. Watson is 6-foot-2 and 197 pounds, was a 7th round pick in the 2022 NFL draft (#243 overall) and ran a 4.51 40 yard dash. Let’s not forget that All Pro Marcus Peters — and 3 time Pro Bowler — ran a 4.53, so Watson is in that range.
Watson, now 26, went to Washington State University, the same school that Safety Jaden Hicks played for. Watson was the AFC Defensive Player of the Week in Week Two of his rookie year, 2022, and had a key INT vs the Chargers that same week, which is likely the reason for his rookie of the week award. Field Yates points out another reason for Watson’s INT.
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Turning Point
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Great take, great move by Watson. (1:14)
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The Chiefs having positive play from their defensive backfield will obviously be crucial for in this game. Having faced Derek Carr years before (when he wasa with the Raiders), it’s not a matter of what Patrick Mahomes record is vs Derek Carr — which is very good — but its more a matter of the DBs vs Carr and his host of weapons. With Taysom Hill OUT their ability to cover the Saints becomes much easier. Carr may be more motivated in this game because of his lack of wins vs the Mahomes led Chiefs, but with a depleted OL, it just means the Chiefs DL should have more success.
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Saints Depleted OL
Chris Jones will still be double-teamed, but the Saints will have trouble doubling CJ because their IOL is not healthy. Starting RG Cesar Ruiz is OUT. His backup is Landon Young who was drafted in the 6th round in the 2021 draft. OC Shane Lemieux is also OUT and starting in his place will be veteran Connor McGovern, (there’s conflicting information online about Connor McGovern, so I will refrain from posting about him here). “Questionable” is the status of starting LG Lucas Patrick. Since backup LT Justin Heron is on IR… it’s easy to say the Saints OL is hurting.
Not only Chris Jones, but George Karlaftis, Tershawn Wharton, Mike Danna and Felix Anudike-Uzomah… should all have a great day… as far as rushing the passer is concerned.
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Chiefs vs the Run
The result of this game may come down to the question: can the Chiefs stop the Saints from running the ball successfully? With Alvin Kamara being the 4th leading rusher in the NFL (before weekend #5) the Chiefs most obvious goal must be to limit Kamara’s rushing totals. With Kamara averaging over 90 yards rushing per game this year and having a 4.5 YPC average, it’s once again essential that K.C. limits their primary rusher. If not, it oculd easily lead to a loss for the Chiefs. Here is the Saints record so far this season:
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After scoring 47 (against the Panthers) and 44 (against the Cowboys), the Saints offense could only muster 12 points against the Eagles then came back (although they lost) with 24 points against the Falcons who K.C. beat 22-to-17.
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While we’re all expecting a good game from the Chiefs offense — as usual, in the Mahomes era — it likely comes down to the Chiefs defense and what kind of game they’ll have against the Saints offense.
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Laddie Morse — ArrowheadOne
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