Red Friday Report: Crashing the L.A. party scene

This week the Kansas City Chiefs travel west to take on the Los Angeles Chargers. The first division matchup of the season is sure to be an intense battle.

As the Kansas City Chiefs gear up for their first divisional contest of the 2017 regular season against the Los Angeles Chargers, this week’s Red Friday Report takes a look at the two players on each side who will be key for the Chiefs to continue among the NFL’s undefeated ranks. Let’s take a look at the reasons why we can be confident on Sunday in K.C.’s first visit to L.A.

Chiefs Kingdom’s defensive walls

Like any good city or castle, there need to be walls to defend it. This wall in K.C. is manned by quite a few tough and skilled players. Let’s take a moment to discuss a couple and how they will be the men to lean on in this weekend’s game.

Chris Jones

Jones is a second year defensive end from Mississippi State University. He came into the NFL with expectations fitting of a second round selection—nothing too special right away but within a year or two, the hope was that Jones would find his way into the starting lineup to be a good role player. Jones blew those expectations and opposing quarterbacks into next week!

Jones’s rookie season ended with 28 total tackles. 17 of them on his own and 11 assisted tackles. He also added on two sacks and four pass deflections, and he was selected for the 2016 All Rookie Team by the Pro Football Writers of America.

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Jones’ sophomore season has felt very much like he picked up where last season stopped. In the two games played this year, Jones has four solo tackles, three sacks, and one interception. He is all over the place and has an incredible ability to wreak havoc in the backfield. Jones is turning into a star defensive player. He has Pro Bowl potential and will find himself in talks among the best one day if he keeps this up.

Daniel Sorensen

The “Stormin’ Mormon” has been a welcome member of the Chiefs’ secondary since the 2014 season. Sorensen didn’t find a ton of playing time until the 2016 season where he really showed off his talents. Finishing 2016 with 63 total tackles split between 55 solo and 8 assisted, one sack, 6 pass deflections, and three interceptions (one of which was a beautiful pick-six).

In the absence of star safety Eric Berry, Sorensen is stepping up big time again this year. The game against the Philadelphia Eagles was a thrill to watch as Sorenson would seemingly just teleport into the face of Carson Wentz on several plays. He earned the nickname “Stormin Mormon” with that display.

These two defenders will be at the forefront of the Chiefs defensive effort this weekend. We can rest assured that our walls are well defended.

Chiefs Kingdom’s attacking force

Every good defense needs a good offense to complement it. The same is true in football. After the two games so far, I am confident in calling our offense a good offense. There are a couple standout players here that will be the ones to watch for Sunday’s effort to ruin the Chargers dreams.

Kareem Hunt

Hunt came into his NFL career in perhaps the most unceremonious way anyone could. The guy ahead of him in the lineup, Spencer Ware, went down with a season ending injury, and he had the ball stripped from his arms on his very first carry. Credit where credit is due, the defender on that play did very well. Hunt didn’t let that get to him, taking the ball right back and running all over the New England Patriots and the Eagles in the last two games.

So far, Hunt has tallied 30 carries for 229 yards and 3 touchdowns. That is good for a yards per carry average of 7.6 yards. We are only two games into the season, and the law of averages dictates that Hunt will have a few down games, just to help keep things in perspective a bit. What we can count on is Hunt being a dependable running back to lean on for an offensive push against the Chargers.

Alex Smith

Say what you will about Smith and his lack of this, or inability to do that, but nobody can deny that he has been putting in good work these first two games. So far, Smith totals 63 pass attempts with 49 completions for 619 yards and 5 touchdowns. He also holds a QB rating of 134.1 for the year. That is very good.

Smith is showing us a side of himself that we have only seen on rare occasions in the past. His offensive line is not doing him any favors, but Smith has made the most of it and done very well for himself. The bonds with Travis Kelce, Chris Conley, and Tyreek Hill are paying off to the tune of big plays, huge scores, and an offense on a whole new level. It feels like everything is finally starting to come together.

Despite the drawbacks of a weakened offensive line, Chiefs Kingdom can depend on these two offensive leaders to march into L.A. and ruin the Chargers’ day. Who do you think are the guys leading the charge for us? What excites you most for this game? Thanks for reading and Go Chiefs!

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Red Friday Report: Crashing the L.A. Party Scene

By Lucas Hampton | Sep 22, 2017