Chiefs: Days of Future Past

Chiefs: Days of Future Past – after a terrible 2nd quarter of the 2019 season, where the Kansas City Chiefs had a 1-3 record, and suffered multiple injuries to key personnel, including MVP QB Patrick Mahomes, the team started the second half of the regular season with a hard-fought victory over the visiting Minnesota Vikings.

The Defense

DL Chris Jones returned from his 3-week absence from injury and made his disruptive presence felt on a number of plays. Newcomer DT Mike Pennel made some plays, getting in on about ⅓ of the defensive snaps. Khalen Saunders is improving and Derrick Nnadi is really becoming a force on the inside of the D-line. Speaking of Nnadi, I would like to see DC Steve Spagnuolo leave Nnadi in at nose on some third and long downs and let him bull rush, I believe he could be very disruptive.

Charvarius Ward is putting together some very, very good games and rookie Rashad Fenton could very well turn out to be the steal of day 3 of the draft. The entire secondary have been playing some really good ball as have linebackers Reggie Ragland and Damien Wilson.

The Offense

Andrew Wylie did a decent job filling in for the injured Laurent Duvernay-Tardif and Martinas Rankin has played well and continues to improve at the left guard position. Of course Matt Moore has done well subbing for Mahomes, but I wonder if Chad Henne would have done even better, as he is more accustomed to the system. Ah well, things we’ll never know.

The Chiefs still have a game and a half lead over the 2nd place Raiders, and are 2-0 in the AFC West division. K.C. won’t play another home game until next month, with the next two games on the road, followed up with their bye week.

The Future

The next game in Nashville, should be one of the easiest opponents the Chiefs have faced this year. I’m assuming the Tennessee Titans will continue to start Ryan Tannehill at quarterback, but the Titans will rely on their run game with Derrick Henry getting the bulk of the work. The Chiefs improving run defense will once again get a workout.

The following week, in Monday night game, on the 18th of November, might actually be the biggest game of the year to date, when the Chiefs travel to Mexico City to square off with the hosting Los Angeles Chargers. Philip Rivers is now leading the league in total passing yards, with Melvin Gordon and Austin Ekeler leading the rushing attack. The Chargers have won two in a row, by squeaking out a win over the Chicago Bears, 17-to-16, and rolling over the sleepwalking Green Bay Packers, 26-to-11.

The week following the Monday night contest in Mexico City, the Chiefs will have their Bye for 13 days of some much needed rest and healing.

Following the Bye Week, the Chiefs will play each of their divisional opponents, all at Arrowhead Stadium. Sandwiched between the first two divisional games will be their annual trip to Foxborough to play the New England Patriots and the game sandwiched between the last two divisional games will be a trip to Chicago, to play the reeling Bears. The Bears game is currently slated to be a Sunday night game, to showcase a matchup between the two 2017 draft QB classmates: Mitchell Trubisky (#2 overall) and Patrick Mahomes (#10 overall). However, if Chicago continues to struggle, or worse yet Trubisky gets benched, I could see the NFL flexing this game to an earlier time slot.

If the Chiefs can get all of their wounded, back in service, then keep them healthy… and assuming they defeat the Chargers at the neutral site in Mexico City… I truly believe that this team will be capable of running the table and finishing at 13-3, as many of us predicted prior to the seasons start.

Do the Chiefs still have weaknesses, absolutely. Every team does. It’s mostly a matter of being able to mask your own and exploit your opponents, and the Chiefs coaching staff does this as well or better than almost any other team.

An Overview

The defense is really starting to come into their own. The secondary is doing a fantastic job and the front four is becoming a force. The linebackers… well, they’re not quite as advanced… but there are improvements in run defense, without a doubt.

The Chiefs offense hasn’t been at 100% full force since early in the game in Week One at Jacksonville. I’m going to assume that RG, Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, won’t be back until after the Bye Week. At that point in time, and going forward, this team is going to set the league on fire, all the way into February.

Paul Pulley — ArrowheadOne

PS Anyone else remember when Tanoh Kpassagnon was drafted and was referred to as a potential, “Beast?” Finally, we are seeing the beast potential emerge a bit thanks to coaches Brendan Daly and Steve Spagnuolo:

2019 KPass Stats

• • 3.0 sacks
  • 16.0 combo tackles
  • 13.0 solo tackles
  • 5.0 TFL
  • 6.0 QB Hits

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