Chiefs’ biggest concerns despite thrilling Week 1 win over Ravens
The Kansas City Chiefs took care of business in Week 1. Kansas City survived a fourth-quarter comeback from Baltimore and secured a 27-20 victory to start the 2024 season. There was a lot to like from the Chiefs’ performance.
Rookie Xavier Worthy put up some big plays and Chris Jones was as dominant as ever. However, it was not all sunshine and rainbows.
The Chiefs came very close to going to overtime or possibly even losing this game. It was by no means a flawless performance.
Let’s dive deep into three of the biggest concerns surrounding the Chiefs after their thrilling Week 1 victory on Thursday night.
Isiah Pacheco, Chiefs run game inefficient in winning effort
Pacheco by and large looked like his usual self. However, Pacheco and the rest of the Chiefs rushing game were never able to get established against the Ravens.
As a team, the Chiefs put up only 72 rushing yards against the Ravens. This looks even worse when you realize that Xavier Worthy’s 21-yard touchdown run accounted for just shy of 30% of the team’s total rushing yards.
Pacheco had 15 carries for 45 yards and a touchdown. That puts him at 3.0 yards per carry. Let’s be generous and say that’s is fine for staying on schedule.
This should be concerning for Chiefs fans.
It is important to consider who the Chiefs were running against. The Ravens had a good, not great, run defense unit in 2023. They ranked middle of the road, but sometimes in the bottom of the league, in many run defense stats. However, they really excelled at limiting rushing touchdowns and first downs.
That was with Mike Macdonald coaching the defense. No offense to new DC Zach Orr, but he hasn’t shown to be better than Macdonald yet.
When we take this all together, we see that the Chiefs struggled to run the ball against a middle-of-the-road run defense.
It will be interesting to see if the Chiefs can have more success in Week 2 against the Bengals.
Rashee Rice looked like a one-trick pony despite gaudy stats
Rice led the Chiefs in receiving with seven catches for 103 yards. However, Rice got the majority of his yardage off running the same slant route over and over again.
You don’t have to be a football genius to look at Rice’s route tree and see that he was a one-trick pony against the Ravens.
This is a normal route tree. Find a new slant. https://t.co/UedkkzPdQp pic.twitter.com/YCraKfphKy
— Benjamin Solak (@BenjaminSolak) September 6, 2024
Jokes aside, this could be a troubling development for the Chiefs.
Rice’s production accounted for a large amount of the team’s receiving production. Xavier Worthy had a few catches, but nothing to suggest that he is their next WR1 of the future. Noah Gray and Travis Kelce both played solid roles, but it was staggering to see Kelce struggle to really get involved.
So why is this a problem? If opposing defenses can figure out how to stop these slants routes while also covering up Kansas City’s other weapons, Mahomes’ job could become a lot trickier.
We should note that there’s nothing necessarily wrong with sending Rashee Rice on a ton of slant routes. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
Chiefs fans should keep an eye on this situation as the regular season progresses.
How will the Chiefs pass defense look against teams with elite receiving options?
Kansas City’s secondary delivered a middling performance in Week 1. The secondary made a couple of nice plays, though they also experienced some luck as well. One notable example was a deep pass interference penalty committed on Zay Flowers that was negated by an illegal formation penalty on Baltimore.
The Chiefs traded away L’Jarius Sneed to the Titans this offseason and did not do much to replace him.
Baltimore did not provide a very good litmus test for determining how big of a problem the secondary is for Kansas City.
The Ravens did put up 267 receiving yards, which kept pace with the Chiefs at 281. However, this mainly came from checkdown passes to Justice Hill, Isaiah Likely, and Zay Flowers. There were only a handful of times where Lamar Jackson pushed the ball down the field and tested Kansas City’s secondary.
Spinning positive, that happened because Chris Jones was a monster. But it still leaves me questioning how the Chiefs would fare going up against a team like the Texans or Packers who have several great receiving options.
Chiefs fans should pay extra attention to the team’s coverage unit next week against the Bengals.
The post Chiefs’ biggest concerns despite thrilling Week 1 win over Ravens appeared first on ClutchPoints.
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