Nine things every fan should know about the Chiefs and Ravens

Light bulb goes on for DRob

Demarcus Robinson was oft-maligned this off-season as a player with good-to-great physical skills who was buried on the depth chart for one reason or another. Over the last two seasons, he averaged 36 catches for 250 yards and 2 touchdowns.

Those are respectable numbers given he’s always been at least fourth on the depth chart, but with the departure of Chris Conley to the Jaguars this off-season, the question was asked repeatedly: Did Robinson have what it takes to shoulder the responsibilities of the the third receiver, which often times requires him to be a decoy and draw coverage away from other players?

The jury is still out on that question, but if there was ever any doubt about his ability to produce, he silenced that on Sunday. On Sunday Robinson caught six passes, on six targets by the way, for 172 yards and 2 touchdowns. Essentially, he nearly equaled his average production the last two seasons in one game.

As I say a lot, including in a prior section in this article, it’s just one game. Still, it was a monster one and shows the Robinson has value without question. Go ahead and add another speedy receiver to the list of weapons opposing coordinators have to cover. At full strength, I honestly believe it’s getting to the point there’s just too many.

Clark is good, not great

There was almost no new player brought in this season to more fanfare than Frank Clark. Dee Ford, a pass rushing specialist who was incredibly effective in 2018, was shown the door and, in his place, Chiefs Kingdom was given Frank Clark. Clark was supposed to be just as gifted a pass rusher, but more consistent, and a much more dominant run stopper than Dee Ford was or would likely ever be at his size.

This is not a knock on Clark. All of those things are objectively true from his career in Seattle. He was a more consistent pass rusher. He was a better run stopper. He’s bigger and a better fit for the LEO position in Spagnuolo’s defense.

The problem now is, two games into the season, where is this beast of a defensive end that Frank Clark was supposed to be? Through the first two games, I can’t remember more than a handful of times I even noticed him in a play—let alone as the player ultimately making it. Now, if you look a little closer, he has been productive in stopping the opponent’s run game. However, he’s been almost non-existent in the pass rush.

That’s an issue. We paid Clark a lot of money to be the anchor of a great defensive line. It’s early, so there’s absolutely no reason to panic yet. However, Clark has to be better because this team needs him to be.