Kansas City Chiefs: Beware the trap game.
By Nick Floyd
The Kansas City Chiefs are riding the second-longest win streak in the NFL, only surpassed by the Carolina Panthers, who have yet to lose this year.
With the Chiefs riding the win streak, they welcome in the severely disappointing Cleveland Browns into Arrowhead Stadium on Sunday. The Browns have been one of the biggest flops for the last few years, having the talent but making poor decisions; they are the very definition of a team in disarray,
Dec 13, 2015; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel (2) watches the game from the sidelines during the fourth quarter San Francisco 49ers at FirstEnergy Stadium. The Browns won 24-10. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports
With the Browns coming into town against the streaking Chiefs, there is a lot of people screaming “trap game” this Sunday. For KC, the road to the playoffs is laid before them and it is a golden trail, as long as the team continues to win. For the team a win needs to come this weekend against the Browns, and that seems like a sure thing, but they still need to keep playing their best in order to win.
Cleveland is in the bottom half of the league in a lot of categories. They rank 29th in the league in points per game at 18.1. With the Johnny Manziel experience going on for the team the state of the Browns is in major flux. They seem to lack an identity on the team on both sides of the ball, which is a far cry from the decent defensive unit they were a few years ago.
A bright side on the offense has been the play of the tight end Gary Barnidge, who was left out of this years Pro-Bowl. He is closing on a 1,000 yards and has seen the end zone nine times during this season so far. On the running side of the ball, Isaiah Crowell is averaging 3.7 yards on the ground and has been to the end-zone three times, but they only average 85 yards per game on the ground. Despite the quarterback musical chairs the team is doing, they currently are ranked 14th overall in passing, with 247.8 yards per game.
Cleveland is better than they seem to be, and have shown moments of a good team this year. Early in the year they gave Denver scare as they only lost by three points in a 26-23 defeat. They have had some close games in 2015 but always seem to lose them even when they had a good chance to win.
The Chiefs are clearly the better team coming into the game. They have a great defense holding opponents to 18.4 points per game. They have an offense that knows how to score points and protects the ball. KC should win this game, but they still need to be wary. The Browns are a team with nothing to lose which always make a team dangerous, especially when they are playing a team with postseason on the mind.
Bottom line the Chiefs are walking into this game with all the momentum and all the things going right for them, which is the very reason to be cautious. The Browns may be a gutter team right now, but sometimes it is those teams that come out on top, any given Sunday. As the team looks toward the post season, as sad as it is to say it, the road must go through the Browns, and it must be a win.
What do you think, Addicts? Is this the very definition of a “trap game?” Should the Chiefs be worried about their chances this weekend? Why or why not? Let us know in the comments.
Thanks for reading.
GO CHIEFS!