The Kansas City Chiefs will be hosting the Green Bay Packers this Sunday night. The Chiefs roster is looking depleted as they’ll be without some of their best players across the board. There is still plenty to watch for as Kansas City attempts to survive without star quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
Here are five things to watch for as the Chiefs face the Packers:
The quarterback situation
Mahomes has been officially been ruled out, so it will be up to Matt Moore to lead the Chiefs offense. After Mahomes went down in the second quarter against the Broncos in Week 7, Moore got the job done by completing 10 of his 19 passes while also throwing a 57-yard touchdown pass to Tyreek Hill. The performance, alongside some great play from the Chiefs defense, was enough to get the win, but Moore will need to have an even better game to beat Aaron Rodgers and the Packers.
Moore is in a great situation, though — Andy Reid has a history of reviving careers of backup quarterbacks. He’ll also have plenty of offensive weapons at his disposal. It helps that Sammy Watkins is returning from injury, so adding him to the lineup with Hill, Travis Kelce and LeSean McCoy gives Moore a better chance to have success.
Moore will just need to get the ball into the hands of the Chiefs’ playmakers and they should be able to at least keep up. Each of them is capable of making a man miss and taking the football to the house. It’s not reasonable to expect Moore to have nearly the type of success as Mahomes would, but with the system in Kansas City, and the weapons on the offensive side of the ball, Moore has the ability to get the job done against the Packers.
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Running backs could help
The Chiefs’ running backs could be a big part of the offensive game plan. The Packers are allowing an average of 4.9 yards per carry, so this may be a good week to get the run game more involved. Especially with Mahomes out, the Chiefs could use a season-best rushing performance.
Moore has his limitations at quarterback, and even he’s admitted he can’t do what Mahomes can. He’ll benefit from good play out of his running backs. Luckily Moore will have a similar face in the backfield — he and Damien Williams both were with the Miami Dolphins from 2014-2017.
This could be the perfect opportunity for Williams to get more involved on offense. He’s been rather dormant since returning from his injury, and McCoy has really taken the spotlight. Since he already has chemistry with Moore, he could have a bigger role. We already know he’ll provide a reliable receiving option out of the backfield.
I also wouldn’t be surprised to see McCoy have a breakout game — he has been good when given the opportunity averaging 5.4 yards a carry. Both Williams and McCoy will need to have success to give the Chiefs the best opportunity to win without Mahomes.
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Who generates the pass rush?
The Chiefs’ pass rush last week against the Broncos had a spectacular game, combining for nine sacks. The performance was very encouraging after going a few weeks without any, but Kansas City will be without Frank Clark against the Packers because of a neck injury. It stings to see Clark be ruled out with an injury after finally having a dominant game against the Broncos — he had two of the nine sacks — but the Chiefs will have to make do.
The Chiefs are still without their best defensive tackle, Chris Jones, who is still rehabbing a groin injury. Suddenly the Chiefs’ pass rush is looking thin. It will be up to the others to step up amid the injuries on the defensive line if they want to get consistent pressure on Rodgers.
Hopefully, we see another big game from Anthony Hitchens and Reggie Ragland to help make up for injuries amid the defensive line and get a few hits on Rodgers to keep him off balance. Maybe Emmanuel Ogbah will have another standout performance? If not, it could be a long night for the Chiefs defense because if Rodgers has time, he will pick the Chiefs’ secondary apart.
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Rashad Fenton
As he makes his second start of the season, Fenton is a player Chiefs fans should keep an eye out on. He had a surprisingly good game last week against the Broncos while filling in for an injured Kendall Fuller. Fenton showed that he had improved his coverage skills since being drafted by Kansas City. He was able to deflect a pass while helping to shut down the Broncos’ passing game. Fenton also managed to help in run support, accumulating four tackles on the night.
It will be a big test for Fenton this week against Rodgers, but if he can show that the Broncos game wasn’t a fluke, he could a breakout player for the Chiefs. Fenton playing well would be ideal because he is one of only two cornerbacks under contract beyond 2019. Players selected in the sixth round aren’t expected to start, so if Fenton continues at this pace, he could prove to be a great pickup by Brett Veach.
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Run defense
Last week against the Broncos, the Chiefs finally found success stopping the run. They held Phillip Lindsay and Royce Freeman to only 71 combined yards. That was big improvement since the Chiefs had given up more than 180 yards on the ground in each of the previous four weeks.
It will be interesting to see if the Chiefs will be able to do it again this week; the Packers have two serviceable running backs in Aaron Jones and Jamaal Williams. Neither Jones nor Williams is considered a top running back in the league, but they can cause damage if the Chiefs defense doesn’t make an emphasis on stopping them at the line of scrimmage.
If the Chiefs have similar performances out of Hitchens and Ragland like they did last week, along with Tyrann Mathieu playing more in the box, there is a good chance that the Packers will struggle running the ball, and that would give the Chiefs a better opportunity to win.
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