The Kansas City Chiefs will host their first home game of the regular season this week against the Baltimore Ravens. Both teams are 2-0 and are looking to stay undefeated. Although the game is early in the season it’s still an important game for the Chiefs as it may play a factor in playoff seedings. Here are five things to watch for in Chiefs vs. Ravens Week 3.
Cameron Erving, starting left tackle
The Chiefs will be without their starting left tackle this week. Eric Fisher suffered a groin injury before last week’s game against the Raiders. The injury required surgery which happened this past week.
Cameron Erving is expected to be the starter this week against the Ravens after being the replacement last week. Erving didn’t have the greatest start to the game last week but ended up finding his groove to have a decent performance. It will be interesting to see how well he does this week against a highly respected Ravens defense.
Last week Erving had a PFF grade of 90.1 for his pass protection, but only had a grade 29.6 for his run blocking. The Chiefs love to pass the ball, so they should be playing towards Erving’s strengths. It should also be noted that Erving has been getting a lot more reps at left tackle this week with Fisher being out compared to the multiple positions he prepared for beforehand, so it may be a different story this week referring to his run blocking.
Another thing to keep an eye on with Erving is penalties. He had the third-most in the NFL last season starting 13 games at the left guard position. He was clear of penalties last week, but that could change against a better defensive unit like the Ravens.
Continue…
Mahomes vs. Ravens defense
The Chiefs offense struggled last year against the Ravens defense. It was the second lowest-scoring game of the season for the Chiefs. It will be interesting to see this time around how Patrick Mahomes and the offense look against the Ravens defense who have a couple of new faces including All-Pro safety Earl Thomas.
Thomas said earlier this week that he plans on eliminating all big plays from the Chiefs offense on Sunday. It’s a bold statement from Thomas because no team has been able to slow Mahomes down all that much. It should be fun to see these two players go at it and test each other in this game.
Don’t be surprised to see the Chiefs offense struggle early, with multiple key contributors sidelined including Tyreek Hill, Eric Fisher, and Damien Williams. It may take a few possessions before the offense finds their footing, just like it did last week. The Ravens are also missing some pieces on defense due to injury so there should be some opportunities for big plays.
Continue…
Mecole Hardman’s progression
Mecole Hardman had a solid performance last week against the Raiders as he had four receptions for 61 yards and a touchdown. He would have had two touchdowns if it weren’t for a holding call on McCoy. His performance still showed promise and should have Chiefs fans excited for this week.
Hardman’s speed is second to only Hill and it was great to see him have a big game last week, but he still has plenty to improve on before he becomes an all-around wide receiver. Keep an eye out on his route running and if he continues to build up trust between him and Mahomes. This week will be a good test for him with some injuries in the secondary. He’ll also have to watch out for Earl Thomas coming over from the free safety spot.
If Hardman has a big game against the Ravens and continues to improve throughout the season it will be a nightmare for opponents once Hill returns. There will be so much speed on the field that it will be nearly impossible for defenses to slow down this offense.
Continue…
Will the Chiefs be able to contain Lamar Jackson?
Lamar Jackson has been one of the most exciting players to watch this season and looks to be an early MVP candidate along with Patrick Mahomes. It’s always a problem whenever you face a dual-threat QB like Jackson.
Last season, the Chiefs managed to hold Jackson to just 67 rushing yards. It was one of his lowest rushing totals of the season. Jackson has improved throwing the ball, so they might not be able to dare him to throw like they did last season.
With the great defensive line that the Chiefs have assembled this season, I expect they’ll be able to slow him down. Steve Spagnuolo stresses fundamentals and those are extremely important when facing an offense like the Ravens. If the Chiefs can take away the quarterback run and make Jackson uncomfortable, it’s only a matter of time before he makes a crucial mistake.
Continue…
Will Darwin Thompson get significant reps?
Damien Williams is a big part of what the Chiefs do on offense. Andy Reid confirmed on Friday that Williams will not be playing this week after missing practice all week. The Chiefs will need to make up for his production on top of already being without Hill.
The Chiefs will still have LeSean McCoy who is the teams leading rusher, but Reid likes using multiple running backs, so this may be the perfect opportunity to see Darwin Thompson get a larger word load. Thompson was a preseason favorite and had some considering making him the starter, but when McCoy was signed it pushed him down the depth chart.
Thompson is considered small for a running back, but he has great contact balance and could be a contributor in the passing game. It will be interesting to see how far he has come since the preseason especially in his pass blocking, but hopefully, Thompson shows the fans why they were so high on him coming out of the preseason.
Go back…
