Kansas City Chiefs stock watch: Who is up and down from Week 3?
By David Thomas
Carlos Dunlap
With defensive end Mike Danna out of the game due to injury, Dunlap got some extended playing time in this one and took advantage. Dunlap finished the game with 4 tackles and a strip sack that helped Kansas City stay in the game. He was also essential in containing Colts star running back Jonathan Taylor, who amounted to only 71 rushing yards on 21 carries (3.4 ypc). Chiefs have shown to have excellent depth this year at a position that was a weakness a year ago. Dunlap has definitely earned some more playing time even when Danna comes back.
Tommy Townsend
The Chiefs special teams overall were a complete failure on the day, but the lone man who should perhaps keep his head a little high is punter Tommy Townsend. He had 3 punts on the day averaging 56.7 yards with a long of 65, and 2 inside the 20. For the season so far Townsend has 8 punts for an average of 55.1 yards which is 2nd in the NFL, his long of 74 yards is also 1st in the league. Another excellent day for Tommy, but hopefully we won’t need to use him as much going forward.
Darius Harris
The man tasked with filling in the spot vacated by Willie Gay Jr. due to suspension, Harris stepped right in and looked like a man on a mission. To get it out of the way, his lone negative on the day is that he did show he’s not quite as good in coverage as Gay. There were a few plays where Gay may have been able to make a play that Harris just can not. However, overall it was an excellent day for Harris, whom the team said they had already planned to fill in once the suspension was enacted. Harris finished the day with a team-leading 13 tackles including one for a loss.
L’Jarius Sneed
The third-year corner for the Chiefs is having one of the best starts of the season of his young career. He does not have an interception yet, but Sneed has notched 2 sacks on blitzes one of which included a fumble in this game. Sneed has been one of the more versatile defenders in the Chiefs secondary, and with Tyrann Mathieu no longer back there defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo has used him as the defense’s chess piece. With McDuffie still out and now Gay out till week 7, Sneed will need to continue to step up and make plays for the defense.