Kansas City Chiefs: 5 Players To Watch Against The Pittsburgh Steelers
Reggie Ragland
The trade for Reggie Ragland early last season proved to be one of great fortune. As Ragland got healthy, he saw more snaps in the Chiefs defense towards the end of the season. He looked like the linebacker that Kansas City has been looking for to put next to Derrick Johnson. Unfortunately, Johnson wasn’t the same player coming back from another major injury in 2017.
Paired up with newly acquired Anthony Hitchens, Ragland looks to get going in the 2018 season. He missed a lot of training camp and preseason due to a knee injury. He finally got some playing time along with Hitchens who was also out with injuries, against the Chicago Bears in Week 3 of the preseason.
During the game against Los Angeles, it was apparent that Reggie Ragland was not only knocking the rust off still but possibly not 100 percent healthy. Hitchens struggled during the first half but looked like a completely different player come the second. While I don’t expect Ragland to turn it all around and return to his dominant self that we saw in games last season, a step forward would go a long way against the Steelers.
Pittsburgh has gashed the Chiefs run defense the last two showings running for 179 yards last season and 170 during the playoff game the season before. While Bell will not be apart of the Steelers offense on Sunday, their backup running back, James Connor ran the ball 31 times for 135 yards and two touchdowns this past week.
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Kansas City’s run defense looks improved, but not even close to perfect. I expect a couple of big runs to break loose, especially if Pittsburgh can get the run game established early and pound the ball 30 more times. If Ragland and Hitchens can put a major damper in the Steelers running game, it would make a huge difference getting the Steelers off of the field and the Chiefs back in control of the game.