KC Chiefs: Three subtle moves Brett Veach should make at this point
By Matt Conner
2. Make up with Juan Thornhill
Even if the Chiefs beat up on the hapless Eagles this weekend and make everyone feel better for a few days, the reality is that the Chiefs are going to get the Buffalo Bills the following week and the schedule continues to prove tough from there. In short, every team, even those the Chiefs should beat, are going to come out swinging and take any and every chance to knock them off.
They are every team’s Super Bowl in the regular season.
That said, the Chiefs have very little room for margin, which is why they’re 1-2 and not 3-0. This is not a team that can turn the ball over and still win—at least not how the defense is playing. That also means the Chiefs can’t afford to get cute or have a rift or whatever is going on with Juan Thornhill. In short, the Chiefs can’t afford any reason to keep a more talented player off the field in order to play a lesser talented one.
It’s just not doable (for the team to reach its goals).
At this point, something has to change with the Chiefs and Juan Thornhill. In Week 2, no defensive player played less snaps than the third-year safety (of those who saw any playing time). In Week 3, Thornhill played the second-least snaps. In short, the Chiefs have reduced Thornhill, a second-round pick who showed great talent in 2019 as a tandem partner with Tyrann Mathieu, to a rotational bit part, capable of making only a small impact due to the lack of opportunities given to him.
We’re not sure if the Chiefs are trying to teach Thornhill a lesson. Maybe there are character issues or leadership concerns or a lack of trust based on something we cannot and will not know about. We get it. We only see the resulting actions and not the levels of decision-making that go into, say, keeping Dorian O’Daniel on the roster and allowing Tim Ward to leave.
In this instance, all we know is Thornhill isn’t playing. We also know it’s hurting the Chiefs’ chances. Thornhill is a difference maker and the Chiefs could have easily won either Week 2 or Week 3 with just a bit of an edge. Was Thornhill the difference? That’s not a crazy statement and it’s time for someone to figure out how to make peace and do it now.