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	<title>Arrowhead Addict &#187; Know Your Enemy</title>
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		<title>Chiefs vs. Ravens: Know Your Enemy</title>
		<link>http://arrowheadaddict.com/2012/10/04/chiefs-vs-ravens-know-your-enemy/</link>
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		<pubDate>Thu, 04 Oct 2012 16:00:14 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Andrew C. Gilbert</dc:creator>
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		<description><![CDATA[<p>Following a disappointing loss at home to the San Diego Chargers, the Chiefs will stay inKansas City again this Sunday, this time to square off against the Baltimore Ravens. Needless to say, with the way the Chiefs have been playing thus far, this game is likely an easy write-off for most Kansas City fans, but [...]</p><p><a href="http://arrowheadaddict.com/2012/10/04/chiefs-vs-ravens-know-your-enemy/">Chiefs vs. Ravens: Know Your Enemy</a> - <a href="http://arrowheadaddict.com">Arrowhead Addict</a> - <a href="http://arrowheadaddict.com">Arrowhead Addict - A Kansas City Chiefs Fan Site - News, Blogs, Opinion and more</a></p>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://arrowheadaddict.com/2012/10/04/chiefs-vs-ravens-know-your-enemy/nfl-san-diego-chargers-at-kansas-city-chiefs-61/" rel="attachment wp-att-40016"><img class="size-large wp-image-40016" title="NFL: San Diego Chargers at Kansas City Chiefs" src="http://cdn.fansided.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/130/files/2012/10/6623110-590x440.jpg" alt="" width="590" height="440" /></a></p>
<p>Following a disappointing loss at home to the San Diego Chargers, the Chiefs will stay inKansas City again this Sunday, this time to square off against the Baltimore Ravens. Needless to say, with the way the Chiefs have been playing thus far, this game is likely an easy write-off for most Kansas City fans, but despite this (and after a two week hiatus), I’ve decided to soldier on in the Know Your Enemy series.</p>
<p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Offense</span></strong></p>
<p>The Baltimore Ravens are currently ranked 5<sup>th</sup> in the NFL for scoring on the season, and are performing so well that some analysts and pundits have opined that the Ravens’ offensive performances have actually been exceeding its defensive performances (compared to the previous decade or so of being an indisputably defensive juggernaut).</p>
<p>The Ravens’ offense is steered by QB Joe Flacco. Flacco made some noise over the offseason, proclaiming himself as an “elite quarterback.” Most people chuckled to themselves upon hearing this, but he has put in a commendable season thus far. While I am not willing to label him as elite quite yet, Flacco has played with poise and engineered one fourth-quarter comeback on the year thus far (Week 3’s controversial win over the New England Patriots). In four games, Flacco has completed 63.5% of his passes for 1,269 YDs and 7 TDs, good for a passer rating of 95.8.</p>
<p>But what is a QB without a few good targets to throw to? Though I would not put the Ravens receivers on par with the Falcons receivers (Roddy, Julio, and Gonzo) they may well have the same amount of talent (or slightly more) spread across five players in WRs Torrey Smith, Anquan Boldin, and Jacoby Jones, and TEs Dennis Pitta and Ed Dickson. The most notable of these five are Torrey Smith and Dennis Pitta.</p>
<p>Though largely ineffective in last week’s game, Pitta has 18 catches for 188 YDs and 2 TDs on the season and appears to be a valuable target for Flacco in the red zone. Though not receiving quite the targets that Pitta is receiving, Ed Dickson also can contribute quite a bit at TE when called upon and should be perceived as something of a threat.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, Torrey Smith is looking to have a breakout year, having already registered 16 catches for 332 YDs and 3 TDs on the season. Some in-game commentators have sounded shocked by Torrey Smith’s on field production; however, I personally don’t find this too shocking considering that he put up pretty decent stats last season (50 catches for 841 YDs and 7 TDs) despite both having his rookie preseason shortened by the lockout and playing a significant chunk of the season with a hamstring injury.</p>
<p>Between Anquan Boldin and Jacoby Jones, you might think that Boldin is the bigger threat, which he may well be becoming, but up until last week Boldin has been relatively disappointing this season, not getting much separation (and, consequently, targets) during the first three games. No, after Torrey Smith and Dennis Pitta, Jacoby Jones looks to be the next biggest receiving threat on this Ravens offense. Having watched all of the Ravens’ games this season, I swear Jacoby Jones seems to be good for two to three HUGE catches per game thus far. Even if Jones doesn’t appear to be much of a factor during the first three quarters of the game, the Chiefs defense should not sleep on him because he has been showing week in and week out that he can be relied upon to make crucial, fourth quarter catches even if they’re among his only targets of the game.</p>
<p>As for the Ravens backfield, Ray Rice continues to impress both on ground and through the air. If Flacco and the passing offense didn’t step up their game this year, you might hear a lot more chatter about Rice. Instead, it seems like Rice’s consistently great play is so expected that the passing game is the new hot thing to talk about. Rice also factors into the passing game receiving and is currently topping the Ravens charts with the most receptions (though with, understandably, less yardage given where his routes take him).</p>
<p>As for their offensive line, the Ravens could be doing a little better. C Matt Birk is 36 years old, and while he’s still an excellent center, a lot of his excellence comes from his knowledge of the game as his physical abilities are in decline, and LT Michael Oher of “The Blind Side” fame is not quite as good on the blind side as you’d expect him to be. I know several Ravens fans griping about wanting the team to move him back to RT where he fares better and trying again on the drafting a LT front. RT Kelechi Osemele is a rookie, LG Ramon Harewood is in his second year (though it is his first year playing in games), and RG Marshall Yanda is in his fifth.season. Yanda has been elected to the Pro Bowl once and may be Baltimore’s best OL at the moment in terms of age, position and ability.</p>
<p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Defense</span></strong></p>
<p>As previously stated, the Ravens defense is starting to get overshadowed by their offense; however, this does not mean their defense is bad or even average. As much as the Ravens defense has been underperforming compared to last year (when they were No. 2 Defense overall), they are still a top ten defense (coming in at No. 10 right now).</p>
<p>In case you’ve been living under a rock and haven’t heard, the Ravens defense is anchored by timeless players MLB Ray Lewis and S Ed Reed. Though the good news is that these guys are a year older and a bit more of their age is showing, the bad news is (that like Tony Gonzalez) even a slightly less physically capable Lewis and Reed can still be counted among the elite at their positions. Also showing age is NT Ma’ake Kemoeatu who is actually starting to show greater signs of wear.</p>
<p>Besides Reed and Lewis,Baltimore’s next two greatest defenders are DE Haloti Ngata and S Bernard Pollard. You probably know Pollard from such KC snafus as “letting go of Bernard Pollard.” And if you don’t know who Ngata is or what he is capable of, you really should consider just getting rid of that aforementioned rock you’ve been living under.</p>
<p>One positive about facing the Ravens current defense is that they are fronting some lesser experienced players right now. The DE opposite Haloti Ngata is Pernell McPhee, a fifth round draft choice by the Ravens taken in last year’s draft. Due to the loss of LB Terrell Suggs to injury and the loss of LB Jarret Johnson to free agency, the Ravens have been forced to play with rookie Courtney Upshaw and 3<sup>rd</sup> year player Paul Kruger at OLB and second year player Albert McClellan at MLB..</p>
<p>CBs Lardarius Webb and Cary Williams flesh out the starting defense, and though capable backs, are overshadowed by the stellar safety play.</p>
<p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Special Teams</span></strong></p>
<p>Baltimore’s kick returner duties are handled by rookie WR Deonte Thompson and the Punt Returner duties are handled by Jacoby Jones. The Ravens’ kick return game is currently slightly better than the Chiefs’, and their punt return game is slightly worse.</p>
<p>Both teams’ kickers and punters look to be about a wash thus far this season, with Ravens P Sam Koch posting similar stats to Colquitt, and rookie K Justin Tucker posting comparable stats to Succop. Justin Tucker replaces Billy Cundiff at kicker after Cundiff messed up what should have been an easy kick last season in the AFC championship which kept the Ravens from the Super Bowl. It is yet to be seen if Tucker can make such clutch kicks himself, with his only real opportunity to do so this season being during the Ravens win against the Patriots in Week 3. In the last seconds of the game, Tucker shanked a FG far right of center, but luckily it was high enough to go over the top of the goalpost rather than banking off the goal post and according to the NFL Rule Book over the post counts as between the posts and such a play is non-reviewable as only the official directly underneath the post was in any position to make the call. Whether this kick was Tucker experiencing very good luck masking non-clutch play, or whether he experienced bad (but not quite bad enough) luck to turn what would normally be a clutch kick into a near miss is anyone’s guess at this point. If the game’s on the line and the ball isn’t within the 25 yard line, I’d probably be holding my breath were I a Ravens fan until enough time and opportunity passes to determine whether or not my kicker could hit a clutch kick.</p>
<p>_______</p>
<p>As a Chiefs fan, it is admittedly hard to go into this game with a positive outlook. If the Chiefs offense (and particularly Cassel) can play turnover-free football, there might be a fighting chance. And I don’t mean a zeroed out turnover differential where a Cassel INT is canceled out by the defense forcing a turnover. This offense, under Cassel, is likely to not be mentally tough enough to put up with one more turnover, even if it’s made up for by the defense later in the game.</p>
<p>But I will remain positive going into this game for one major reason: negativity is not helping this franchise succeed, and may very well be helping to make it worse.</p>
<p>A scientific study performed at California State University back in 2009 looked into what causes “choke” and “clutch” performances. In a nutshell, the study determined that when an individual first learns a skill, they learn it explicitly; the thought process is methodical, and the motion mechanical (slower and more awkward). After time and practice, these skills develop into becoming implicitly performed, quickly and smoothly. In the realm of pro sports, quick and smooth action tends to be paramount to success (if you telegraph a decision by going about it slower in thought and execution, bad stuff tends to happen). In studying what causes some people to choke and some to be clutch, it was determined that, as pressure to succeed gets higher, how the individual copes with the pressure has a lot to do with how they fare overall. The “chokers” allow the pressure of the situation to seep into their consciousness, they get so concerned with the implications of how they’ll perform their task that they’ll revert back to thinking of the task explicitly; their actions get slow and choppy and they tend to fail (which makes sense since they’ve basically reverted back to how they performed the task when they first learned, a/k/a when they sucked most at the task). Those capable of putting the gravity of the situation out of mind are more likely to be able to perform the task implicitly and, having refined thought and movement, are much more likely to succeed (“be clutch”).</p>
<p>Assuming the findings of this study are true (and I’m apt to believe them as they make perfect sense to me), being demonstratively loud and negative towards people you want to succeed appears to be counteractive to the results you want. Pressure to perform is increased, and the more pressure that mounts, the more likely the individual(s) will perform even poorer. If negativity is only going to exacerbate the problems, I’m not gonna be a part of that.</p>
<p>All this being said, do what you like in showing either your support or dissent, but if you do approach the situation negatively, don’t be the least bit surprised if your actions garner negative results; and not just negative results in the form of current players’ performances, but negative results in the form of luring talented people to the team to perpetuate an upgrade. If Pioli does get fired, Double D may be right in predicting Marty to be his successor; no good person without pre-existing ties to this franchise will likely want to step into such a volatile and hostile environment.</p>
<p>Here’s hoping for a win on Sunday. Go Chiefs.</p>
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		<title>Chiefs vs. Bills: Know Your Enemy</title>
		<link>http://arrowheadaddict.com/2012/09/13/chiefs-vs-bills-know-your-enemy/</link>
		<comments>http://arrowheadaddict.com/2012/09/13/chiefs-vs-bills-know-your-enemy/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 13 Sep 2012 16:00:26 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Andrew C. Gilbert</dc:creator>
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		<description><![CDATA[<p>&#160; &#160; In a couple days the Kansas City Chiefs leave for Buffalo, NY to square off against the Bills in the Chiefs’ first road game of the regular season. Tensions are high for both teams as both suffered crushing defeats in their first games of the season. Of course, Eric Berry also has a [...]</p><p><a href="http://arrowheadaddict.com/2012/09/13/chiefs-vs-bills-know-your-enemy/">Chiefs vs. Bills: Know Your Enemy</a> - <a href="http://arrowheadaddict.com">Arrowhead Addict</a> - <a href="http://arrowheadaddict.com">Arrowhead Addict - A Kansas City Chiefs Fan Site - News, Blogs, Opinion and more</a></p>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>&nbsp;</p>
<div id="attachment_39589" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 600px"><a href="http://cdn.fansided.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/130/files/2012/09/6566266.jpg"><img class="size-large wp-image-39589" title="NFL: Atlanta Falcons at Kansas City Chiefs" src="http://cdn.fansided.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/130/files/2012/09/6566266-590x427.jpg" alt="" width="590" height="427" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Denny Medley-US PRESSWIRE</p></div>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri;">In a couple days the Kansas City Chiefs leave for Buffalo, NY to square off against the Bills in the Chiefs’ first road game of the regular season. Tensions are high for both teams as both suffered crushing defeats in their first games of the season. Of course, Eric Berry also has a bone to pick with Stevie Johnson, but if Stevie’s smart, he may just get “injured” before the game even starts and avoid the abuse every KC defender is likely to inflict on him.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri;">Continuing the Know Your Enemy series, let’s take a look at this weekend’s opposition:</span></p>
<p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #000000;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Offense</span></span></span></span></strong></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri;">The Buffalo Bills’ offense is led by QB Ryan Fitzpatrick. Fitzpatrick is the type of QB that when he’s on he’s on, but when he’s off he’s really off. Last year, the Bills started off strong and some started to think that they could be the real deal; this started with Ryan Fitzpatrick’s early on. Unfortunately for Bills fans, that also ended with Fitzpatrick when the Bills followed up this hopeful beginning with a  massive losing streak. Fitzpatrick wound up throwing 20 INTs over the last 13 games of the 2011 season. That trend appears to have continued. Fitzpatrick threw 3 INTs to the Jets last week; one of which was a pick six. This is also the fourth game in Fitzpatrick’s last nine starts in which he threw 3+ INTs. Mind you, Fitzpatrick also threw for 3 TDs on Sunday, but two of those came midway through the 4<sup>th</sup> quarter when the Jets were leading 41-14, and have been considered by many Buffalo news outlets to be junk TDs.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri;">As far as receiving threats go, Stevie Johnson shouldn’t be underestimated and Donald Jones does well enough, but neither of these players come close to being more formidable than Julio Jones and Roddy White. Likewise Bills TE Scott Chandler is no Tony Gonzalez. Add to the mix WR3 David Nelson suffering an ACL injury in Sunday’s game that has him out for the season, and the subsequent replacement of him by rookie T.J. Graham whom the Bills’ coaches acknowledge is behind in learning the pro game, and the Chiefs are looking to have an easier time with pass defense this weekend.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri;">Onto the running game, there’s good news and there’s bad news. The good news (at least for us) is that Fred Jackson will be out for a knee injury that he incurred during the Bills loss to the Jets. The bad news? Jackson’s back-up C.J. Spiller is no slouch. Though listed as No. 2 on the depth chart, Spiller prides himself in preparing for games as though he were the No. 1 guy, and he looks like he could be a No. 1 RB in the NFL even without injuries elevating him to that position. Following Jackson’s injury in Sunday’s game, Spiller managed to finish the day with 14 carries, 169 yards and 1 TD. To spare you doing the math, that’s an average of over 12 yds/carry. This average is as large as it is due to two large breaks of 56 yards and 49 yards, the 56 yarder being his TD carry. Even factoring out those big gains, though, Spiller still averaged over 5 yards per carry. I won’t go so far as to say Spiller is a better back than Michael Turner (there has to be more frequent and consistent success before that could ever be said), but the Chiefs’ defense will have to be wary of Spiller’s presence on the field and prevent any big breakaways Spiller is hoping to repeat this week.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri;">One last note on Buffalo’s offense: you may or may not have heard of/remember Brad Smith. Drafted out of Missouri in the fourth round of the 2006 Draft by the Jets, the Bills retained his services last year in hopes of utilizing his unique athleticism. Listed as a QB/WR, the Bills intend to utilize Smith in the capacity of a Wildcat QB. Last year’s shortened offseason saw the Bills not quite being able to get this new look off the ground last season; however, with Smith getting in a full offseason this year, the coaching staff will be looking to integrate the Wildcat package all the more into their offensive attack this season. It doesn’t hurt that the Bills hired David Lee to be their QBs coach this season. For those of you who don’t know, <em>Sporting News</em> named Lee “Innovator of the Year” in 2008 for introducing the Wildcat offense to the pro game during his time as OC for the Dolphins. If the Chiefs look to be doing a sound job of neutralizing Spiller and frustrating Fitzpatrick, don’t be surprised to see some Wildcat added to the mix.</span></p>
<p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #000000;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Defense</span></span></span></span></strong></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri;">Have you heard that the Buffalo Bills signed Mario Williams? Of course you have. Have you heard that Mario Williams did next to nothing against the Jets? Perhaps not, but it is true. Mario Williams walked away from Sunday’s game recording only one tackle, and not so much as one QB pressure. He’s still the $100 million dollar man on what could be the best defensive line in the NFL, but he didn’t come close to showing why he garnered such a contract and why the Bills’ DL is speculated to be among the best against the Jets. So the good news is that Mario Williams can be neutralized altogether, with the less-than-good news being that he’ll probably have a pretty big chip on his shoulder following Sunday’s game. Though the Bills did not register a single sack in their game against the Jets, the Chiefs OL has shown growing pains in gelling as a unit and allowed the Falcons to register three. In addition to Mario Williams, the Bills DL consists of Marcell Dareus, Kyle Williams and Mark Anderson. Though it may be possible for the Chiefs OL to duplicate the output of the Jets’ generally less talented OL, it will be a hard fought battle to keep these four guys from putting the pressure on Cassel.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri;">Buffalo’s linebacking corps isn’t incredibly noteworthy, but I would be doing him a disservice to not mention OLB Nick Barnett, the Bills greatest threat at the LB position. Prior to getting signed by the Bills last season, Barnett was drafted by, and played eight seasons for, the Green Bay Packers and was even selected by the Associated Press as a second team All-Pro in 2007. Though 31 and a few years removed from national recognition, has consistently registered 100+ tackles per season over his 10 years of experience (save for 2 years, 2008 &amp; 2010, in which he was injured for a significant amount of games).</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri;">The Bills’ secondary may be Cassel’s bread and butter. Starting CBs Stephon Gilmore and Aaron Williams are both young guys, and though both players were taken early in their respective drafts (Gilmore 10<sup>th</sup> overall this year, and Williams 34<sup>th</sup> overall last year) and should develop into excellent cornerbacks in time, the key phrase there is “in time”. Both players’ performances over the preseason and during the first regular season game have caused some concern among the Bills’ coaching staff. The main problem against the Jets is that they were allowing their receivers to run too wide and open. I’m sure Chan Gailey has been and will be stressing this issue during this week’s practice in preparation for the Chiefs, but I’m equally sure that the youth of these players may very well cause them to go to the other extreme and incur quite a few pass interference calls in this weekend’s game. Were we playing Buffalo later in the season, these players might be greater cause for concern, but for now Kansas City should be able to exploit some good matchups.</span></p>
<p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #000000;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Special Teams</span></span></span></span></strong></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri;">The Bills are one of those teams that have decided to carry three kicking specialists: a FG kicker, a place kicker, and a punter. Rookie placekicker John Potter has gotten much praise for his work up ‘til now as he has consistently sent his kickoffs through the back of the endzone; Punter Brian Moorman has been consistently good over the years at placing his punts inside the 20; and PR Leodis McKelvin is not a bad guy to have averaging 10 yards per punt return. The Bills punt coverage team does leave much to be desired though, and allowed the Jets to return a punt 68 yards for a TD early in the second quarter.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri;">______</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri;">Overall, can’t say I’m too terribly concerned about Sunday’s matchup. The Bills look to be a much easier team to exploit and defeat than the Falcons proved to be. One thing to note about Fitzpatrick’s performance against the Jets is that he performed that poorly without New York registering any sacks; with Tamba back and Houston hungry, Fitzpatrick would be a fool to think he could get so lucky a second week in a row. Given the efficiency Cassel displayed in the first half of the Falcons game, I’m one Brandon Flowers away from calling this game a <strong>definite</strong> <strong>lock</strong>.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri;">Potential, major momentum shifts caused by Chiefs’ D: 1) Rattle Fitzpatrick early and let the interceptions spring forth; 2) Make Spiller eat turf early and often</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri;">Potential, major momentum shifts caused by Chiefs’ O: 1) Neutralize Mario Williams early and let him throw another hissy fit; 2) Play physical enough to goad the young CBs to commit pass interference until they start playing as open as they did last week</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri;">Potential, major momentum shifts caused by Chiefs ST: 1) Break open a big PR or KR, even if it can’t be returned for a TD, giving up a huge chunk of yardage should spur PTSD in some of the coverage teams’ personnel</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri;">That’s my outlook on the Chiefs’ opponent for the upcoming weekend. If there’s something I missed, you know what to do. </span></p>
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		<title>Chiefs vs. Falcons: Know Your Enemy</title>
		<link>http://arrowheadaddict.com/2012/09/06/chiefs-vs-falcons-know-your-enemy/</link>
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		<pubDate>Thu, 06 Sep 2012 16:00:32 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Andrew C. Gilbert</dc:creator>
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		<description><![CDATA[<p>&#160; “It is said that if you know your enemies and know yourself, you will not be imperiled in a hundred battles; if you do not know your enemies but do know yourself, you will win one and lose one; if you do not know your enemies nor yourself, you will be imperiled in every [...]</p><p><a href="http://arrowheadaddict.com/2012/09/06/chiefs-vs-falcons-know-your-enemy/">Chiefs vs. Falcons: Know Your Enemy</a> - <a href="http://arrowheadaddict.com">Arrowhead Addict</a> - <a href="http://arrowheadaddict.com">Arrowhead Addict - A Kansas City Chiefs Fan Site - News, Blogs, Opinion and more</a></p>]]></description>
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<div id="attachment_39403" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 600px"><a href="http://cdn.fansided.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/130/files/2012/09/5103182.jpg"><img class="size-large wp-image-39403" title="NFL: Pro Bowl-Ohana Day" src="http://cdn.fansided.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/130/files/2012/09/5103182-590x418.jpg" alt="" width="590" height="418" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Kyle Terada-US PRESSWIRE</p></div>
<p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><em>“It is said that if you know your enemies and know yourself, you will not be imperiled in a hundred battles; if you do not know your enemies but do know yourself, you will win one and lose one; if you do not know your enemies nor yourself, you will be imperiled in every single battle.”</em> – Sun Tzu, Art of War</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small; font-family: Times New Roman;">The Kansas City Chiefs square off against the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday. As Addicts, odds are that we as fans are well aware of the Chiefs’ strengths and weaknesses, even if we choose not to outwardly express our thoughts and concerns on certain issues. We know our Chiefs, so to speak. But beyond a few players or personnel, not all of us can say the same about knowing the Falcons. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small; font-family: Times New Roman;">Though Central Pennsylvania tends to be a melting pot for NFL fans, I can’t say that I know any Atlanta Falcons fans that I can speak football with on a regular basis. Deciding to be proactive, I looked a little further in depth to what Atlanta excelled at last season, and what they might be looking to do this season, and wasn’t really pleased with what I discovered.</span></p>
<p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">Offense</span></span></span></strong></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small; font-family: Times New Roman;">The Falcons are generally perceived as one of the more balanced offenses in the NFL. The likes of Matt Ryan, Roddy White, Julio Jones and Tony Gonzalez pose a clear passing threat, and Michael Turner has been one of the better premier backs in the league for some time. This is well-known.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small; font-family: Times New Roman;">Julio Jones put in an impressive preseason and has shown that he should be worth every bit that GM Thomas Dimitroff gave up in order to draft him. This should also be known.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small; font-family: Times New Roman;">What may not be known by the average fan is that the Falcons are among the fastest starting teams in the league. Since 2008, the Falcons ranked first in the league for points scored on their first offensive possession (173), and last season ranked third in the league in this category scoring 51 points on opening drives, which includes six touchdowns. It could be said that Atlanta has become quite accustomed to putting up points right off the bat, and if Kansas City can stall such efforts it may be a bigger momentum-shifting, tone-setting course of events than might otherwise be suspected.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small; font-family: Times New Roman;">Further, the Falcons and Matt Ryan have publicized Atlanta’s intentions to make more big play attempts in the passing game this season. They are going to throw the deep ball, and they are likely going to throw it more often than other teams, and with much more serious threats in Julio Jones and Roddy White. Matt Ryan has gone so far as to state that “… [completing] one out of three [passes] on balls way down the field [is] not a bad day”, so do not expect a couple failed attempts to be enough to deter Atlanta from going to the air on Sunday. The threat of the deep ball will be a daylong threat, and it will be up to the Chiefs’ banged up secondary and hurting pass rush to keep this threat from becoming a reality.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small; font-family: Times New Roman;">Additionally, the Falcons boast an 83% scoring efficiency on drives lasting 10 or more plays during the period of 2008-present, and own a 40-13 Win/Loss record during this period when Matt Ryan throws at least one touchdown pass during a game. So on top of guarding against the quick, big play, Kansas City will have to safeguard against the long drawn out drives. Peachy.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small; font-family: Times New Roman;">On a more positive note, Tony Gonzalez is winding down on his career, and though he has not experienced quite as big of a dropoff in productivity as, say, Antonio Gates, he is not the same player we remember so fondly from his time in Kansas City. Returning to Kansas City may give him an added boost in his play, but overall he’s not as big of a threat as some of us may remember; make no mistake about it, though, he is still a threat. Additionally, there has been a lot of speculation over several outlets that Michael Turner may be looking at a decline in his production. Turner has been around long enough for the general wear and tear that comes with being an NFL running back to take its toll on his body and slow him down a bit. The only other Atlanta running back getting a lot of notice this preseason has been Jacquizz Rodgers, and quite frankly, Nate Eachus put in better performances than Jacquizz Rodgers. When the Chiefs’ No. 5 RB looks better than the Falcons’ No. 2 (or 3) RB, it either says great things about the Chiefs, terrible things about the Falcons, or some combination thereof; in any case, if Turner can be shutdown, the remaining options aren’t looking too threatening.</span></p>
<p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">Defense</span></span></span></strong></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small; font-family: Times New Roman;">If the Falcons’ offense is exceptionally good at scoring on their first possession, the Falcons’ defense is exceptionally good at preventing opposing teams from scoring on first offensive possessions. In fact, the Falcons only allowed 16 points to come from opponents’ first possessions last season, with only one touchdown contributing to that total. Since 2008, the Falcons have only allowed 20.1 points per game, and the organization seems to chalk this up in large part due to the team’s ability to set the tone of the game by preventing opponents from scoring on their first possessions. If you’re Romeo Crennel and Brian Daboll, this one seems pretty clear: score, and score at the first opportunity. Even if the drive takes several plays until meeting the end result of points on the board, it will be a great blow to the Falcons to shove the ball down their throat and have them second guessing their defensive decisions and strategy.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small; font-family: Times New Roman;">During the offseason, Atlanta traded a seventh-round pick to Philadelphia to retain the services of Asante Samuels. This move gives the Falcons three very good players in their secondary at the CB position: Samuels, Dunta Robinson and Brent Grimes. Samuels himself is a bit of a ballhawk, but has been justifiably labeled as a bit of a liability at times. Samuels tends to play on instinct, and while sometimes those instincts help lend to his interception totals, he is apt to give up the big play when those instincts cause him to make the wrong decision on where the ball is going.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small; font-family: Times New Roman;">Brent Grimes is one of the better CBs in the league, and should be likened a bit to Brandon Flowers. Just as Flowers may not be much of a household name outside the AFC West, Grimes may not be much of a household name outside the NFC South. But like with Flowers, this doesn’t make Grimes any less great.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small; font-family: Times New Roman;">As for Dunta Robinson, he has been somewhat subjected to the stigma of not living up to his potential; this is likely to change this season. The Atlanta Falcons are putting a high priority on getting to the QB this season, and have been devising new blitzing schemes to better incorporate their personnel in reaching this goal; Dunta Robinson is a large part of these new plans. DC Mike Nolan will be playing Robinson out of the slot position, and allowing Robinson to take on a more physical style of football from this position. Robinson is expected to see more blitzing opportunities and couldn’t be happier for it. This might not be too much of a factor for Kansas City. Though Cassel didn’t look too good in the preseason on the longer developing plays where blitzing was involved, the Chiefs did realize quite a bit of success in throwing the shorter, quicker passes utilizing Charles and Hillis out of the backfield, and McCluster and the TEs over the middle. A successful drive against the Falcons may not involve a lot of impressive deeper down the field style plays, but may rather involve chipping yardage off one play at a time and rendering the Falcons’ new blitzing designs largely ineffectual.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small; font-family: Times New Roman;">Rubbing salt in the defensive wound, the Falcons lost MLB Curtis Lofton during the offseason which will not only have their LB corps hurting quite a bit, but is a big loss to their leadership on that side of the ball. I am much happier that the Chiefs will be facing a Falcons defense without Lofton than a Falcons defense with him.</span></p>
<p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">Special Teams</span></span></span></strong></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small; font-family: Times New Roman;">The Falcons appear to boast an impressive punting game. P Matt Bosher is consistently successful at dropping the ball inside opponents’ own 20-yard lines, and the punt coverage unit was the NFL’s best last year, holding opponents to an average of 4.8 yards per return.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small; font-family: Times New Roman;">K Matt Bryant is 37 and has likely lost some kicking strength. While I wouldn’t classify him as great, he is performing at a slightly above average level, and can be trusted to ace kicks less than 40 yards, with 40+ yard attempts being a little iffier.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small; font-family: Times New Roman;">As for Atlanta’s return game, it looks to be in a transitional stage with untested (in regular games) returner Jacquizz Rodgers currently topping the charts. With poor coverage any returner could take it to the house, but the Chiefs do not appear to be likely to give up a TD to a team at this stage of their return game.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small; font-family: Times New Roman;">______</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small; font-family: Times New Roman;">Overall, Sunday’s game will definitely be a tough battle, as Atlanta looks to be among the more well-rounded teams in the league. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small; font-family: Times New Roman;">Expected momentum shifts the Chiefs’ defense may cause: 1) stopping the fast start; 2) preventing the big play multiple times in a row; 3) holding Atlanta’s drives to nine plays or less before forcing the punt. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small; font-family: Times New Roman;">Expected moment shifts the Chiefs’ offense may spur: 1) enacting a fast start of their own; 2) beating the blitz; 3) making Atlanta’s D doubt itself (and their FO sorry for letting Lofton go) by striking up the middle by land and by air. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small; font-family: Times New Roman;">Expected momentum shifts on special teams: 1) engineering punt returns for double digit yardage; 2) forcing Matt Bryant to attempt 40+ yard FGs.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small; font-family: Times New Roman;">And, of course, the final momentum shifter is Kansas City’s 12<sup>th</sup> man: Make it loud, Chiefs fans, and remember, there’s no shame in making their ears bleed: it just adds more red to the field.</span></p>
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