These two Chiefs defenders were injured for Week 11 vs. Bills and could now affect the outcome of the AFC title game
The Kansas City Chiefs should get a major boost in the AFC Championship Game from a pair of defenders who didn't participate in the Week 11 game against the Buffalo Bills due to injury.Let's start with Chiefs CB Jaylen Watson, who was still on injured reserve, recovering from an early-season ankle injury that put the […]
The Kansas City Chiefs should get a major boost in the AFC Championship Game from a pair of defenders who didn't participate in the Week 11 game against the Buffalo Bills due to injury.
Let's start with Chiefs CB Jaylen Watson, who was still on injured reserve, recovering from an early-season ankle injury that put the rest of his year in doubt. The AFC divisional round matchup against the Houston Texans was actually the first game back since the injury, and Andy Reid said he made it out of the game no worse for wear. That's a big deal for Kansas City, but why?
With Watson back in the fold for this game against the Bills, we'll see a much better lineup of CB-WR matchups in the AFC title game. Trent McDuffie allowed just one reception for one yard on three targets in Week 11, but he was the primary defender in coverage against Bills WR Amari Cooper. Meanwhile, his counterpart Khalil Shakir caught 8-of-11 targets for 70 yards and four first downs, making quick work of second-year DB Chamarri Conner in the slot.
Why didn't McDuffie cover Shakir at all? Well, at this juncture of the season, he was hardly ever aligning in the slot where Shakir took the bulk of his snaps. Shakir is playing practically three times the snaps in the slot this season compared to out wide.
Trent McDuffie has moved back outside this season, taking 76.1% of his snaps as a wide CB, up from 40.5% last season and more comparable to his rookie season in which he was aligned out wide on 74.7% of snaps.
Additionally, McDuffie has pressed on 65.1% of his outside corner snaps, the 2nd-highest rate of any corner over the past 5 seasons.
– NFL Next Gen Stats insights for Trent McDuffie, Chiefs-Bills Week 11.
McDuffie should be matched against Shakir more frequently this week, while Watson can work against Amari Cooper. When on the field, players like Joshua Williams, Chamarri Conner, and Nazeeh Johnson must work against lesser matchups with guys like Mack Hollins, Keon Coleman, and Curtis Samuel.
KC Chiefs' pass rush should be more potent with Charles Omenihu
Chiefs DE Charles Omenihu was still two weeks away from returning to the field after suffering a season-ending knee injury in the AFCCG against the Baltimore Ravens last postseason. He's had several weeks to get himself back into football shape for this upcoming matchup.
His performance against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Christmas Day was dominant. He recorded six total pressures and a defensive stop. While it was very clearly DE George Karlaftis' day against the Texans, Omenihu had one of his best performances of the season, with three defensive stops, a forced fumble, and a sack. He noticeably brings some needed juice and swagger to the defense that they lacked the last time these two teams faced.
When it came to rushing the passer, the Chiefs' defense generated very few game-changing plays in the Week 11 game against the Bills. They had a whopping 26 total pressures, but they could not convert any of those into sacks against Josh Allen. That was the only game this season in which Kansas City didn't muster a single sack of the opposing quarterback, not including their Week 18 game, in which they rested their key players against the Broncos.
The Bills' offensive line and protection of Allen have been huge strengths this year. Having all the pass-rush help the Chiefs can get will be vital. The problem is that you have to have a plan to not just pressure Allen but also contain him when he tries to scramble and escape.
If the offense winds up focusing all of their attention on the likes of Chris Jones and Karlaftis, it'll be up to guys like Omenihu, Mike Danna, Tershawn Wharton, and Felix Anudike-Uzomah to pick up the slack. They'll also need a diabolical game plan from Steve Spagnuolo to get the most out of the pass rush, but you've got to have the personnel to be able to execute. Omenihu puts them much closer to that goal.
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