Pocket Change: NO, This is Not A Trap Game – A trap game versus the Jets? I certainly can’t see that as the case. I can see the Chiefs letting up though and that is a worry. What Andy Reid needs to instill in the players minds is that this is NFL Football and “We are Defending Champions.” Let’s get out there on the field and play our style of 100% every snap from whistle to whistle. I would heed the words of Chris Jones this week about the Jets: “That’s a very good football team. People forget because they haven’t won a game.”
I know that Reid is on top of this because he observed in his presser on Thursday, that the NFL is a league all about parity. He is not overlooking how dangerous the Jets, or any opponent is on any game day.
Some Things We’ve Heard This Week
- DE Taco Charlton was Full Practice: Thursday.
- DL Mike Danna is coming back to the roster from the IR.
- Clyde Edwards-Helaire is tied with Derek Henry for forcing the most missed tackles in the NFL: 27.
- Chad Henne should start in place of Patrick Mahomes. After his appearance at the end of the Denver game, the cry was: “Henne is on a roll!”
- Andy Reid could go for another Cheeseburger.
- Chris Jones tweaked his Hammy and was limited in practice: Thursday.
- Travis Kelce is the ultimate Utility Player in the NFL, so he says.
- Former Chiefs OT Bryan Witzmann was brought in for a tryout and 3 days later signed: PS.
- OL Danny Isidora was protected on the PS for the 2nd week in a row.
- Sammy Watkins, Mitchell Schwartz: both missed practice again.
- Frank Clark was the recipient of an odd fumble on a Denver flea-flicker: Chris Jones said it was his favorite Turnover of 2020.
- Mecole Hardman had a good game against the Broncos. Bieniemy commented on it in his presser, saying that he hoped this was the start his stepping up.
Willie Gay Jr. Has Put the NFL On Notice
In the game at Denver, Willie Gay, Jr. was used as per usual: as a LB versus running game situational football. He lined up outside either left and/or right. Film study shows that he made an “in game flow” adjustment on his reads. He also had two PBUs. I have been touting Gay to get more action than we have seen. The Jet’s game is a perfect time for him to expand his snaps way up the chart — and please, put him in on passing downs Steve Spagnuolo!
ArrowheadPride had a focus piece by Matt Lane about Gay that was released on Thursday. You can see his film review at AP, and below is an example from Matt Lane’s piece:
Around 3:00 PM, Rogue Analytics, with Ryan Tracy, is did their own in depth film study on Derrick Nnadi, Willie Gay and Juan Thornhill. You can see his film study here. Also, here’s a snippet from Ryan’s videolog on Willie Gay!
Patrick Mahomes
In the Game against Denver we saw a different game plan, and a Patrick Mahomes that was going with the basic Ebb and Flow of the game as a QB. Sure. He passed for 200+ yards. He was also sacked 3 times. Mahomes was 15-23 and 1 TD, no Ints, QBR: 107.5. Nothing to get excited about except… that he led his team to a superior victory. Patrick Mahomes won/loss record is: 34-and-9 overall and 30-and-8 in the regular season. That give PMII a winning percentage of .790 (overall, including playoffs) and .784 (regular season). How does that compare to other great QBs?. From the Relative Observer:
After the game, Patrick stated he was at fault for taking one of the snaps because he held the ball too long and didn’t get it released, then he was forced to eat it.
A big note for Mahomes is that he has only thrown 1 pick in 7 games. Eric Bieniemy made comment about that in his presser this week, saying that Patrick has matured–taking fewer risks. He went on to observe: “”He’s a gun slinger, he wants to go out there and show off exactly what he wants to do…it’s not that he isn’t taking risk but he’s taking what he’s given”. That “taking what is given has shown in the Chiefs wins when the opposing defenses are dropping LB’s to zones quickly, which set stage for the run and short passing game. Perhaps the best game of his season was against the Patriots.
Success On Defense
That game was not out of reach by Denver, truly, until the second half — score wise — but the game was out of reach in their ability to climb into the game by culmination of successful drives. Despite the usual struggles on defense related to running game defense, the Chiefs held the opponents to 16 points. The Defense accounted for 2 TD’s.
Special Teams
Special Teams accounted for 1 TD on the 102 yard run-back that set the mark for 2020 in the NFL by Byron Pringle. Pringle showed his ability to make a cut as well as his speed on that great play. My chart has him moving up the rungs more than a bit. I want to see both he and Mecole Hardman more involved in the offense.
Penalties
The Chiefs had 1 penalty of 15-yards during the game. There was a second involving a personal foul against Charvarius Ward, but it was offsetting because of the same call, on the saem play, going against Denver.
Reading Tea Leaves
Since the Chiefs made two moves late this week by protecting Danny Isidora (OG) and bringing Bryan Witzmann aboard to the PS, I’d say that the Chiefs remain concerned about their offensive line. I want to note that Martinas Rankin has not yet made an appearance on the active roster. That is a concern as he has about 16 days left or… he must be put on the IR for the rest of the season. I am hopeful that Rankin gets back to the active roster. He played extremely well until his season ending injury in 2019. Losing Osemele also hurt, but Nick Allegretti looked like a seasoned pro this past week and Daniel Kilgore used his experience to step up and play a very solid football game at Center.
Pocket Change
The Chiefs are 19 or 20 point favorites in the Sunday game versus the Jets. That is a very tough number to cover. On the other hand, it is certainly possible. I stated that I didn’t think this is a “Trap Game” and that it was up to Reid to provide the focus for the players. The players must play their game and not react to setbacks or errors other than to counter them on the next snap. if they do this, they will defeat the Jets and cover the spread. By PFF’s method, the spread should be 28.5… Huh?
It’s my view that the Chiefs will not “Short-change” themselves and will win going away and score over 40 points again this week, while at the same time holding the Jets to 20 points or less. We’ll soon see. Go Chiefs!
David Bell — ArrowheadOne
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