WEEK ONE: Atlanta Falcons @ Kansas City Chiefs Preview
ATLANTA FALCONS (0-0) @ KANSAS CITY CHIEFS (0-0)
KICKOFF: 12:00PM CT, SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 9th
WHERE: ARROWHEAD STADIUM, KANSAS CITY, MO
SPREAD: FALCONS – 2.5, O/U 43
TV: FOX (THOM BRENNAMAN, BRIAN BILLICK, LAURA OKMIN)
RADIO: CHIEFS FOX FOOTBALL RADIO NETWORK – 101.1 THE FOX IN KC
WEATHER: SUNNY, MID 70’S, N.WINDS 9MPH
KC INJURIES: DOUBTFUL – S. KENDRICK LEWIS (SHOULDER), DE. ALLEN BAILEY (ANKLE), NT. ANTHONY TORIBIO (ANKLE), QUESTIONABLE – ILB. DERRICK JOHNSON (ANKLE), ILB. JOVAN BELCHER (GROIN), CB. BRANDON FLOWERS (FOOT), CB. JALIL BROWN (GROIN)
ATL INJURIES: PROBABLE – CB. CHRIS OWENS (HAMSTRING), RB. JASON SNELLING (CALF)
Football season is officially back. The first Sunday of the NFL season is here.
Rejoice!
The Kansas City Chiefs aren’t rejoicing right now however as they’d probably like to move the beginning of the season back a couple weeks.
With the high powered Atlanta Falcons coming to town to kick off the 2012 season, the Chiefs will be going into battle with several key defensive players hurt and possibly out for the home opener today.
The Chiefs will also be without Pro Bowl linebacker Tamba Hali, who will be serving his one game suspension for violating the NFL’s drug policy.
The Chiefs lost Jamaal Charles, Tony Moeaki and Eric Berry in consecutive weeks, all torn ACLs, to begin last season. KC also lost Jon Baldwin for the first five weeks of 2011 and Matt Cassel missed the last 7 games.
Now, the Chiefs are faced with numerous injuries on the defensive side of the ball to begin 2012.
Bad luck? I think so.
But it doesn’t matter. The Chiefs can still win this game.
KEYS TO THE GAME:
CHIEFS OFFENSE VS. FALCONS DEFENSE
RUN THE BALL DOWN THEIR THROAT.
Seriously. The Chiefs will need to run for at least 200 yards today if they want to win this game.
The offensive line needs to dominate up front like they’re capable of and open up the running lanes all day.
Jamaal Charles looks like the same Jamaal Charles to me. Give him the damn ball, and mix it up with some Peyton Hillis.
The Chiefs are going to have to control the clock and keep the Falcons offense off the field if they are going to have any chance today.
You cannot count on Matt Cassel to win a shootout for you. It just won’t happen.
And not against Atlanta’s secondary that includes Brent Grimes, Dunta Robinson and Asante Samuel at corner and Thomas DeCloud and former Mizzou standout William Moore (Willy Mo) at safety.
The Chiefs have the receivers to do some damage, but they don’t have the quarterback.
I imagine Brian Daboll will try to work the middle of the field in the passing game, trying to get tight ends Kevin Boss and Tony Moeaki involved, as well as slot receiver Dexter McCluster on play action passes if the running game is working.
Cassel will have to take some chances down the field however, he will not be able to just dink and dunk all game long. But the key will be staying out of passing downs, which means being able to run the ball and win on first downs.
Of course, not turning the ball over and converting touchdowns, not field goals, will be vital with the injuries the Chiefs have on defense. With the Chiefs ground game and big receivers in Dwayne Bowe and Jon Baldwin, they should be fairly successful in the red zone this year.
Atlanta has a good defense, especially their secondary (And Spoon!), but they are vulnerable…
GIVE THE BALL TO CHARLES!
CHIEFS DEFENSE VS. FALCONS OFFENSE
Starting safety Kendrick Lewis, starting nose tackle Anthony Toribio and arguably our best pass rusher on the defensive line in Allen Bailey are all doubtful for the game today.
Pro Bowl linebacker Derrick Johnson, one of the best cover men in the NFL in Brandon Flowers, starting middle linebacker Jovan Belcher and corner Jalil Brown are all questionable.
And of course one of the best pass rushers in the league in Tamba Hali, is out due to suspension.
Yeah…SIX starters, over half of the defense, won’t play or will not be at 100% today.
Did I mention the Chiefs are playing the Falcons, meaning we’re going up against Matt Ryan, Roddy White, Julio Jones, Tony Gonzalez (Welcome back Tony G) and Michael Turner?
From the practice reports during the week, it sounds like DJ and Flowers will probably give it a go. But Flowers hasn’t done anything since the beginning of training camp in late July. How game ready will he be going up against White and Jones?
It’s going to be a struggle defensively even if DJ and Flowers can play. The loss of Hali is just huge. Justin Houston should get some pressure, but will he be it? I imagine Romeo Crennel will dial up a lot more blitzes than he’s accustomed to, but that will also leave a banged up secondary on an island if the blitz doesn’t get there. Still, you can’t just let Ryan sit back in the pocket all day, he’ll pick us apart that way too.
We’ll see what Romeo has up his sleeve. But there’s not much you can do when over half of your starting defense is out or not at 100%.
PREDICTION: CHIEFS – 27 FALCONS – 24
This is a total homer pick. I admit it. My gut is actually telling me to get ready for a repeat of last year’s home opener against Buffalo. I hope my gut is finally wrong.
I can see us winning this game however, but everything will have to go right for the Chiefs.
We’re going to have to come out and control the line of scrimmage and run the ball down their throats right off the bat. If we can get up by double digits early, our chances of winning will go way up. If we get down by double digits early, our chances go way down. Our offense is not built to come back. I take that back, our quarterback is not built to come back, the rest of the offense is.
With Matt Cassel as our starting quarterback, everything else has to go right. Defense, running game, pass blocking, run blocking, special teams. Everything. No team in the NFL is perfect and every team has weaknesses. But the teams with franchise quarterbacks can mask those weaknesses and still win games. The Chiefs can’t because they don’t have one, and they really never have, which is just so sad to say.
If the Chiefs had almost any other starting quarterback in the NFL, heck even some of the backups out there, I would have a lot more confidence in winning this game tomorrow with all the injuries on defense.
I hate to continue to bag on Matt Cassel, but the guy is just not a good starting quarterback in this league. He’s only still here because he’s Pioli’s boy and he gave him $63 million. And because Pioli, like every other Chiefs general manager, has failed to draft a quarterback before the 5th round in his four drafts.
Anyways, enough of my ranting.
Bottom line is I think the Chiefs can win this game if they can be dominate on the ground and control the clock, don’t turn it over, don’t commit penalties and force some turnovers themselves. We will not win if we put the game in Matt Cassel’s hands.
This is a pretty big game for the Chiefs. Getting the season off to a winning start is huge for this team, especially with two tough road games in Buffalo and New Orleans the following weeks. The Chiefs cannot start the season 0-3 again. Not with Peyton Manning in the division and Phillip Rivers primed to bounce back.
But, it’s not the end of the season if we lose this game either. The Chiefs schedule gets considerably easier as the season goes on, and the Chiefs should, hopefully, get healthier in the next couple of weeks.
A win today however with the injuries we’re dealing with and who we’re playing, would be very impressive and the outlook on the season will be a lot brighter.
GO CHIEFS!