Kevin Hoffman-USA TODAY Sports
The Kansas City Chiefs take on the Buffalo Bills in Buffalo this Sunday. Though the Bills have a new Defensive Coordinator this year in Mike Pettine, the Kansas City Offense should be familiar with many aspects of Buffalo’s scheme. Pettine was the Defensive Coordinator for the New York Jets just last year and he brings with him a similar scheme to that of the Chiefs’ own Bob Sutton. This means the Buffalo Defense comes with similarities to that of the Chiefs defense, a scheme that Alex Smith and the Offense have seen since training camp. The Chiefs Offense addressed the similarities when they spoke to the media on Thursday:
OC Doug Pederson
"“[T]here are a lot of similarities with the structure, the style, the scheme. They’ve got some great players in Buffalo and (Mike Pettine) is using them just like (Bob) Sutton uses them here. From that standpoint, it’s very familiar to us, offensively. However, we still have to execute and handle all of the pressure that they bring.”"
TE Sean McGrath
"“Their defensive schemes are very similar, similar coaching backgrounds. Mario Williams – he’s a beast. We have guys on our defense who have shown they are of caliber. I’ll let you do your job on that and analyze. They are a great defense, anyone you play in this league is great, but we’re leading the league in a few statistical categories that are crucial for winning games – especially in turnovers and sacks.”"
OL Geoff Schwartz
"“Yeah, scheme-wise they are, so that’s nice. We saw some of the stuff in camp, as far as blitz packages and things like that. We dealt with it for a while, which is nice. It presents challenges, being on the road and they move around a lot, but we’ll be ready.”"
Though there are certainly going to be differences, it may be helpful for Kansas City that they’ve has seen a lot of the same things they’ll see on Sunday from their own defense.
So Addicts, I ask you: do these similarities in scheme give the Chiefs an edge on Sunday? And on the other side of the coin, will Buffalo be better prepared for Chiefs’ D? Sound off below.