Happy Christmas Eve one an all! Today’s game can either make week 17 meaningless or force the Kansas City Chiefs to play starters. I do have renewed reasons to believe that the Chiefs will win so let’s take a look.
One: Matt Nagy is more involved in the offense. Andy Reid says Nagy is calling plays now… so why is he still holding a play card and talking during every play call made into Alex Smith. Sure, I can believe that OC Nagy is the point guard in this scenario but… he’s playing on LeBron James team so who knows how much leeway he has in his play calling lexicon.
Two: The offensive line assignments have been simplified. A few weeks ago Laurent Duvernay-Tardif mentioned the OL schemes had been simplified so if that continues and… who ever happens to be playing on game day… can execute those assignments, the offense should benefit.
Three: The professionalism of Darrelle Revis has helped. We all know Revis is no longer living on his own island (but if you’re interested I hear Johnny Depp has one for sale) but he still approaches the game in the same way. He rarely turns his feet the wrong way, he always gets his head around when the ball is coming, he uses what speed he has left to recover nicely and he doesn’t allow one bad play to get under his skin. Ever. He’s like a walking-talking CB 101 Course in action. Plus, as much as anything else, I think Revis’ presence has helped Marcus Peters. How could he not have rubbed off at least a little?
Four: Improved play at inside linebacker. Both Reggie Ragland and Kevin Pierre-Lewis are beginning to assert themselves and show up in the right holes they should be showing up in. Ragland is approaching the DJ level of competence. I used to look forward to the defense taking the field… those times are returning to the Chiefs watching experience.
I’m not going to bad-mouth the Miami Dolphins. They need to be respected. They had one of the better defenses early in this season and have some playmakers there. We all know that Jay Cutler can beat the Chiefs and he’s done just that before, when he was with the Chicago Bears.
The Chiefs have many moving parts pieces that appear to heading in the right direction. If they can put it all together again — for the third week in a row — and stay focused enough to take a 20 point lead into the 4th quarter — which they have the talent to pull off — I can see Andy Reid emptying his bench early in this one. You can count on the same thing happening in week 17 if the Chiefs can win this one. Go Chiefs!.
My Prediction: the Chiefs win this one by a score of 34-to10.
If you are viewing this in Apple News and would like to join the Discussion, [GO HERE.](http://arrowheadone.com/week-16-chiefs-host-dolphins-open-thread/#disqus_thread)
..