The Chiefs are once again flawed, but terrifying
The Chiefs are once again flawed, but terrifying
In a league full of teams with questions, Kansas City seems to have the answers no matter what it's problems are.
“Styles make fights” is one of my favorite other-sport expressions to use when it comes to the NFL.
Despite the similarities between teams, the differences create a huge variety of matchups. Scheme (EXACT scheme, at least), play calling, and game management are different for every single team, and every roster is constructed a little bit differently. Where is the talent? What are you building around? What do you rely on to win? Those differences make every single matchup unique in football, which is why you can’t rely on the simple math of “Team A beat Team B and Team B beat Team C, therefore Team A will beat Team C.” Often that’s not the case. Styles make fights.
What the league is seeing happening in Kansas City, then, should terrify them.
The Chiefs are 5-0, sitting atop the standings of the entire AFC (with only the Houston Texans sporting a 4-1 record, as everyone else has lost at least 2 games). The Vikings are the only other undefeated team in football through 5 weeks. Everyone in the AFC has shown flaws. The Bills are suddenly struggling to move the ball consistently and have a leaky defense. The Ravens have righted the ship but showed cracks in the foundation early, especially on the defensive side of the ball with Mike Macdonald gone. The Bengals… aren’t really worth talking about until they win a few more games. The Texans look dangerous, but remain a bit of an unknown and have shown a vulnerability to aggressive zone blitzes and simulated pressures.
In the meantime, here are the Chiefs. No Rashee Rice. No Hollywood Brown. No Isiah Pacheco. No Charles Omenihu. Not much of an explosive downfield passing attack still despite Chiefs fans (and me) screaming for it to be developed. And yet they just keep managing to win games regardless of the matchup and regardless of how the game plays out. And they have now shown a new gear on the back of one of the (????) most consistent run games in the league despite Pacheco’s absence.
Against the Saints on national television, Andy Reid and company went old school with their approach on multiple snaps, lining up in 12, 13, and even 14 personnel with more frequency than what Chiefs fans have seen over the last few years. And in doing so (with their now-expected excellent defense largely shutting down New Orleans) they found another way to win in a season where that’s all they’ve done.
I wrote last year during the playoffs that the Chiefs weren’t perfect, but they were terrifying. This year’s team appears to be headed down that same path, but perhaps for even more reasons than in 2023. Because unlike pretty much every other team in the league… their style can change depending on the fight.