Here are your Chiefs’ predictions for Sunday’s Week 16 matchup with the Kansas City Chiefs taking on the Atlanta Falcons:
The playoffs are fast approaching, and for the Chiefs to officially secure the #1 seed in the AFC, they have to play all-out to defeat the Atlanta Falcons in Arrowhead. That would be a glorious late Christmas present for Chiefs players, coaches, and fans alike; on the other hand, an upset win for the Falcons would be a great present to end their failure of the 2020 season. With that short introduction ended, let’s predict what will happen this upcoming Sunday:
Le’Veon Bell will have over 80 total yards
With Helaire out this week due to an ankle injury he suffered last week, Bell will have to pick up the workload; he’ll do just that against this Falcons’ rush defense. While they were able to put the hammer down against the Buccaneers rushing attack last week (only gaining 51 yards throughout), they have allowed on average 121 rush yards per game in their last three games and around 104 yards each game this season. Bell will now be receiving a bulk-load of carries, possibly 16 or more; moreover, if he keeps his pace at four yards per run, he’ll surpass 80 total with ease.
Mahomes will help in gaining these yards as well in the passing game. Bell has had two three-catch games in the last three matches, and he’s averaging about 14 yards receiving in the said weeks. Bell has the skillset to break off a nice screenplay or quick pass play to gain large amounts of yardage; fans from all over have seen that in his Steelers days. Bell is more used to the system the Chiefs run than he has been in the past few weeks, and his stats don’t lie when you see the numbers jump each week.
Patrick Mahomes II will have a monster game of 400+ yards and four touchdowns
If a 400-yard game could happen on any team, then it would be against the Falcons. The Falcons’ pass defense has allowed about 287 yards passing each game and 274 yards throughout the last three games. Against high-powered offenses with loads of weapons, they falter. Against the Bucs last week, Brady dotted the ball all-over by throwing for 390 yards and two touchdowns. The same thing occurred against the Packers, who barely have receiving weapons, earlier in the season when Rodgers threw for 327 yards and four touchdowns.
The Chiefs have receiving weapons all-over the field in the best tight end of the league in Travis Kelce, one of the fastest players the league has seen in Tyreek Hill (while he is questionable, it’s likely he’ll be playing), a solid WR2 in Sammy Watkins, and another speedster in Mecole Hardman. We also can’t forget about Bell who is a threat in receiving as well.
Mahomes also destroys teams who have terrible pass defenses. He threw 462 yards against Tampa (25th ranked pass defense), 416 yards against the Jets (30th ranked pass defense), and 348 yards against the Raiders (28th ranked pass defense); these are the more recent examples. This will be an electrifying showing for him, and this is one Chiefs’ fans can’t wait for and one Falcons’ fans are dwelling.
Travis Kelce will have over 100+ yards receiving
This prediction is pretty straightforward. The Falcons have one of the worst pass defenses in the league, and Kelce is the best tight end in the league and he’s ranked 2nd in receiving yards this season. Also, he has five 100-yard games in his last seven games this season; furthermore, he’s had eight catches in his last five games and he’s averaging over 13 yards per reception, so the odds are in his favor.
L’Jarius Sneed will lockdown yet again
Sneed is having himself a season, and while he was injured for the majority of it, he shows great strides towards the future (click here to read more about him). In his first game truly back (playing over90% of defensive snaps) against the Saints, he allowed only one completion for 17 yards on six attempts thrown his way with an interception and two pass breakups.
With Julio Jones ruled out this Sunday, he’ll be matching off against either Calvin Ridley or Russell Gage, which shouldn’t be a bad matchup either-or way. Sneed has the quickness to keep up with them, and by seeing his play progress, he could definitely lockdown yet again!
The Chiefs will hold the Falcons’ rushing attack to under 70 yards
The Falcons run game has been terrible and atrocious these past couple of weeks. The Falcons only had 37 rushing yards last week against the Bucs, 60 yards against the Chargers, and 70 yards against the Saints. By all accounts, that is terrible; moreover, the Chiefs rush defense held Alvin Kamara and the Saints rushing attack to 60 yards in last week’s win. Spagnuolo has improved that rush defense, and it will show on Sunday as well.
With all those predictions out of the way, here’s my score prediction:
Score Prediction: Chiefs: 42 – Falcons: 24
What are your predictions for this week’s upcoming games? Leave a comment down below to join the discussion. Thanks for reading, and have a marvelous day.
