What do we know about the Chiefs? Thoughts on the game...

[lukerguy]

Seattle struggles with west coast style offenses with balanced attack who will happily nickel and dime you all the way down the field (SD runs a similar offense).

We also struggle against teams with good edge rushers as KC has. I would assume it will be a close game, but I'm not all that optimistic. With that said, i think we will win the following week versus AZ at home to cut the division lead to 1 or 2 games.

 

[hawksfansinceday1]

................I'm (bi) curious.

Um, OK. You've mentioned more than once that it went beyond curiosity, but hey, whatever works for you man.



OK seriously, in order to win like many have said, I believe we need to run pretty consistently keeping our D off the field and we need to keep turnovers to one or preferably, zero.
Something else that hasn't been mentioned, our tackling needs to be spot on keeping their gains, especially Charles on screens, as minimal as possible. Make Smith beat us down the field, and don't get beat with screens and short stuff as a result of poor tackling. I saw some really encouraging tackling against the Vagiants, the best we've shown all year and I'm hoping for more of the same.

 

[AgentDib]

My assertion that this is a huge game is personal opinion and hyperbole. It would show me something which separates this team from others.

Well I agree that it is a huge game. I'm excited mainly because if we win we will be hosting Arizona as a 7-3 team with a very good shot at the division.

 

[Spin Doctor]

The Chiefs wide receivers have zero touchdowns this year, in fact Golden Tate has more receptions and yards than the entire Chiefs Wide Receiver corps. The key to shutting down that passing game is to crowd the LOS and take away the checkdowns, and underneath stuff. That should be the priority in this game.

I think in lieu of the recent injury to Mebane we should throw some run blitz's at the Chiefs to help out the D-Line. Jeron Johnson or Kam (whoever plays) should be playing close to the LOS almost like an extra LB. I'm hoping we'll see some big nickel packages as well if they attempt to spread our defense out.

On offense they've been really good on the back end of their secondary. I do not think that we will get anything deep on them. We should have Russ and company focus on short, underneath passing -- that is where we can exploit the Chiefs. It would behoove us to get our our running backs and TE's involved in the passing game this week. That is where you can gash that secondary.

The read option will be essential to our victory this week. Justin Houston, and Hali are monster pass rushers, but they're aggressive and can be caught out of position fairly easily. While they are obviously the strength of the Chiefs D we can negate their effectiveness with some runs by Russell Wilson. In fact, Russ's running abilities should be central to our game plan this week. It's going to be the best way to slow down that pass rush and pick up easy yards. This in turn will help Marshawn Lynch, defensive ends aren't exactly going to crash when they have the threat of a QB taking off for 20 yards a pop.

I think roll outs with a designed run, pass option would also behoove Wilson, and help slow down that pass rush. I'm hoping our offense is simple this week with a bunch of underneath, high percentage throws to get Wilson back into the groove of things. It just so happens that those kind of throws are what the Chiefs struggle against.

 

[StoneCold]

There pass rush is going to kill us. If our first pass isn't a screen? We are going to lose.

SC

 

[Spin Doctor]

There pass rush is going to kill us. If our first pass isn't a screen? We are going to lose.

SC

I think we can be successful doing the same kinds of things that we did against the NYG. I'm almost positive that the read option is going to kill them.

 

[Sgt. Largent]

There pass rush is going to kill us. If our first pass isn't a screen? We are going to lose.

SC

I think we can be successful doing the same kinds of things that we did against the NYG. I'm almost positive that the read option is going to kill them.

The Chiefs are a far more talented and sound defense than the hapless Giants who folded like a K-Mart deck chair.

Russell isn't going to be able to easily run for 100 yard because there's no outside containment like last week.

IMO this is going to be like the Rams game, except with a more hostile crowd. We're going to have to play really well on defense, and the offense needs to grind out first downs......which means Russell better figure it out cause KC's going to pack the box to stop Lynch.

 

[marko358]

IMO this is going to be like the Rams game, except with a more hostile crowd.

We kicked the Rams' butt. We lost that one because of a handful of special teams mistakes.

 

[Sgt. Largent]

IMO this is going to be like the Rams game, except with a more hostile crowd.

We kicked the Rams' butt. We lost that one because of a handful of special teams mistakes.

Right, that's what I said in the other Chiefs thread. We are a more talented team than the Chiefs (like the Rams), but stupid mistakes and penalties led to a loss.

I've liked how the D's played the past couple of weeks, but I'm still waiting for the offense to really take it to a team in the passing AND running attacks. Hopefully this is the week.

 

[marko358]

IMO this is going to be like the Rams game, except with a more hostile crowd.

We kicked the Rams' butt. We lost that one because of a handful of special teams mistakes.

Right, that's what I said in the other Chiefs thread. We are a more talented team than the Chiefs (like the Rams), but stupid mistakes and penalties led to a loss.

I've liked how the D's played the past couple of weeks, but I'm still waiting for the offense to really take it to a team in the passing AND running attacks. Hopefully this is the week.

Yeah I agree. Maybe a game without precipitation will help with Russell's accuracy. I don't know how else to explain his recent passing woes.

 

[Spin Doctor]

There pass rush is going to kill us. If our first pass isn't a screen? We are going to lose.

SC

I think we can be successful doing the same kinds of things that we did against the NYG. I'm almost positive that the read option is going to kill them.

The Chiefs are a far more talented and sound defense than the hapless Giants who folded like a K-Mart deck chair.

Russell isn't going to be able to easily run for 100 yard because there's no outside containment like last week.

IMO this is going to be like the Rams game, except with a more hostile crowd. We're going to have to play really well on defense, and the offense needs to grind out first downs......which means Russell better figure it out cause KC's going to pack the box to stop Lynch.

I disagree, the Chiefs D-Line is susceptible to misdirection plays -- they're not very disciplined against the run, and they a running defense that ranks in the lower half of the league to show for it. They're good pass rushers, but against the run they can be exploited.

 

[HawKnPeppa]

Kansas City plays into the Seahawks hands actually.

1. Their strength is running the ball (We excell and stuffing the run)

2. They arent great at stopping the run (especially between the tackles)

3. They have slow, inconspicuos WRs, outside of Kelce

They have stregths of course, mainly Charles, Niles Davis, Kelce and great pass rushers.

If they flush Wilson out on passing down he will do serious damage.

Did you somehow miss the fact that Mebane is out for the season? Our run D won't magically stay the same.

 

[HawKnPeppa]

Hill can fill in nicely. Mebane done for the year...ouch.

Quickness, but doesn't anchor well... He will attempt to fill in, but I doubt we will characterize that as 'nicely.'

 

[Hawks46]

The best way to slow down a pass rush is to run at them. KC doesn't defend well between the Tackles, and like someone said, their DE's tend to be over aggressive...especially at home. Britt can have success against Houston if he's allowed to square up on him and drive him back.

I agree with others that the RO will open a lot of things up for us. On offense, I'd like to see: rollouts, moving pockets, RO, swing passes to Lynch and Turbin, a few screens, and lots and lots of Beast Mode between the Tackles. Hell, run the crap out of all 3 of our backs; I think this is game we can see 200 yards of rushing. KC gives up a lot of yards and a high YPC.

On defense we need to close down the short stuff. Make Alex Smith challenge us deep, which he is loathe to do. Their WRs aren't scaring anyone deep, and they shouldn't scare us either. I like a previous poster's suggestion of run blitzes.

If we play mistake free, I think we win this game by 3-6 points. Problem is, we haven't been able to do that on offense.

I agree with Ryan that we need to win this game, as the 49ers won one that they should've lost in NO. We need to win this one to keep pace in front of them. It's not a must win, but it's pretty important.

 

[NINEster]

Fun Alex Smith stat: You haven't beaten the guy in 3 straight games with a decent amount of similar defensive personnel. I'd wait another few days before potentially claiming you have this guy's #.

The interesting advantage is he knows the Seahawk defense pretty well but this is not the 49er offense you'll be facing. He has his tendencies, but KC offense much different from SF. And Reid is better for Smith than Harbaugh.

If you think Smith is really better than Kaepernick (and not trolling), KC will win this game for sure. No doubt in my mind. :th2thumbs:

So they are at home, gonna be pumped up for a huge game.

Their team will come out to play, and defensively they've only really struggled against high octane passing attacks, not power rushing teams. Besides wasn't the Panthers defense a crap run D when you played them too?

You can very easily make Smith mediocre if you force him to be down by two TDs early. I've seen that way too often in my day.

However, given the current state of the Seahawks offense I don't see that happening against this team in that stadium.

Should be a great battle, wish I could watch it.

 

[pehawk]

With the injuries and scrapping of the offense installed in TC, the Hawks may be forced to actually scheme this year. They've been lining up and playing vanilla offensively and defensively for two years because their talent allowed that.

I think defensively they're going to have to change things up, slightly, utilizing the LB's differently. And offensively, they need to change things up if the RO isn't yielding immediate returns.

 

[kmedic]

To use the overstated cliche, I think this game will be won in the trenches. KC is going to definitely hone in on the run this week. Yes, they are not ranked high against the run, but if you gameplan and focus all week on stopping it, they're probably going to be better than their current 'ranking'. If I were them, I would definitely be playing 8 in the box with a LB spy outside to contain Russell on the read options. If they force us in third and long situations then it's going to be a long day offensively for us. It's up to our offensive line to win the battles up front to get us 'on schedule' and put us into third and shorts even if they are stacking the box. On the other side of the ball, our defensive line needs to get QB pressure with just four. I have noticed we are blitzing a lot more the past several games to manufacture a pass rush. This could bite us in the ass with KC, as they are one of the better screen teams. If Charles gets outside in space with the ball, watch out, we are in deep doodoo. If I were Quinn, I would fake blitz looks to confuse Smith, and rush only 4 and play back and outside to contain the screen passes and hot reads. I agree with the OP, we need to be a bend but don't break defense this game. Let them get their 3-5 yard dink and dunk plays, but we must stop them eventually on third down, preferably before they get deep into the red zone. If they get down into goal yardage, we don't match up well IMO, Charles is a threat but so is their big TE Kelce. Again, this game will be won in the trenches. It's going to be a dogfight, low scoring IMO.