Categories: Kansas City ChiefsLaddie Morse

Eagles at Chiefs: Open Thread

Opening Day at Arrowhead Stadium. That’s an event you don’t want to miss. Not in person or at home or in your car, wherever you can tune into the magic. There’s nothing quite like the thrill of opening day and this year, expectations are higher than ever. While the Chiefs have already played the first game of the year… this is really the first game of the year.

The Kansas City Chiefs will be facing the Philadelphia Eagles this week and they are coming off of a 30-17 win at the Washington Redskins. Since the Eagles head coach, Doug Pederson, is none other than the Chiefs ex-offensive coordinator then there will likely be very few surprises. That probably goes both ways except, the Chiefs play-calling in their first game looked nothing like their play-calling in years past. Plus, Alex Smith appears to be on a mission… if not an angry one… and that’s a good thing. A very good thing.

The Eagles QB is second year man Carson Wentz. Don’t let his inexperience fool you because he threw for 280 more total yards than Alex Smith did in 2016. Not bad for a rookie QB. Wentz will be met by more than the Chiefs on the field this week. Arrowhead Stadium will be rocking and he’ll have to deal with something he’s never had to deal with before. The closest Wentz has come to this was when he played at the Seahawks but we all know Arrowheaders are the loudest fans in the world. 142.2 decibels forces visiting teams into mistakes. If the Arrowhead crowd forces the Eagles offense into mistakes early on, it could get out of hand quickly. I’ve seen it happen to even the best of QBs.

The Chiefs acted like penalties were being served on a buffet because they never seemed to be able to get enough of them in week one in New England. They’ll have to fix that to continue their winning ways. In weeks 11 and 15 in the 2016 season the Chiefs lost “At-home” games by identical scores of 19-17 to Tampa Bay and Tennessee. If the Chiefs can score more than 21 points in this game, the odds should go way up for a victory. The Chiefs are favored by roughly 5 1/2 points in this game.

The Chiefs will have more to contend with than their QB. Last season the Eagles changed to a 4-3 defense and they have a formidable front four led by Fletcher Cox. So, to say the Chiefs offensive line will be tested will be an understatement. If you’re wanting to see who is going to win this game early… watch the Chiefs OL vs. the Eagles DL.

When the Eagles have the ball and the Chiefs defense is on the field, Justin Houston should have a big day. Wentz likes to scramble around so Dee Ford could have a big day especially if it comes to running the Eagles QB down. CB Marcus Peters might match up with WR Alshon Jeffery but the Chiefs like to leave Peters on the left side so we may not see that match up as much as we like. Consequently, Wentz may try to target Jeffery when he matches up against Terrence Mitchell. If Mitchell can regain his 2016 form, the defense should have a good day. The defense will need to create some turnovers to help give the offense more opportunities or put some points on the board. The Chiefs weren’t able to generate any turnovers in week one.

If Andy Reid’s offensive game plan is to going slow down their pass rush, he must feed rookie RB Kareem Hunt a steady diet of runs and passes. That should help to open things up for Travis Kelce over the middle and Tyreek Hill deep. I expect the Chiefs to keep an extra TE or running back in to give Alex Smith some extra protection. Knowing Reid, he’ll probably wait until Smith goes down a few time first. The Eagles Ronald Darby, the star CB they traded for, is out for more than a month. So, I don’t see how a zone or man-coverage will turn out well for the Eagles with the personnel they have available for this game. This might be a game when WR Chris Conley is finally able to cut loose. The Eagles will probably have to embrace a shoot-out if they’re going to stay in this game.

Both Bennie Logan and to a greater degree Andy Reid, spent time in Philly, so this game will have more meaning for them and maybe more motivation to do well.

I hope to see Alex Smith have another monster game and begin to put to rest this “game-manager” preoccupation which so many national pundit still slather him with. Here are the injury reports for both teams: