Chiefs vs. Falcons: Matchup analysis
By David Thomas
The Chiefs showed their might in moving the immovable object. Now the Chiefs take on the unstoppable force. Who’s going to stand up against the Falcons?
Sunday will be the first time the Chiefs and Falcons will face without Tony Gonzalez in over 20 years. The Chiefs are coming off a hard fought win in over time against the Broncos. The Falcons are coming off a blowout against the Cardinals. Both teams are fighting to improve their position in the playoff standings.
The Chiefs are facing their fifth opponent who ranked top 10 in scoring, and are 4-0 in those games. The Falcons are facing their fourth and final AFC West team, and are 2-1 in those games.
The Chiefs so far this season have often faced uncertainty in the eyes of the media in gauging their future performance. Despite beating both the Broncos and Raiders at their own home rank below both of them in ESPN’s power rankings. They made a statement against arguably the best defense in the league. Time for the Chiefs to make a statement against arguably the best offense in the league.
Now who’s going to decide the outcome?
Spencer Ware vs. Falcons Defense
Like many of the top offenses the Chiefs have faced the opponents defense tends to rank fairly poorly. However, the Falcons are actually 10th in rushing yards allowed. According to Football Outsiders tough their defense is 30th in Adjusted Line Yards. When looking at where the run is coming from the Falcons are first allowing just 1.77 ALY against the right end of their defense.
The success in defending the run on the right side can partly be attributed to defensive stalwarts Vic Beasley and Keanu Neal. But the run defense gets a break due to their atrocious pass defense ranking last in the league. The Falcons defense has faced 310 passes compared to just 259 rushing attempts.
With the Chiefs facing the top offense in the NFL the Chiefs will aim to control the clock and keep Matt Ryan off the Field. So far this season the Chiefs are 22nd in time of possession, and the Falcons are 21st. Against the Raiders earlier this season the Chiefs running backs ran the ball a total of 36 times, and controlled the clock for 36:45. In that game Spencer Ware ran the ball 24 times for 131 yards and one touchdown. If the Chiefs are going to beat the high-flying Falcons I expect a similar level of production from the Chiefs running back position.