Kansas City Chiefs: 2018 Week 3 Staff Predictions against San Francisco
John McCarty
Never before has Arrowhead been filled with this level of anticipation, especially for a regular season game. The great Mahomes makes his first start at home since being drafted in the 2017 first round. And after three games, the young gunslinger has been everything a Chiefs fan could hope for and he has somehow managed to exceed the crazy expectations coming into the 2018 season.
Concern still exists with the defense. For those that watched the young players running all over the field for the Browns and Jets, one has to wonder why the Chiefs appear incapable of finding young players that can contribute quickly. Sure, there were top picks, but also mid-round selections making plays. Kansas City could use youth on the defense that is approaching the point of, by NFL standards, getting old.
The concerns with the defense combined with a 49ers offense that is capable of scoring points. While Garropplo hasn’t been near as elite as he showed himself to be during the last half of the 2017 season, the San Francisco offense still shows the ability to score points. Wide receiver Marquise Goodwin isn’t Tyreek Hill fast, but he’s really close. Garcon is a solid possession receiver and tight end George Kittle is a player fans league-wide will learn of soon enough. Coming into week three, 49ers running back Matt Breida leads the league in rushing. Needless to say, the 49ers have shown an ability to move the ball.
However, the 49ers still have issues on defense, and the Chiefs offense currently is hitting on all cylinders. One has to imagine this will be a week to see a bunch of touches for Kareem Hunt in all phases of the Chiefs offense. Running opportunities to keep the ball away from the 49ers offense and control tempo and likely in the passing game as well if the 49ers drop their coverage deep to eliminate the deep ball. This week could be a week to play Hunt in your fantasy league and we could see Damien Williams in the passing game as well underneath.
Arrowhead likely will be rocking and pumped come Sunday. Hopefully, fans stop complaining about the new tailgating policy that takes effect (seriously, why in the world would someone want to spend gameday in the parking lot and not somewhere they could, you know, see the game! It’s Mahomes.) and will be in their seats for kickoff. Get in and get in early. This is an undefeated team with an emerging star at quarterback.
Chiefs will leave the field 3-0 though it will be closer and lower scoring then many expect. Both Reid and Shannahan will make an effort to keep the ball out of the other team’s offense, leading to a lot of running plays. But I expect the Chiefs to emerge victorious 31-20.