The 3 keys to victory for Sunday.
The NFL season Week 1 is almost over. The week concludes with tonight’s Monday Night Football game between the Bills and the Jets. However, going into next week the defending world champion Chiefs will have to get back on track after their 21-20 defeat on banner night Last Thursday. Now the Chiefs will have to focus on their next opponent, The Jacksonville Jaguars who the Chiefs defeated in the 2022 Divisional game back in January, 27-20. With that in mind, Here are the 3 important ways that Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs can get back on track and defeated one of their formidable AFC opponents this coming Sunday.
1. Get more production from the receivers:
We all know All-Star tight end Travis Kelce is the cornerstone of the Chiefs pass catching corps. Unfortunately, there has not been much production from anyone else atleast from we saw last week. That will need to change if the Chiefs want to have a better chance of beating the Jaguars. In fact, excluding Kelce (if he’s not available again) including receivers Rashee Rice, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, and Justin Watson who all combined for 122 yards on seven receptions and a TD (Rice), the Chiefs only had 13 yards on three receptions (11 targets) from their other wide receivers against the Lions this past week. With much of the Jaguars’ of attention will be focused on Kelce, the other Chiefs’ wide receivers could see a lot of cornerback Tyson Campbell, who has been hot and cold since coming into the league in 2021. Whether it’s Rice, Richie James, Kadarius Toney, or Skyy Moore, the Chiefs are going to need someone to step up for them this weekend to be able to spread the ball around effectively.
We get to see Justyn Ross play football tomorrow night! 🔥 pic.twitter.com/8Vgu2rs7ZI
— Brad Henson Productions (@BradHensonPro) September 6, 2023
2. Continue to blitz often to get pressure on Trevor Lawrence
The Chiefs even without Chris Jones showed they are one of the more aggressive defenses in the league, led by defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo. Led by an talented front seven including Nick Bolton, George Karlaftis, Mike Danna, and Felix Anuidke-Uzomah, the Chiefs are not lacking in the physicality department which you could thank defensive line coach Joe Cullen. Their patented aggressiveness will be important this weekend going up against a good offensive line and one of the best quarterbacks in the league in Trevor Lawrence. The Colts were able to get frequent pressure on Lawrence by using heavy blitz packages and attacking their left guard Ben Bartch and rookie right tackle Anton Harrison. It will be important for the Chiefs to try and replicate that performance to keep Lawrence off-balance and force him out of the pocket and on the move, where he is less effective. While they may not necessarily have any “elite” players, they have the right personnel group to give Lawrence trouble throughout the game.
Don't mind us, we'll be taking this.
📺 FOX pic.twitter.com/b3a8we0MNX
— Indianapolis Colts (@Colts) September 10, 2023
3. Don’t give up on the run game if struggling:
This past week against the Lions, the Chiefs only ran the ball 14 times between their running backs (Isiah Pacheco with 8 carries and Clyde Edwards-Helaire with six) for just 45 yards (3.21 yards per carry). The Chiefs noticeably abandoned the run at times during the game when it was close and instead relied heavily on their passing attack. But as we saw against the Jaguars during the Divisional game, the rushing attack makes the game much easier for the Chiefs’ passing game. Pacheco ran for 95 yards on 12 carries (7.9 yards per carry) in their Divisional Playoff match-up. While the Chiefs have been known for years as a very dangerous passing team, their run game helped lead them to a lot of wins during the regular season. It’s also evident that the run game is important for the Chiefs, so they need to make sure to have faith in the run game and utilize it throughout the game to have a better chance of beating the Jaguars. It’ll also be important for the Chiefs to keep Pacheco and Jerick McKinnon involved and run the ball often to keep moving the chains and eating up the clock.
.@isiah_pachecoRB goes 40 YARDS!
📺: #JAXvsKC on NBC
📱: Stream on NFL+ https://t.co/3PQhoYeSUP pic.twitter.com/DlmzGPHW8Y— NFL (@NFL) January 21, 2023
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