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.
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