Film Study: How the Chiefs can hurdle the lowly Cardinals
By Grant Tuttle
Defensively:
Make Josh Rosen look like a rookie with consistent, heavy pressure.
I remember Josh Rosen being touted as the “most pro ready quarterback” of last year’s draft class. After watching the tape, it looks as though he gets rattled with pressure. Now I get it, not everyone is cool under pressure like Pat Mahomes of Ben Roethlisberger, but this is where the Chiefs can knock the Cards offense off kilter. On this play, Rosen takes the snap deep in his own territory. It appears that he has a few ticks longer to wait for someone to get open; However, he feels pressure that is not quite there and decides to get rid of it. If the Chiefs can rattle Rosen, they may force two or three turnovers.
Contain David Johnson in every aspect of the offense.
Don’t let avid fantasy footballers convince you that David Johnson is not good. With a few better pieces around him, he may be even better than he is. On this play, the Cardinals run a slip screen. Off of the play action, they catch the defense off guard. New offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich has thrown in more screen passes as of late. I look for David Johnson to be the workhorse for the offense for the remainder of the season.
The Chiefs linebackers and safeties will need to keep a particularly close eye on Johnson for this game. Coming off of a bye week, the Cardinals are likely to have a gameplan to exploit the defensive weaknesses of the Chiefs. With a heavy dose of Johnson, I hope that the Chiefs use a heavy dose of Dorian O’Daniel.
Limit and eliminate mistakes in man to man coverages.
I will say this: the Cardinals receivers are not scary to me. That being said, the Chiefs need to show them why they are inferior to many receiving corps in the NFL. They cannot get beaten consistently in man coverage. I know that the Chiefs cornerbacks have been a pleasant surprise as of late, but it needs to continue in this one. On this play, the Broncos defender just loses track of the receiver and he becomes wide open in the middle of the field.
The Chiefs will need to stay with receivers and play tight coverage. In my assessment after watching the tape, with the exception of Larry Fitzgerald, none of the receivers for Arizona are exceptional route runners. The Chiefs will need to continue to make it look that way.