Chiefs vs. Texans: Deshaun Watson’s MVP hopes and 8 other stories to follow
The Kansas City Chiefs visit the Houston Texans in Week 6 as they look to rebound from a loss. What should fans know going into the contest?
Well, that was very disappointing. In the Kansas City Chiefs‘ first primetime game of the season, a highly anticipated one at that even with the retirement of Andrew Luck, the Chiefs fell absolutely flat on their faces. It was one of the worst games I’ve seen this team play in several years, going back to the beginning of the Andy Reid tenure.
The Chiefs were pretty dreadful in nearly every aspect of the game. The run defense was incredibly porous. Even when they knew the Indianapolis Colts were going to run the ball, they could do nothing to stop them. Time after time the Colts reeled off huge runs on first and second down en route to draining the clock and keeping Patrick Mahomes and the offense off the field.
We expected that, or at least we expected the defense wouldn’t be great. What we didn’t expect, something that’s reared its ugly head the last two games, is that the offense would actually be worse. The offensive line was also terrible and allowed Mahomes to get beat up pretty badly in the second half. I highlighted in my game preview that the Colts weren’t exactly the best when it came to generating pressure. That wasn’t the case on Sunday.
What might have been worst of all was the play calling. I’m a huge Andy Reid advocate, and feel like he doesn’t get near the credit he deserves for the franchise’s achievements over the last several years. However, Sunday was one of his worst games in recent memory. Maybe his worst as the Chiefs head coach. The Chiefs completely abandoned the run, potentially out of necessity given how poor our line was playing. In the past, he’s done some creative things like screen passes or quick passes designed to elicit the same result as a run play but Sunday didn’t seem to do any of that. There’s obviously more to to complain about, but the truth is most of this is fixable.
From what I’ve seen, it appears the defensive coaching staff has stubbornly focused on stopping the pass at the expense of stopping the run. Hopefully, Sunday night showed them the major flaws of that strategy. Even teams with average offenses will beat you if you let them control the clock the way the Colts did.
On offense, the play calling will get better. Reid helmed the Chiefs to 22 straight games of 26 points or more. He’s bound to have an off day here or there. He’ll fix what he needs to and get the play calling back on track. For the offensive line it could be as simple as moving Andrew Wylie, if he’s healthy, out to left tackle and moving Cameron Erving in to left guard. Erving is at least a serviceable guard and Wylie can’t be worse than Erving at tackle.
Further, this might hamper the offense some, but Reid could develop the next few game plans to incorporate 12 personnel much more frequently. Having two tight ends on the line to chip ends and linebackers on passing downs would go a long way to consistently keeping Mahomes upright. Simply put, there are options to solve the offensive line issues.
Finally, the injuries are mounting but few of them are truly serious. In a week or two we should see the return of our best receiver, our second best receiver, and our starting left tackle. The last few weeks have shown that Eric Fisher is an undervalued asset on the offensive line, and not having Tyreek Hill gives opposing defenses much more flexibility to play man coverage than they otherwise would have.
It’s not time to freak out. If the Chiefs play well next Sunday, fans shouldn’t worry. With that said, there are several storylines heading into a clash with an ascending team in the Houston Texans, who just put up some monster numbers last Sunday.
Deshaun Watson’s MVP hopes
Deshaun Watson isn’t getting near the credit he deserves for how well he has played this season. Through five games Watson has the fourth highest QBR in the league—trailing only Dak Prescott, Patrick Mahomes, and Russell Wilson—and is completing 69 percent of his passes for 1,364 yards, 11 touchdowns and only 1 interception. He’s also rushed for another 122 yards and 3 touchdowns.
Watson is on pace for 4,365 yards passing, 390 yards rushing, 3 turnovers, and 44 total touchdowns. What’s even more impressive is that he’s been producing at this level behind a relatively poor offensive line. He’s done this all while being sacked the fifth most and hit the eight most of any quarterback. He’s a tough player and leader and it shows.
What should concern Chiefs fans is his production last Sunday. Against the Atlanta Falcons he completed 28 of his 33 passes for 426 yards, 5 touchdowns and 0 interceptions, adding another 47 yards on the ground. He’s the hottest quarterback the Chiefs defense will have faced so far this season and Spagnuolo and company will have their work cut out for them to contain his playmaking ability.