Pressure defense, balanced offense: Here are the KC Chiefs’ keys to beating the Packers
Sunday’s Week 9 game between the Kansas City Chiefs (4-4) and Green Bay Packers (7-1) started off as a marquee matchup.
But as has been well-documented by now, quarterbacks Patrick Mahomes and Aaron Rodgers won’t face each other in this one. The next time we see them together might be their next State Farm commercial.
Rodgers recently tested positive for COVID-19, so the reigning MVP won’t play Sunday. In steps second-year Jordan Love.
The Super Bowl I foes will be meeting for the 14th time. The Chiefs hold a 7-4-1 edge in regular-season matchups. They last played in Week 8 of the 2019 season, with the Packers winning 31-24 at Arrowhead Stadium.
Here are the Chiefs’ keys to prevailing in this edition of their all-time series.
DON’T SLEEP ON LOVE
Sunday’s game has lost some luster with Rodgers out, and the oddsmakers aren’t giving the Packers much of a shot. The line now favors the Chiefs by 7.5 points.
The Chiefs, however, shouldn’t sleep on Love. Green Bay thought enough of the former Utah State quarterback to expend their first-round pick on him in 2020, and Chiefs coach Andy Reid liked what he saw of Love during the pre-draft process.
“I try to look at all those guys the best I can,” Reid said. “I had a chance to look at him, and he’s a good player. He had a great college career, and it sounds like he’s in a great position there, but he’s got a pretty good player in front of him.”
Love has attempted just seven regular-season passes, so the Chiefs turned to preseason tape, perhaps even his college highlights, to game-plan for him.
“What it really comes down to ... when there are a lot of unknowns, you defend the scheme,” defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo said. “It’s still Matt LaFleur over there calling the plays. It’s still the Green Bay Packers offensive scheme. I can’t imagine they detour too far off from that.”
Even without Rodgers, the Packers have weapons in running backs Aaron Jones (463 rushing yards so far this season) and A.J. Dillon and receivers Davante Adams and Randall Cobb.
“Those two running backs are as good as we’ve faced, and will face, in my opinion,” Spagnuolo said.
ENOUGH GENEROSITY
After two more turnovers last week against the New York Giants, the Chiefs now have 19 through eight games — 10 on interceptions thrown by quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
The Chiefs are minus-11 in turnover margin, tied for 31st in the NFL, and their overall lack of ball security has reached a boiling point with the Chiefs coaching staff.
“It’s reached that — it’s past that,” offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy said. “It’s not anything anyone ever wants to do, but you still have to focus in on it, and you still have to make sure that we’re doing all the little things to help us not have to experience that.”
Bieniemy emphasized that players can’t be playing scared or worried about putting the ball on the ground. But the turnovers that have plagued the Chiefs since Week 2 must stop.
“One of the No. 1 objectives — and I talk to our guys about this all the time — our job as a unit is to make sure we’re handing that ball back to the ref after each and every play,” Bieniemy said. “That’s our job. We’ve got to make sure that we do a better job of that.”
The Chiefs were fortunate the two turnovers in Week 8 didn’t haunt them against the short-handed Giants. The Packers’ opportunistic defense has forced 14 — plus-8 and second-best in the league.
ELEVATE THE PASSING GAME
Mahomes is one of the league’s elite signal-callers, and he has a star-studded cast of weapons around him starting with wide receiver Tyreek Hill and tight end Travis Kelce.
But their opponents keep playing their safeties deep, 15-20 yards off the line of scrimmage, to force passes underneath. It would be downright stunning if the Packers don’t do so, too, given the success they’ve seen other teams enjoy against the Chiefs this season.
Mahomes has thrown five touchdown passes and six interceptions over the past four games, and he hasn’t posted a passer rating above 91.0 since Week 4.
The Chiefs still rank fifth in the league in passing, averaging 296.1 yards per game. But Sunday’s matchup won’t be a walk in the park. The Packers rank sixth against the pass (216.8).
Tough task for Mahomes and the Chiefs’ offense.
RUN THE BALL, TOO
On the flip side of the passing attack is the run game. If defenses want to continue playing their safeties so far off the line of scrimmage, an 11-on-9 matchup should emerge ... in favor of the Chiefs.
In Week 6 of the 2020 season, the Chiefs faced the Bills, who played their safeties back. The Chiefs made them pay dearly by unleashing then-rookie Clyde Edwards-Helaire for 161 yards rushing on 26 carries. As a team, the Chiefs ran for 245 yards and a touchdown in 46 attempts.
The Chiefs have that blueprint of how to beat a two-deep safety look.
“When the defenses are playing a lot of shell coverages, like they are, you have to run the ball,” Mahomes said. “I think we know that.”
Edwards-Helaire remains on injured reserve, recovering from an MCL sprain, but the Chiefs have a capable backfield in Darrel Williams, Derrick Gore and Jerick McKinnon.
Sunday presents a somewhat favorable matchup for the Chiefs to commit to the ground game. The Packers rank 17th against the run, allowing 115 yards per game.
This story was originally published November 5, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
