Chiefs: The Importance of: A 1st Round Bye, Jerick McKinnon, and Ignoring the Past

Laddie Morse

With three games to go, the Kansas City Chiefs are beginning to truly define what it means to be a team, a 2022 championship team. When people write that you wouldn’t want to face a specific team in the playoffs, the Chiefs now head that list. Although some are counting the close shaves the team has faced the past two weeks, their head coach has touted the importance of staying in the present and that idea has never become more valuable than it is right now, especially with the playoffs just a few weeks away.

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A First Round Bye

ArrowheadPride has an article by Bryan Stewart called: “Why the AFC’s No. 1 seed is more important than ever for the Chiefs” in which he says:

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“Since the playoff format changed in 2020 — allowing seven teams to make the cut from each conference — only one top-seeded team made the Super Bowl: the 2020 Chiefs. And while the bye and home-field advantage have been highly enticing and beneficial for many years, there’s enough evidence now to believe it has never been more critical to the potential success of the Chiefs’ season than it will be this year.”

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With the Chiefs having a list of players out because of injuries and sickness each week, getting the first round Bye would be crucial for allowing their own crew to get well and an extra week to do so would be incredibly helpful. Although each game is important now with only three to play, there’s enough time for the Buffalo Bills to lose the 1st Round Bye, then getting it back, then lose it again. Here’s a look at the current AFC Playoff picture:

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The above graphic shows the best 7 teams in the AFC and these are the teams I’m hoping make it to the playoffs as they are ones I want to see play. On the outside looking in would be the Patriots and Jets, both 7-and-7. Then, there’s a bunch of 6-and-8 teams — Jags, Raiders, Browns and Steelers — but who wants to see any of them anyway?

With a Week 16 Christmas Eve game at Arrowhead Stadium vs the 7-and-7 Seattle Seahawks coming up in three days, this will likely be the hardest game the Chiefs have left on their schedule. That game will be followed by another game, on Week 17 at GEHA field vs a division rival, the Denver Broncos, who just put up quite a fight two and a half weeks ago. Then, lastly, will be a Week 18 game in Vegas vs the dastardly Raiders.

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Jerick McKinnon

Many times this year we’ve anticipated RB Ronald Jones (RoJo) being utilized later in the season. Well, that doesn’t seem to be happening… yet. Last year Jerick McKinnon had 12 carries and 62 yards rushing along with 13 receptions for 107 yards all in the regular season. Then in the playoffs… McKinnon had 34 carries for 150 yards rushing plus 14 receptions for 165 yards. What many may be forgetting is that McKinnon had 4.41 speed when he came out of college at Georgia Southern where he was drafted in the 3rd round by the Minnesota Vikings in the 2014 NFL Draft. Pointing out McKinnon’s speed is done with the idea of saying: he doesn’t appear to have lost a step.

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This year Jerick has 63 carries for 274 yards during the regular season and he’s playing on a one-year deal ($1,272,500). A real steal. The next question is: would you sign McKinnon for multiple years after this season end? To that question David Bell recently wrote:

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“He is 30. I’d like to lock him into a 2 yr deal. He provides spark, Speed, football IQ and is a heck of a receiver out of the backfield a slick quick between Tackles [RB]. Also, he is a heck of a blocker.”

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I agree with David Bell and also think McKinnon deserves a two-year deal based upon his 2021 and 2022 performances. Jerick McKinnon fits the Chiefs blueprint for their skill position players to a “T.” With Tyreek Hill moving on to the Dolphins this past offseason, I was wondering if the Chiefs had enough speed to make their offense work and McKinnon looks like he helps to answer that question.

RoJo may still be in the plans come playoff time, but I’m sure Andy Reid likes having McKinnon in his back pocket so he can pull him out whenever he wants. Charles Goldman wrote a piece for Yahoo News called: “Here’s what Chiefs RB Jerick McKinnon told Isiah Pacheco after his latest fumble” in which he quotes McKinnon as telling Isiah Pacheco:

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“I just told him to keep his head up. We’re all human. Millions of players fumble on offense. I’ve fumbled on offense. My message to him was, ‘bounce back.’ The great ones respond. I definitely think he has the ability to be great in this league. That was my message. Keeping it human. We’re all human. We make mistakes, but the great ones respond. Show me you’re great. He always answers, man. He brings so much energy. The guys, we love him.”

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Ignoring the Past

“Ignoring the last play” and focusing on the next play is something we often hear when talking about a CB being beat the other team’s WR. However, it will be critical for the Chiefs this year, as they’ve had their own share of failures. In a press Conference just a few weeks ago, Andy Reid was asked about all his rookies and said:

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“… the things we’ve told them [the rookie players] is just keep going, keep pushing forward. If there’s a mistake in there, learn from it, and let’s get back on and let’s go and let’s not have it shake your confidence in that area. So, um, I think they’ve done a good job of that.”

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If it sounds like you’ve heard Andy Reid say something like that before, it’s because he has. Many times. Maybe you don’t recall his saying anything like that… but how about this one following a loss: “We’ll learn from it,” and he then goes on.

The Chiefs are at -6 in the Differential stat which ranks them at #30. If they don’t learn and move right on, they’ll be in trouble. They do have three weeks to focus on fixing this problem… I’m just “hoping” they can. From StatMuse.com comes this data and chart on the NFL’s lowest teams in terms of Turnovers showing the lowest at the top (where the Chiefs are tied for 28th, TOV = Turnovers):

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With so many rookies on the team, they are going to need to ignore their past mistakes — immediately — even if they just made one on the previous play. It must be incredibly difficult to wipe your mind clean and focus on the next play coming up in 30+ seconds, but that’s exactly what this team will need to do. They made so many mistakes this year, that unless they tap into the, “learn from it, and let’s get back on it,” mentality, it may end up being a short short post season for the Chiefs. Matt McMullen, the Chiefs lead reporter, said in a recent video review that the play the Chiefs had just made was all about, “Heart and Hustle” and I think that’s exactly what it will take for this team to bring home another Lombardi. Go Chiefs!

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Laddie Morse — ArrowheadOne

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