Football is back!
The Kansas City Chiefs beat the Denver Broncos 31-10 on “Monday Night Football” in dominant fashion, making it one of my favorite Chiefs wins in years.
The crowd and energy were fantastic, and the Chiefs bludgeoned Denver with physicality and power on both sides of the ball. It was an incredibly impressive performance that was very enjoyable to watch.
There’s a ton to analyze, so this season I’ll structure film reviews around two or three topics each week. In wins, I’ll cover two positives
and one negative; in losses, we’ll point out two negatives and only one positive.
Let’s start with the positives.
The Good
Chiefs playing extra offensive linemen
I absolutely loved what the Chiefs did in the run game against the Broncos. It started from the very beginning. Head coach Andy Reid, notorious for his love of the passing game, came out on national television and sent a message to every NFL team: we’re going to run the ball.
Kenneth Walker will get most of the headlines for the improved run game, and rightfully so. You couldn’t have asked for a better debut. Walker showed big-play explosiveness, but also patience and vision between the tackles. His tackle-breaking was elite, and he showed power with his stiff arm and by running through defenders.
But that wasn’t my favorite part of the Chiefs’ run game. Four times in this game, Andy Reid checked in backup guard Hunter Nourzad and nose tackle Khyris Tonga on short-yardage plays; reserve lineman Josh Ezeudu also saw time.
Kansas City used the “Jumbo” packages to move the chains, and I loved the decision. Essentially, they had two options: extra offensive linemen or tight ends. They chose the linemen.
Normally, the trade-off is that extra linemen reduce the pass threat. Defenses don’t have to account for them in coverage, making the run more obvious and letting defenders attack downhill (although I would like to see a Khyris Tonga touchdown).
But with this Chiefs’ roster, the tight ends don’t provide enough of a passing threat to justify keeping them on the field. Teams aren’t worried about covering Noah Gray or Jared Wiley (a gameday inactive) downfield, while Travis Kelce is now limited to a smaller area of the field. The Chiefs simply don’t have enough receiving talent at tight end for defenses to adjust much anyway.
So why not just add another lineman and improve your run blocking?
There’s obviously a limit to how often you can use jumbo personnel, but I like that the Chiefs are willing to turn to it when needed.
An improved pressure plan
Broncos quarterback Bo Nix was pressured at the fourth-highest rate in the NFL this week at 45.5%. Last season, the Chiefs’ pressure rate was 34.4%, 15th in the NFL. More pressure was an offseason priority, and they delivered on Monday.
Multiple factors contributed. First, some of the young defensive linemen they brought in made an immediate impact. The most noticeable was defensive end R Mason Thomas, who finished with two pressures and a sack on 19 pass-rushsnaps. Thomas didn’t get off to the best start, but found his rhythm as the game progressed. Thomas’ sack was particularly impressive, showing the lower-body flexibility to spin back inside after trying to get upfield.
Felix Anudike-Uzomah also impacted the game with a strip sack. Surprisingly, the Chiefs had FAU inside at defensive tackle during this game, despite his smaller frame. On his sack, he showed impressive power in a swim move to turn upfield.
But more than the defensive line, the Chiefs’ blitzes were outstanding. The team blitzed just 30.3% of the time, 14th in the NFL this week, but were incredibly effective when they did.
Early in the game, the Chiefs brought cornerback Nohl Williams on a blitz from a condensed formation as the Broncos looked for a big play. Williams got a sack and changed the tone of this game. From there, the Broncos mostly called short passes against the blitz, but the Chiefs were all over them, dropping defenders into hot zones and forcing Nix to hold onto the ball.
Another thing the Chiefs scouted was that they wanted to keep running back R.J. Harvey in pass protection. Harvey is not a big back and struggles in those situations, and the Chiefs picked on that all night. Linebacker Nick Bolton’s sack was a one-on-one with Harvey where he blows him up and then swims around him.
The speed of the new defensive linemen will help the four-man pass rush and the blitzes. One problem the Chiefs had last year was poor blitz spacing because their defensive linemen couldn’t get upfield to occupy blockers. Thomas now gives them that, alongside a guy who can win one-on-one. The Chiefs defense sent a message to the NFL that they’re going to hit the quarterback more this year.
The bad
The Chiefs’ passing game
Most of the game was outstanding for the Chiefs, but the pass game struggled. Mahomes was 7-for-17 passing at halftime for 56 yards. At one point, the Chiefs had six straight incompletions. Kansas City’s leading wide receiver in receiving yards was Rashee Rice with 19 yards. The Chiefs’ wide receivers had five total catches. Mahomes was 29th in average depth of target this week at 4.7 yards.
Frankly, the Chiefs got lucky on the two best passing plays of the game. Rashee Rice had two defenders in position to tackle him on his touchdown, and both whiffed badly. Tight end Travis Kelce’s catch and run was a great hot read to beat the blitz, but the amount of space he had was crazy and rarely happens in the NFL.
Outside of those two plays, the Chiefs’ passing game was inept. The group struggled with quick-game concepts because the Broncos were sitting on every underneath route. At one point, Kansas City ran back-to-back screens to Walker, and Denver blew both up.
The Broncos dared the Chiefs to throw downfield, and they couldn’t. Nobody could separate against Denver’s cornerbacks. Rice had virtually no impact outside of his touchdown. Xavier Worthy saw six targets but caught just three for 18 yards, while wide receivers Tyquan Thornton and Cyrus Allen didn’t record a catch.
The Chiefs will face less talented secondaries moving forward, and getting left tackle Josh Simmons back should give the quarterback more time for receivers to get open.
But the reality is the Chiefs don’t have enough pass-catching talent right now. Teams aren’t threatened by their receivers, and they don’t have a player who can consistently beat man coverage. Until that changes, the passing game has a limited ceiling. I don’t think the answer is on the roster, so the Chiefs may have to look outside the organization at the trade deadline for someone who can provide that missing juice.
