George Karlaftis vs Matt Pryor among key matchups for Chiefs-Colts

While the Chiefs should win handily, the Colts are a proud franchise that will be playing in their home opener after getting embarrassed last week.

The Kansas City Chiefs (2-0) travel to Indianapolis where they will take on the Colts (0-1-1), who will be playing their home opener. The Colts, led by head coach Frank Reich, are fortunate not to be in an 0-2 hole after their Week 1 comeback against Houston, in which the Texans led 20-3 in the 4th quarter.

Things are not looking good for the Colts, who managed only 50 offensive plays last week during their shutout loss at Jacksonville. There’s no covering up the fact that they are in a hole to start the season, but all is not lost in Indy. Wide receiver Michael Pittman, Jr. is expected to return to the field in Week 3, and that can only help the Colts’ productivity. The return of star linebacker Shaquille Leonard – possibly this weekend – will impact this team more heavily than anything else.

The tendency is to assume the Chiefs will win handily on Sunday, and while they should do that, the Colts are a proud franchise that will be playing in their home opener after getting embarrassed last week. Here are three key matchups that will have an impact on the outcome of the game.

#25 Clyde Edwards-Helaire vs #28 Jonathan Taylor

This is an unorthodox matchup because they’ll never be on the field at the same time. But let’s be real: Clyde Edwards-Helaire has heard all the smoke these last two seasons. The issue isn’t so much about production. The former LSU Tiger has gained 1,932 all-purpose yards and 13 touchdowns for the Chiefs in his young career. The problem is the constant comparisons to his counterpart on Sunday, Jonathan Taylor, who was drafted after Edwards-Helaire and has produced 3,877 all-purpose yards and 33 touchdowns.

Let’s give credit where credit is due: Taylor is a superstar. The former Wisconsin Badger was first-team All-Pro in 2021, the Sporting News Offensive Player of the Year, and he was the first overall pick in your fantasy football draft (…right?). The Chiefs will be without linebacker Willie Gay in this game and will rely heavily on rising star Nick Bolton to keep Taylor under wraps. Gay’s presence in the run game is not talked about often enough. He will be missed this weekend for certain, but the hope is that the offense can put enough pressure on the Colts to abandon the run game as they did in Jacksonville last week, when Taylor received just 9 carries.

There is no doubting the fact that Edwards-Helaire has this one circled on his calendar. After two very good games to begin his 2022 campaign, he has a chance on Sunday to prove to Chiefs Kingdom why he was picked over Taylor. To be fair to CEH, much of Kansas City’s offensive production has run through two future Hall of Fame pass catchers, and he has never been expected to be the focal point of the offense like Taylor has with the Colts.

Edwards-Helaire has had about half the touches Taylor has amassed during their young careers (partially due to a handful of injuries that have deprived CEH of playing in several games). It’s early in 2022, but Edwards-Helaire is gaining more yards per carry (7.7) and more yards per target in the passing game (10.9) than he ever has in his career. That might be because he’s doing it with more rest. Whereas in 2020 and 2021, when Clyde routinely received around 60% of snaps, 2022 has shown a decline in snaps (41%), indicating that perhaps we will continue to see a different usage of the third-year pro moving forward. Numbers aside, Edwards-Helaire has something to prove on Sunday to Chiefs fans who have doubted his draft selection.

#90 Grover Stewart vs Chiefs IOL

Most readers probably haven’t even heard of Stewart, the sixth-year defensive tackle. The 28-year-old from Albany State has had a renaissance in 2022.

Stewart has been a bright spot for the Colts amidst a terrible start to the season. How he fares against Joe Thuney, Creed Humphrey, and Trey Smith will affect the aforementioned run game immensely. The Chiefs’ interior line is highly regarded as one of, if not the best in the NFL.

Fellow defensive linemen DeForest Buckner and Yannick Ngakoue are the household NFL names, and they’ll need to get to Patrick Mahomes in order to keep the Colts close. Opposing quarterbacks (Davis Mills and Trevor Lawrence) have combined for a passer rating of 111.2 against the Colts in 2022. The Chiefs have struggled to keep quarterback Patrick Mahomes clean in 2022, as he is the second-most pressured QB in the NFL (36.4%) behind Daniel Jones (36.6%). The Chiefs can help themselves by utilizing quick routes to try to keep Mahomes upright.

#69 Matt Pryor vs #56 George Karlaftis

As long as Mahomes is on the field, the Chiefs will be heavily favored in this one. Kansas City will have lots of opportunities to get after 37-year-old Colts quarterback Matt Ryan, who is not exactly known for his wheels. Ryan has eclipsed 30 yards rushing in exactly 1 of his 234 career games (regular season and playoffs).

Among Colts fans, left tackle Matt Pryor is on thin ice. Pryor, a collegiate teammate of Lucas Niang at TCU, has an unfavorable grade on an—ahem—popular NFL website that likes to hand out individual grades on players. While rookie Bernhard Raimann has garnered a handful of snaps in each of the first two games, the Colts remain mum on making any permanent changes.

Fans are clamoring for the rookie, but Raimann has been seen wearing a boot on the sidelines at team practice this week and is questionable with an ankle injury. If Pryor takes the field again, Chiefs first-rounder George Karlaftis stands to gain a lot against the maligned offensive tackle.

Karlaftis is among the league leaders in hurries but has yet to rack up his first NFL sack. This would be a great week for “Furious George” to get his first of many sacks in the league.