Kansas City Chiefs: Four things to watch vs Dolphins in Week 14
Will We Finally See the Pass Rush?
The Kansas City defense continues to struggle to get to the quarterback. Although they were able to apply pressure on a couple of plays, they had zero sacks against Denver on Sunday night. This kept Denver from being in too many 3rd and long situations. The pressure helped force Lock to throw two interceptions to TyrannMathieu. The defense did just enough to hold the Broncos offense back, but the pass rush wasn’t to thank.
Sunday’s game against the Dolphins is another great chance for the pass rush. The Dolphins’ quarterbacks have suffered quite a few sacks. Miami quarterbacks, Ryan Fitzpatrick and Tua have been sacked a total of 24 times, and they also are consistently pressured on passing plays, forcing Miami to rely on short quick passes to get the ball out as quickly as possible.
Even with this strategy, applying pressure to Tua is key. The Miami signal-caller is still a rookie, and one of the best things to do to a rookie is to put pressure on them. Hopefully, the pass rush can force Tua to make poor decisions.
No Interceptions on Sunday
The Chiefs/Dolphins matchup showcases two quarterbacks who know how to take care of the ball. Mahomes has only thrown two interceptions all season, both against the Raiders. He has had some close calls with drops and others being called back by penalty, but the stats are what they are and he has just the two picks.
Since Mahomes is such a gunslinger, these close calls are going to happen. Mahomes has always had a great touchdown to interception ratio and there won’t be any easy takeaways for the Miami defense.
On the flip side, Mahomes’ ratio will be put to the test as the Dolphins are tied for second in the league in takeaways. This includes being one of the top defenses for interceptions with 13 total. The majority of these interceptions come from cornerback Xavien Howard, who leads the league with eight interceptions in 2020. Mahomes has never been one to stray away from one side of the field. Watch to see how many times Mahomes throws his direction.
Tua has also been great with his touchdown interception ratio and he doesn’t have an interception yet. For the most part, this is easier to do with a short and quick pass scheme, but Tua showed his skills last week against the Bengals. We saw the rookie take more shots down the field throwing for almost 300 yards.
This is where the Chiefs defense can step in. Again, the pass rush needs to step in to add pressure to the rookie. Chiefs’ DC Spagnuolo is not afraid to blitz and we will see it in this game. The Chiefs are also tied for third in interceptions on the season. This game will make every drive count.