The Kansas City Chiefs are finally a winning football team after dropping their first two games to the Tennessee Titans and the Denver Broncos. In fact, the Chiefs have won four of their last 5 games. That is pretty impressive for a team that looked like it would have a top 5 pick in the 2015 draft after that embarrassing loss to the Titans. Now, at 4-3 the Chiefs are coming up to a part of their schedule where they really need to capitalize, but they cannot overlook their opponents. The next team the Chiefs get to face are the 1-7 New York J-E-T-S (Suck, Suck, Suck).
Most fans of the Chiefs, specifically #ChiefsTwitter, are counting this weekends game against the Jets as an automatic “W.” I’m not ready to go there just yet. The main reason is that head coach Rex Ryan named Michael Vick as the starting quarterback instead of Geno Smith. Smith, as some of you know, is a name that is centered around a large schism in the Chiefs fan base, which is also known (by me) as “The Alex Smith Rift.” In his last game against the Buffalo Bills, who the Chiefs happen to play the week after this one, Geno Smith threw three interceptions and subsequently got benched for it. Enter Michael Vick.
Vick also had a pedestrian game versus the Buffalo Bills completing 18 of 36 passes for 153 yards and an interception. His arm isn’t really what I’m worried about. Vick ran the ball eight times for 69 yards against a Bills run defense that is currently only allowing 92.3 yards per game. The Jets are a top 5 rushing offense averaging 140 yards per game. The Chiefs boast the second best rushing defense in the NFL, yes, but, they have a below average rushing defense, (ranked 18th) allowing 118 yards per game. The Jets could use the Chiefs own strategy of controlling the clock and pounding the ball against them. The Chiefs have not faced a running back like Chris Ivory yet this season.
While Ivory has only posted two 100 yard rushing games this year, he is a powerful back that is hard to bring down and we know the Chiefs have trouble tackling at times. The Jets also acquired former Seattle Seahawk wide receiver Percy Harvin more recently. He is a threat to run the ball as well as catch it. Add in the speedy Chris Johnson and Michael Vick’s ability to run and the Chiefs could have a difficult time getting the Jets off the field just like other teams have had a hard time getting the Chiefs off the field. Yes, the Chiefs beat Michael Vick last year in Philadelphia with a much more talented team around him, but there’s something about this game that screams trap game.
I do have a large amount of faith in the Chiefs in this game for many reasons. My first reason is that the Jets are the worst passing team in the NFL. A simple solution to winning this game is to load the box and make Michael Vick throw the football. This is something he doesn’t do all too well and Vick turns the ball over a lot. The jets passing defense is somehow ranked 14th in the league and they boast a top 5 rushing defense, yet are 1-7. Their secondary is so pedestrian, it reminds me of those stick figures they put on road signs. Alex Smith needs to do what he does best for the Chiefs to roll and that’s not turn the ball over to a team that is horrific at keeping the ball themselves. The Jets have the worst turnover differential in the league at -13.
The Chiefs should be able to do what they did versus the St. Louis Rams. They can dink and dunk the ball down the field, win the turnover battle, and stop the run. If the Kansas City Chiefs do these things, they will rout the 1-7 New York Jets. Chiefs 41 Jets 13.