Hogs Haven
It’s week 8 of the NFL season and the 3-4 Washington Commanders will be facing a 4-3 Kansas City Chiefs team on the road at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri on Monday at 8:15 pm EDT. The Chiefs had a rocky start to the season, losing their first two games to the Chargers and Eagles, but have been getting better every week and won 4 of their last 5 games.
On offense, the Chiefs are coached by HC Andy Reid, the primary playcaller and architect of the offense, as well as OC Matt Nagy, former HC of the Chicago Bears. The Chiefs offense is fundamentally a West Coast Offense, but is really a unique offense that changes every year and borrows a lot of the best principles of offenses around the league and college football, including (since Mahomes took over as QB) a lot of Air Raid concepts, with a high rate of RPOs and screens. In addition to aging future Hall of Fame TE Travis Kelce, the Chiefs primary skill position players are WR Rashee Rice, WR Xavier Worthy (who functions primarily as a deep threat), and RBs Isaiah Pacheco and Kareem Hunt, both of whom function as power backs with a very downhill running style. Rashee Rice was suspended the first 6 weeks due to his role in a multi-car crash in the offseason, but made his debut last week with 7 receptions for 42 yards and 2 TDs in the first half of a blowout win against the Raiders, but was rested along with many other starters in the 2nd half due to the nature of the blowout. Expect Rice to be the focal point of the Chiefs passing attack.
On defense, the Chiefs are coached by Steve Spagnuola, one of the best DCs in the NFL. The Chiefs often use two high safeties to take away the deep passing game, but are creative at disguising their coverages. The Chiefs also utilize a fair amount of man coverage, are good at disguising blitzes, and have the 6th-highest blitz rate in the NFL. The Chiefs also have a lot of talent on defense, including All Pro DT Chris Jones, All Pro CB Trent McDuffie, and standout DE George Karlaftis.
I asked Maurice Elston of Arrowhead Pride five questions to better understand the state of the Chiefs and what to look for in this game.
1) Although the Chiefs are only 4-3, they have won four of their last five games, including an impressive blowout win against the Lions. Why did the Chiefs struggle to start the season, and what has allowed them to turn it around?
The early struggles were mostly about timing and chemistry. Offensively, the Chiefs were missing key pieces right out of the gate — Rashee Rice was suspended, Xavier Worthy went down on the third offensive play of the season, and the team was working in two new starters on the left side of the offensive line. It took time for Patrick...
