Arrowhead Pride
What kind of issues should we expect when Kansas City hosts Buffalo on Sunday?
Following the Kansas City Chiefs’ 23-14 Divisional round victory over the Houston Texans on Saturday, the team is once again headed to a postseason showdown with the Buffalo Bills — this time for the AFC championship.
Here are my three biggest defensive questions about the Chiefs in this matchup.
Most people would guess that the Bills’ No. 1 wideout is Amari Cooper — but when you watch them play, he’s often not featured in their passing game.
In 10 games (including playoffs) with Buffalo, Cooper has 22 catches for 305 yards and two touchdowns on 36 targets. He is typically targeted on fade routes down the sideline, where he and quarterback Josh Allen have built some rapport on back-shoulder throws. But aside from that, he isn’t generally featured in the Buffalo offense.
Instead, Khalil Shakir has been the Bills’ go-to wideout this season. He’s broken out as an elite slot receiver, connecting with Allen in zone coverage, where he can find the soft spots and generate yards after catch. Against man coverage, Buffalo also does a good job putting Shakir in motion (or in bunches) to get him free releases.
Will Kansas City defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo put Trent McDuffie back in the slot against Shakir? This season, the two-time All-Pro has mostly played outside — although late in the season (when Chamarri Connor wasn’t available), he played in the slot more often.
I think Spagnuolo should consider it — because this season, the Chiefs haven’t been very good at defending slot wideouts and tight ends in the middle of the field. Kansas City’s safeties aren’t great in one-on-one coverage against slot receivers — and considering how much the Bills use Shakir to attack this area of the field, I’d be worried he could torch the Chiefs’ safeties.
Using McDuffie this way means putting Kansas City’s outside cornerbacks on islands. When these teams played in Week 11, Cooper did have some outstanding sideline catches. But have Allen and Cooper developed enough chemistry to win that way for 60 minutes? They might complete one or two of these passes — but when you’re playing against a great quarterback, you can live with that. It’s the price to be paid for limiting Shakir, which forces the Bills’ offense to play left-handed.
When people think of the Buffalo offense, they think of the team’s high-flying downfield passing offense in 2020 and 2021. But since Joe Brady became the offensive coordinator, the offense has gone heavier, leaning more into the running game. The Bills use six offensive linemen as much as anyone in the league, play a lot of 12 personnel and run the ball from under center. They’ve solidified their interior offensive line with powerful run blockers — and with athletic tackles like...
