Chiefs Host Falcons, Game Preview: OPEN THREAD – “He’s making a list, he’s checking it twice” … no doubt the Big Man in Red has been busy this year. Andy Reid has had another masterful season as the Chiefs head coach, but there’s still a few more things to check off his list before the calendar year flips to January, 2021. The first and the most obvious is locking up the Bye Week and the #1 seed for the playoffs. After the Steelers loss to the Bengals the Chiefs are almost a deadlock to get the top seed even without winning their final two games. Given that Arrowhead is one of the few stadiums that is allowed to have fans during the pandemic, the Chiefs have a rare home field advantage in 2020.
The other items on the checklist are much more difficult to control. The next top priority is to get the team healthy for the stretch run. Part of the reason why the Chiefs were able to win it all last year was they got healthy at the right time: Mahomes’ ankle and knee fully recovered, LT Eric Fisher was back from his injury, and RB Damien Williams was running well again. This year, Kansas City needs to get Clyde Edwards-Helaire, Eric Fisher, Mitchell Schwartz, Damien Wilson and Juan Thornhill healthy again. The next priority needs to be getting the pass rush back to where it was earlier in the season. Maybe some rest will do Frank Clark and Chris Jones some good or… maybe they need to play out the last two games to work out the kinks.
Another item on the list should be figuring out the ideal arrangement for the offensive line without Schwartz and/or Remmers. While last week’s arrangement didn’t exactly instill confidence, the more they play together the better the communication will be. The last item on the list to let their young players get more reps in the final two games. Part of what helped the defense in 2019 was the emergence of Juan Thornhill and Rashad Fenton, who both came into their own towards the end of the season. Players like Willie Gay, Mike Danna, DeAndre Baker and L’Jarius Sneed need to play as often as possible, so that the coaching staff can know what they are capable of.
What and Who to Watch for…
No lead is safe! The Falcons are notorious for their blown leads and at this point it’s simply comical. Since blowing their infamous 28-3 Super Bowl LI lead, the Falcons have given up leads of: 20, 17 (twice) and 16 points. So if the Chiefs get down a few scores, let’s try to not meltdown, on Twitter especially. The same goes for the Chiefs. Fortunately, they aren’t blowing games, but somehow games that never seem close end up that way late in the game. For the Chiefs, the biggest improvement needs to be in the Red Zone, for the defense. The Chiefs defense is the worst in the NFL at allowing touchdowns in the Red Zone, and this has to improve before going into the playoffs.
Calvin Ridley! Kansas City has done a great job of controlling top wide receivers through the season. No top wide receiver has truly had a huge game against them: Keenan Allen, Stefon Diggs and Mike Evans all got their touches or touchdowns, but none of them just controlled the game like they have the capability to do. Ridley is quickly becoming one of the best wide receivers in the game. He’s a dynamic playmaker who can beat 1-on-1 coverage consistently. Of course, he is much more effective when playing alongside Julio Jones, who is officially OUT today, due to injury.
Grady Jarrett! There are only a handful of players in the league who can generate as much pressure from the interior as Jarrett. For an interior offensive line that has struggled most of the season, Jarrett poses a real threat to the Chiefs game plan, and consequently, Patrick Mahomes. Likewise, Jarrett can dominate in the run game as well, eating up double teams and bringing down backs at the line of scrimmage. For the Falcons to slow down the Chiefs offense Jarrett needs to have a big day stopping the run and disrupting the passing game.
Le’Veon Bell. The signing of Bell was looked at as an unnecessary luxury by most of us earlier in the year and now it appears to be more of a necessity. Bell has looked good in his snaps spelling Edward-Helaire, but now as the feature back he will have a bigger challenge ahead of him. Bell’s hesitation and patience is a nice change of pace from Helaire, but will he be able to be productive in a larger sample. We’ve also yet to see either Bell or Helaire thrive in the passing game this season, which was a key component to the offense in the playoffs in both 2018 and 2019. It will also be nice to see how Darrell Williams and Darwin Thompson take hold of their opportunity with more snaps.
Prediction. With the chance of clinching two weeks off and home field advantage throughout the AFC for the third year in a row the Chiefs will come out hot right out of the gates. Expect the offense to look sharp and the defense to force a few punts early. The Falcons are a warm weather/dome team that rarely ever plays in the cold and lacks any rushing attack to speak of. While I expect them to put up some points late there’s a chance Chad Henne is taking the snaps in the 4th quarter. The Chiefs are due for a handing out a butt kicking. Chiefs 42, Falcons 31
Price Carter — ArrowheadOne
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