Wow. That disaster of a game last week may have been the most disappointing moment in the Andy Reid Era of Chiefs football. The then-1-8 Giants team that beat KC didn't even play a particularly good game. New York gained 46 less yards than the Chiefs and possessed the ball for about six and a half fewer minutes. Orleans Darkwa led all Giants rushers with 74 yards over 20 carries. The Chiefs will face a better back and a much better team just moments from now at Arrowhead.
When the L.A Chargers beat Cleveland today, they'll have a .500 record. A Chiefs loss would put Rivers' squad just a game behind KC in the standings. It's not a "must-win" for the Chiefs today, but the outcome will significantly change the Kingdom's outlook on the playoffs this year. If my predictions prove to be accurate today, it should be a close one.
1. Andy Reid and Alex Smith drove this offense into a downward spiral of ill-conceived conservatism that culminated in last week's embarrassing defeat. Alex must get back to extending plays with his feet instead of ruining plays by prematurely scrambling out of the pocket. I'd rather see him take a few hard licks today than throw any more 2-yard passes on 3rd and long. I think he knows this, too.
Reid must allow this to happen with properly balanced play-calling that evenly incorporates his three big offensive weapons attacking all levels of the field. The offense's recent refusal to stretch the defense by consistently threatening them with deep passing is as well-documented as it is infuriating. I think Andy knows this, as well. I predict that the Chiefs will complete four or more passes for 20+ yards while Kareem Hunt returns to gaining triple-digit yardage.
2. I know I just really dogged KC for their conservatism, but that philosophy leads to a great turnover differential, and that always leads to success. The six teams who have thrown five or fewer picks all lead their divisions. To Taylor's credit, he's thrown only three picks over 279 pass attempts this year. He and Alex both have their reasons to avoid turning the ball over at all costs today. I predict a relatively clean game with two or less total turnovers.
3. The Chiefs haven't faced a running back as legit as LeSean McCoy since this whole decline started with a disgusting Week 6 loss to Pittsburgh. KC fans saw Le'Veon Bell dip and slide through the Chiefs defense for 179 yards on the ground. A performance like that from Shady today would spell doom for the Kingdom, so Chiefs DC Bob Sutton must win the chess match to win this game. He needs to dial up the right combination of solid run-stuffing defense and enough blitzing to force pressure on Tyrod Taylor, while still keeping enough defenders on the edges of the field to limit the damage Taylor can do with his legs. You'll never catch me saying that being a defensive coordinator in the NFL looks easy.
Nonetheless, I still have faith - though it may be muted lately - in the "bend, don't break" potential of this defense. I predict an uplifting bounce-back performance for Sutton and his defense that limits the Bills to 4.8 fewer points than their season average and leads KC to a hard-fought 23-16 victory.
Doug LaCerte usually procrastinates too much to do much with his Facebook page or tweet very many tweets @DLaC67.
Sunday, November 26, 2017
Sunday, November 19, 2017
Can KC Make Giants' Season Even Sadder?
A whole bunch of stats indicate that our Kansas City Chiefs should succeed handily against the New York Football Giants today. The 1-8 Giants are one of the three worst teams in football according to power rankings from ESPN, NFL.com, Sports Illustrated, Bleacher Report and probably several more power rankings I didn't check. New York's defense cannot stop big plays, and KC may be the league's best big-play offense. The Giants can't stop the run, and the Chiefs bring to the Big Apple one of the world's best running backs. However, KC is not without their own flaws, and the Giants have the tools necessary to exploit those flaws today.
The only Giants on the offensive side of the ball that scare me are the running backs, and not only because Orleans Darkwa averages 5.1 yards over 81 attempts this season. The Giants' only victory so far this year came against the similarly lousy Denver Broncos in Week 6. New York didn't turn the ball over, while Denver turned it over three times, and Darkwa ran for 117 yards. He and Wayne Gallman scare me because all running backs scare me until the Chiefs show marked improvement in the run-stopping department. The Giants are actually one of only three teams in the league allowing more yards per rush than KC. If the Chiefs limit turnovers and Darkwa, they should win. We know KC can limit turnovers, but we also know the defenses' run-stopping skills are lacking. This leads me to an ever-so-smooth segue that then leads me to these three quick predictions:
1. Because of all the aforementioned success with running the ball, I predict both Darkwa and Kareem Hunt to earn more than 85 yards on the ground. Savor every moment of Chiefs football you get today, because all this rushing should keep the clock ticking and make this a relatively quick game.
2. The Giants played arguably their best game of the season against the current front-runners for the NFC championship. Eli and the rest of the offense didn't show up until the fourth quarter that week, when they scored all of their 24 points to make the Philadelphia Eagles sweat late. The Eagles ultimately won 27-24, but let's remember those 24 points scored in a single quarter before we get too cocky at any point in this game. KC's coaching staff will undoubtedly keep that in mind. I predict that Eli helps the Giants keep things interesting in New York today and stops KC from covering their 10-point spread.
3. Despite my hesitation to predict a blowout or even a comfortable win, I predict a 30-23 victory for the Chiefs that should provide some calm to the Kingdom. It's not like a victory against a playoff-caliber opponent, or even a .500 opponent, but it's a meaningful "get healthy" moment for KC. This is the start of four consecutive weeks with a Sunday noon game for the Chiefs, so now's the time to return to normalcy with a win in New York.
Doug LaCerte still has a rarely used Facebook page and occasionally tweets things @DLaC67.
The only Giants on the offensive side of the ball that scare me are the running backs, and not only because Orleans Darkwa averages 5.1 yards over 81 attempts this season. The Giants' only victory so far this year came against the similarly lousy Denver Broncos in Week 6. New York didn't turn the ball over, while Denver turned it over three times, and Darkwa ran for 117 yards. He and Wayne Gallman scare me because all running backs scare me until the Chiefs show marked improvement in the run-stopping department. The Giants are actually one of only three teams in the league allowing more yards per rush than KC. If the Chiefs limit turnovers and Darkwa, they should win. We know KC can limit turnovers, but we also know the defenses' run-stopping skills are lacking. This leads me to an ever-so-smooth segue that then leads me to these three quick predictions:
1. Because of all the aforementioned success with running the ball, I predict both Darkwa and Kareem Hunt to earn more than 85 yards on the ground. Savor every moment of Chiefs football you get today, because all this rushing should keep the clock ticking and make this a relatively quick game.
2. The Giants played arguably their best game of the season against the current front-runners for the NFC championship. Eli and the rest of the offense didn't show up until the fourth quarter that week, when they scored all of their 24 points to make the Philadelphia Eagles sweat late. The Eagles ultimately won 27-24, but let's remember those 24 points scored in a single quarter before we get too cocky at any point in this game. KC's coaching staff will undoubtedly keep that in mind. I predict that Eli helps the Giants keep things interesting in New York today and stops KC from covering their 10-point spread.
3. Despite my hesitation to predict a blowout or even a comfortable win, I predict a 30-23 victory for the Chiefs that should provide some calm to the Kingdom. It's not like a victory against a playoff-caliber opponent, or even a .500 opponent, but it's a meaningful "get healthy" moment for KC. This is the start of four consecutive weeks with a Sunday noon game for the Chiefs, so now's the time to return to normalcy with a win in New York.
Doug LaCerte still has a rarely used Facebook page and occasionally tweets things @DLaC67.
Sunday, November 5, 2017
Can Underdog Chiefs Beat the 'Boys In Dallas?
It's been so long since your Kansas City Chiefs faced the Dallas Cowboys that one of the starting QB's from their last face-off is calling the game for CBS this time around. We'll see two of the league's five highest-scoring offenses today, and a couple average-at-best defenses, so it's shaping up to be an action-packed afternoon in Dallas. Should the Chiefs Kingdom feel disrespected by the 2.5 points Vegas is giving KC this week?
At the very least, Chiefs fans have the right to be irritated by all the talk about how awful their squad's defense is this season. Comparing the Cowboys defense to KC's provides further evidence that the Chiefs D still epitomizes "bend, don't break". Despite allowing more yards per game than all-but-two teams in the league, KC actually allows fewer points per game than Dallas this season. The Cowboys' 324.9 yards allowed per game is 13th in the NFL, but they give up an average of 23 points each week. The Chiefs' opponents average 22.5 points per game this year. I kept this in mind while I whipped up today's three predictions:
1. KC's well-known susceptibility to star running backs presumably made Bob Sutton sleep restlessly this week, but I trust him....sorta. I think KC's defensive strategy will be tweaked to limit Ezekiel Elliot, which will leave the Kansas City secondary with even more problems than usual. I expect the Chiefs to hold Zeke close to his 98.6 yards-per-game average today, but I predict that this allows Dak Prescott to rack up at least 260 yards through the air - over 35 more than his average this season.
2. Kansas City has the league's lowest red zone touchdown scoring percentage over the last three weeks. Over the entire 2017 season, the Chiefs rank 19th league-wide with a 50% red zone touchdown scoring percentage (a statistic for which even an acronym sounds too wordy). Dallas ranks 5th in that same stat. For KC to overcome the 'boys today, this must change. I predict that whichever team leads in this stat by the end of the game will win.
3. Andy must feel a strong desire to prove himself and this offense's legitimacy today in Dallas. Last week's game was won largely because of turnovers, and KC's offense stalled in important moments time and time again (0-3 in the red zone and 2-12 converting third downs, according to B.J Kissel at kcchiefs.com). Dallas is 15th in both rushing yards and passing yards allowed, so Reid's offensive game plan should be a balanced attack involving heavy doses of his three star playmakers.
The Chiefs should score some points today, but it will come down to which of these legit squads performs best in the clutch. I suppose it always comes down to this in any well-played game. Those numbers regarding the Chiefs' recent ineffectiveness in the red zone seem damning. I dread the thought of KC's defense facing yet another elite running back whose team consistently gives him the rock when the opposition clearly can't stop him. Injury concerns with KC's offensive line, paired with the fact that Dallas features a healthy, top-five offensive line themselves, also make it difficult for me to predict a victory for KC today.
This version of the Kansas City Chiefs is legit. If they lose this afternoon, it shouldn't make you think any differently. For all the reasons I just gave, that could definitely happen. I'm still predicting a win for KC, though.
The 2.5-point spread makes perfect sense, but I think the Chiefs will once again win the turnover battle to help them win the game. KC already faced three teams who give up fewer points per game than Dallas, and they scored at least 29 against each of them. Despite giving up tons of yardage to the opposition, the Chiefs held the Patriots' league-leading offense to 27 points. The power rankings all call the Philadelphia Eagles the league's best team right now, and KC held them to 20 points. The Redskins couldn't score more than that, and the [several expletives removed] Steelers won while scoring only 19. It's time for KC to prove themselves against a top-shelf team in a clutch moment, deep in the season, when team identities start to solidify. Against the odds-makers' better judgement, I predict a thrilling 29-26 victory for the Chiefs. @ me about how stupid I am any time. Isn't @ me a cool thing that cool people say now? That's a thing, right?
Doug LaCerte still neglects his Facebook page, but you can @ him or whatever @DLaC67.
At the very least, Chiefs fans have the right to be irritated by all the talk about how awful their squad's defense is this season. Comparing the Cowboys defense to KC's provides further evidence that the Chiefs D still epitomizes "bend, don't break". Despite allowing more yards per game than all-but-two teams in the league, KC actually allows fewer points per game than Dallas this season. The Cowboys' 324.9 yards allowed per game is 13th in the NFL, but they give up an average of 23 points each week. The Chiefs' opponents average 22.5 points per game this year. I kept this in mind while I whipped up today's three predictions:
1. KC's well-known susceptibility to star running backs presumably made Bob Sutton sleep restlessly this week, but I trust him....sorta. I think KC's defensive strategy will be tweaked to limit Ezekiel Elliot, which will leave the Kansas City secondary with even more problems than usual. I expect the Chiefs to hold Zeke close to his 98.6 yards-per-game average today, but I predict that this allows Dak Prescott to rack up at least 260 yards through the air - over 35 more than his average this season.
2. Kansas City has the league's lowest red zone touchdown scoring percentage over the last three weeks. Over the entire 2017 season, the Chiefs rank 19th league-wide with a 50% red zone touchdown scoring percentage (a statistic for which even an acronym sounds too wordy). Dallas ranks 5th in that same stat. For KC to overcome the 'boys today, this must change. I predict that whichever team leads in this stat by the end of the game will win.
3. Andy must feel a strong desire to prove himself and this offense's legitimacy today in Dallas. Last week's game was won largely because of turnovers, and KC's offense stalled in important moments time and time again (0-3 in the red zone and 2-12 converting third downs, according to B.J Kissel at kcchiefs.com). Dallas is 15th in both rushing yards and passing yards allowed, so Reid's offensive game plan should be a balanced attack involving heavy doses of his three star playmakers.
The Chiefs should score some points today, but it will come down to which of these legit squads performs best in the clutch. I suppose it always comes down to this in any well-played game. Those numbers regarding the Chiefs' recent ineffectiveness in the red zone seem damning. I dread the thought of KC's defense facing yet another elite running back whose team consistently gives him the rock when the opposition clearly can't stop him. Injury concerns with KC's offensive line, paired with the fact that Dallas features a healthy, top-five offensive line themselves, also make it difficult for me to predict a victory for KC today.
This version of the Kansas City Chiefs is legit. If they lose this afternoon, it shouldn't make you think any differently. For all the reasons I just gave, that could definitely happen. I'm still predicting a win for KC, though.
The 2.5-point spread makes perfect sense, but I think the Chiefs will once again win the turnover battle to help them win the game. KC already faced three teams who give up fewer points per game than Dallas, and they scored at least 29 against each of them. Despite giving up tons of yardage to the opposition, the Chiefs held the Patriots' league-leading offense to 27 points. The power rankings all call the Philadelphia Eagles the league's best team right now, and KC held them to 20 points. The Redskins couldn't score more than that, and the [several expletives removed] Steelers won while scoring only 19. It's time for KC to prove themselves against a top-shelf team in a clutch moment, deep in the season, when team identities start to solidify. Against the odds-makers' better judgement, I predict a thrilling 29-26 victory for the Chiefs. @ me about how stupid I am any time. Isn't @ me a cool thing that cool people say now? That's a thing, right?
Doug LaCerte still neglects his Facebook page, but you can @ him or whatever @DLaC67.
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