Chiefs

Chiefs Twitter Q&A: How many challenge flags will Andy Reid throw Sunday?

By Brooke Pryor

September 7, 2018 12:52 PM

We made it. We really, actually and truly made it. We’re just a few days away from the Chiefs playing in an actual regular-season NFL game.

With any luck, it’ll be a little prettier than whatever form of football was played in Philadelphia on Thursday night. From what I hear, the action picked up late in the third quarter. I wouldn’t know because it put me to sleep by halftime, and I woke up around 11:45 with all the lights on and my Hulu livestream disconnected from the TV. Hopefully I was dreaming of watching a game with fewer flags.

Anyway, you’re not reading this for my gripes about other NFL teams. You want my opinion on the Chiefs, so I’ll give it to you. But be careful what you wish for.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Who has the bigger game, Hunt or Hill? Essentially do you predict the Chiefs will have better success in the run game or the pass game on Sunday?</p>— AaronTeddyRicketson (@ATRicketson) <a href="https://twitter.com/ATRicketson/status/1037724540711972864?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 6, 2018</a></blockquote>

I didn’t just pick this question first because this Twitter user is my fiancee. Although that probably helped his case. But it’s also a good question. I think Kareem Hunt has the better game on Sunday. He had two fantastic games against the Chargers last season, rushing for a combined 327 yards. In the first meeting, he averaged more than 10 yards per carry. Not too shabby. From what I’ve seen, the Chargers didn’t do too much to address their run defense during the offseason. Even if Hunt isn’t quite as effective as he was last year because teams have a whole season of tape on him, I still think he’ll have a better game than Tyreek Hill — especially because Hill will have to rely on a young quarterback starting his second NFL game.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Even with Berry injured do you expect defense to be improved compared to last year?</p>— Norman Gunn (@GunnNorman) <a href="https://twitter.com/GunnNorman/status/1037725911548932096?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 6, 2018</a></blockquote>

Right now, it’s hard to tell just how much better they’ll be overall. As we saw in the preseason, the secondary was SUPER rocky. Granted, David Amerson isn’t around anymore and that should give Chiefs fans a little comfort. With his experience, safety Ron Parker is a good substitute for Eric Berry and/or Daniel Sorensen, but I’m just not convinced there’s enough playmakers back there to truly make up for Berry, Sorensen and Marcus Peters’ absence/departure.

Kendall Fuller should be effective from the beginning, and Armani Watts (did you see that second interception in the final preseason game?) will get there eventually. I think the interior linebacker situation with Anthony Hitchens and Reggie Ragland is a major upgrade.

The outside linebackers have the potential to be better this year as long as Justin Houston and Dee Ford stay healthy. If they don’t, Breeland Speaks and Tanoh Kpassagnon seem like they could be effective backups. Up front, the Chiefs look solid with Chris Jones, Xavier Williams and Allen Bailey. I think overall, the defense will look improved by the middle of the season, but it may not look like a major upgrade from last year in the first couple of games.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">How many challenge flags will Andy Reid throw on Sunday?</p>— Ian Yocum (@ian_yocum) <a href="https://twitter.com/ian_yocum/status/1037725608145502208?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 6, 2018</a></blockquote>

All of them.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Where do you think the Chiefs rush D Will rank at years end?</p>— Maurice Dupree (@reeceiam) <a href="https://twitter.com/reeceiam/status/1037743088679174144?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 6, 2018</a></blockquote>

Last year, the Chiefs came in at 25th in rushing defense, giving up an average of 118.1 yards per game. I think with the addition of Hitchens, this ranking will improve. Ragland and Hitchens didn’t look great in their lone preseason outing against Chicago, but a lot of that was knocking the rust off. By the end of the season, they should both look a lot better. Last year, Hitchens had 84 tackles with Dallas. I think the Chiefs end up finishing somewhere between 15th-20th in rushing defense. Not perfect, but still an improvement from last year.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">What are the keys for the Chiefs to beat the Chargers? What has to happen on offense and what has to happen on defense?</p>— P J Casselman (@PJCasselman) <a href="https://twitter.com/PJCasselman/status/1037740729416728577?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 6, 2018</a></blockquote>

If the Chiefs want to be beat the Chargers, they’ll have to establish the run game early (cough, Kareem Hunt, cough). On defense, they’ll have to create turnovers in the secondary and not get burned by Philip Rivers and all of his weapons.

Full disclosure: I have the Chiefs losing to the Chargers in my season predictions, but if the Chiefs play better defense than we saw in the preseason and Hunt does Hunt things, I think the game will be a lot closer than I’m expecting.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">What do you think the chances are that Sutton makes it through the year?</p>— Micah! (@MicahRules89) <a href="https://twitter.com/MicahRules89/status/1037732876052312069?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 6, 2018</a></blockquote>

The defense would have to be a real dumpster fire to Sutton to get fired midseason. And right now, while it looks bad, those things aren’t necessarily directly Sutton’s fault. There needs to be better tackling and technique fixes. We’ll see Sunday if those happened. It doesn’t look to be a scheme issue, which would lend to moving on from Sutton before the end of the season. I say there’s a 85 percent chance he makes it through the year.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">What new drills etc. are being implemented with Eric Fisher and Mitchell Schwartz with a new starting QB?</p>— danny hotsauce (@DannyHotson1) <a href="https://twitter.com/DannyHotson1/status/1037727927599882240?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 6, 2018</a></blockquote>

Honestly, I can’t say that I’ve noticed any specific drills to get them used to a new quarterback. If you ask any of those guys, they’ll tell you that their job remains the same no matter who is back there. But if I get a chance to ask any of those guys about it, I will.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Will Hunt and Ware share about the same amount of carries and will they be on the field in the same backfield?</p>— Emory S Fields (@EmorySFields1) <a href="https://twitter.com/EmorySFields1/status/1037727923304837120?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 6, 2018</a></blockquote>

They might eventually split carries, but I still think Hunt gets the bulk of the work at least through the early part of the season. I’m not convinced that Ware is entirely back to his old self just yet, and I think the safer option is to keep Hunt in as the primary runner. But, the load might even out as the season progresses. As far as being in the same backfield, I don’t know how the Chiefs have done it in the past, but I’ve seen a lot of two-RB sets at OU, and I really liked how effective that could be. I’m not ruling it out.

Brooke Pryor

Brooke Pryor covers the Kansas City Chiefs and NFL for The Star.

Brooke Pryor

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