The Chiefs are entering the bye week on a four game winning streak. After starting off the season at the bottom of the division and playing poorly, the reigning AFC champions were able to regain traction in AFC West race and sit at the top of the division. What should we expect from the Kansas City Chiefs after the bye?
The Kansas City Chiefs are entering the bye week after a big win Sunday against the Dallas Cowboys at Arrowhead Stadium. Although it was a low-scoring affair, we saw some flashes from an offense coming off their best performance of the season against the Raiders and a defense that has been one of the best in the league for the past weeks.
Chris Jones “CEO” of sack nation dialed in and had a total of 3.5 sacks and a couple of key batted down balls late in the game Sunday that made his fellow Mississippi State Bulldog have an uncomfortable afternoon in Kansas City. With the defense continuing their push of impressing week by week with drastic improvements, it’s only a matter of time until this high-powered KC offense sees the light and get back to their old ways.
Andy Reid after a bye in the regular season is 18-3, if we include the postseason, it is a grand total of 22-5. Coach Reid has one of the best win percentages in the league after a bye week and he looks to continue the same tradition this year. Reid and the Chiefs have a three-game span of facing AFC West teams starting with the Denver Broncos, followed by the Las Vegas Raiders, and then the Los Angeles Chargers.
The Chiefs have a chance to go 3-0 in this streak, putting themself ahead in the division and start gaining some ground in the AFC conference as they are the 4th seed if the season ended today. In this final stretch, the Kansas City Chiefs as a whole expect to be a complete unit waiting for the offense to get back to their old ways putting up monstrous numbers and dismantling opposing defenses. Here are a few things the offense can do to get back on track and gain that confidence that they once had in prior seasons.
With only six games left in the season, here are a few things the Chiefs can do to finish off the season with a bang going into the playoffs. First, continue using the short passes to establish a pace and control the time possession as you pick apart opposing defenses. Teams are playing a two-high defense against KC to eliminate the big gain, however, we saw multiple flashes in which the offense look methodical as they were taking what the defense gives them and wearing out opposing defenses.
Also, I fully expect the offense to limit the wasted possessions and cut the silly turnovers. This team in the past two years was one of the best in playing mistake-free football. However, this year the bug seems to have got to them and teams are beginning to feel they have found the formula. I disagree with that statement because the turnovers that were committed could have been prevented, however with Patrick Mahomes as QB1 you know eventually it will click and the offense will be back on a roll.
Lastly, one of my favorite units the past few weeks, the defense. I expect Spags and this KC defense to continue dialing up the pressure and making opposing offenses suffer each and every week. With the pass rush beginning to come back to life and secondary feeding off the improvements upfront, by the end of the season, this unit can reach the top 10 with overall scoring defense and turnovers.
The linebacker group is beginning to click and they all are firing off on all cylinders. This could be the year we see a Kansas City Chiefs team feed off the aggressiveness of the defense and make a deep playoff push coming in late January and maybe early February. We do not know yet, but it leaves KC fans excited to see what they have moving forward.
These last six weeks in the season for the Chiefs will be very important. Sitting at the 4th seed in the AFC picture with only being two games back from first place (including the Tennessee tiebreaker) puts in their mind that they are still within reach of the No.1 seed. With the strange upsets we have seen this year and no one really proclaiming their separation from the entire league, the Chiefs can still make a statement saying they are the team to beat. After the bye, we should expect a more discipline team going forward and looking to show their dominance once again to try to make it to their 3rd straight SB and right the wrongs they had last year from Super Bowl LV.
