Game Preview: Kansas City Chiefs

Edition #488

Good morning!

Isn’t it funny how things can change so quickly? I went back to read some camp posts yesterday, and the atmosphere around the Jets was electric. Super Bowl aspirations were a reality instead of a pipedream, the team couldn’t have been more together, more united.

They probably still are, to a point. But just like we’ve been through the stages of grief following the Aaron Rodgers injury, the players have too. Now there is a solemn atmosphere around the team, just look at any Robert Saleh press conference, he knows we’re in trouble, but he obviously can’t say that.

The Jets will try and avoid falling two games under .500 when they host the Super Bowl-winning Kansas City Chiefs. Today, we’re going to take a look at that game.

The Jets announced that they’d released CB Craig James from the practice squad to make room for Trevor Siemian.

Taylor Swift is apparently going to be in the house on Sunday for the game, and apparently, that’s a big deal. Don’t celebrities attend most games now?

Here is the full Willie Gay quote when he was asked what he sees in the Jets offence:

"Damn, that was a hard question, I can't lie. A team that wants to run the ball. That wasn't [meant] to be funny or anything, but A-Rod got hurt and it turned into a team where [it's] like panic mode, almost. That's what I see, at least. They've got great running backs, so now they're just trying to pound it. Pound and ground ... I feel like the running backs have been rolling. Like I said, three great ones, so I feel like that's their game plan."

Breece Hall liked a tweet that asked the question “What in the world happened to Zach Wilson” which caused a little stir. The presumed implication was that he used to be good and now he isn’t. I personally think too much is being made out of this one.

Nathaniel Hackett was asked about Ruckert and Hardman’s playing time and he doubled down on that strange not a lot of plays logic. "We haven’t had a lot of plays. Then, all of a sudden, we get into a two-minute situation. So, it’s been what’s been going on and how the games have progressed," said Hackett on Thursday "There’s a lot of things we want to get to, a lot of players we want to get on the field, but we have to do better as a group, and it starts with me." Not enough plays but Randall Cobb has 91 snaps to Hardman’s 16, Uzomah’s 73 snaps to Ruckert’s 25. Strange.

2023 Kansas City Chiefs

I think everyone got a bit excited about the Lions going into Arrowhead on opening day and walking away with an improbable victory. But the Lions are a good football team and the Chiefs have bounced back in a big way.

After suffering that 21-20 loss to Detroit, Kansas beat the hotly-tipped Jaguars 17-9 and spanked the Chicago Bears 41-10.

The offense is still humming under Patrick Mahomes averaging 390.3 yards per game, good for 5th in the league. Despite the offence being pass-dominant, they do also possess a top-10 rushing attack, averaging 114.7. They’re averaging 26 points per game which puts them 9th, and a lot of Chiefs fans are disappointed in that number.

The real surprise this year has been the defense who are allowing 13.3 points per game, the 4th best mark in football. They have the 6th best passing defense allowing 178.0 yards per game, having faced Jared Goff, Trevor Lawrence and Justin Fields.

Turnovers

Despite all the positives, and there are plenty for the Chiefs, they’ve got a little bit of. turnover problem on both sides of the ball.

The Chief’s -2 turnover differential is actually worse than the Jet’s mark at -1. Like the Jets, they have recorded 4 takeaways on defence, but they’ve given the ball away 6 times on offence. Two of those are on interceptions by Mahomes, but the Chiefs have had some issues hanging onto the football, with Tony, James and Watson all recording fumbles from the receiver core.

Don’t get too excited though, two of those offensive turnovers came at the hands of Blaine Gabbert at QB. The real story here is the lack of turnovers by the defence, considering we may ask Zach to throw a lot more on Sunday…that’s a small positive for the Jets.

Defensive Line Pressure