It’s week two of the NFL season and after two thrilling games won by the Buffalo Bills and Pittsburgh Steelers last week, we now have a Super Bowl rematch. The NFL just knows how to create these match-ups.
The Kansas City Chiefs host the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday and this is going to be very interesting because it’s definitely a revenge game. The Eagles beat the Chiefs 40-22 in the Super Bowl and nullified them till late in the third quarter.
I think the biggest difference between the two teams is their roster. You look at the Eagles, they have Jalen Hurts, Saquon Barkley, AJ Brown. You can keep listing all these great players, and I just don’t know who the Chiefs have any more. It’s Patrick Mahomes… then what is that supporting cast?
Rashee Rice is suspended for their first six games and Xavier Worthy suffered a shoulder injury as he and Travis Kelce ran into each other in last week’s defeat by the Los Angeles Chargers in Brazil.
That leaves Hollywood Brown and JuJu Smith-Schuster as the main receivers, which puts a lot of pressure on because the Chiefs’ run game has not been terrific at all.
The Chargers game was very much the Mahomes show. At one point, he had more carries than anybody else on the field. He put his body on the line multiple times – those hits add up, and you don’t want to see your superstar quarterback risking his health so early in the season.
Mahomes had six scrambles and the Chiefs only ran it 11 other times. Isiah Pacheco and Kareem Hunt combined for 41 yards with 10 of those carries, and that’s just not sustainable.
After the Eagles, the Chiefs face the New York Giants and then the Baltimore Ravens so, realistically, they could have a 1-3 record after four weeks.
Baltimore is a huge game and with the Ravens losing to the Bills last week, they’re going to have a lot to prove as well, to show that they want to be on top.
The Eagles have a tough run defence, and the Giants have a good defence too, so I think that will be telling, to see how the Chiefs are able to run the ball. These two games stacked together, the Chiefs almost have to think about how they are going to prepare themselves to ensure they’re firing on all cylinders for the Ravens.
Last year, the Chiefs won so many one-score games, and they’re going to have to be much better to do that again. They may be out for revenge against the Eagles but I don’t think they have it in them… yet.
Rashee Rice is a huge part of their offensive scheme and, without Worthy, they don’t have any deep threat either so, I hate to say it, but I really struggle to see what they’ll be able to do. I don’t see what their answers are right now.
In the off-season, the Chiefs lost Joe Thuney, who was huge for them on defence, but they did draft a left tackle in the first round, Josh Simmons, to help protect Mahomes more, and brought in another offensive tackle in Jaylon Moore, so they are doing the right things to create strength on the offensive line.
They need to because the AFC West is the toughest it’s been in a long time – none of it is given this year. The Chargers beat the Chiefs, the Las Vegas Raiders have got better and Bo Nix has only got stronger with the Denver Broncos.
I still think the Chiefs will make the play-offs but if they carry on like this, I would be concerned.