Kansas City Chiefs @ Seattle Seahawks game 'vital' for both teams, says Jeff Reinebold
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Monday 24 December 2018 06:47, UK
The Kansas City Chiefs and Seattle Seahawks meet on Sunday night in one of the more highly anticipated games of the season.
The explosive Chiefs - the NFL's No 1 offense - have been the front-runners in the AFC all season, while the Seahawks have been one of the feel-good surprises of the season, overcoming a major offseason overhaul to their roster to currently occupy a Wild Card spot in the NFC.
But their Week 16 meeting is made all the more intriguing by defeats coming into the contest - the Chiefs (11-3) slipping up to the their biggest threat for No 1 seed, the Los Angeles Chargers (11-3), and the Seahawks (8-6) suffering an even greater embarrassment to the 4-10 San Francisco 49ers.
Sky Sports' Jeff Reinebold looks ahead to Sunday's must-win match-up…
Should either team be worried?
I think so. Both of them showed their warts in the last week, the Seahawks against a San Francisco 49ers unit that you would not consider a top-tier NFL team right now.
They gave up way too many big plays to an undrafted rookie quarterback - Nick Mullens was not even expected to play this year. That concerns me, because certainly Patrick Mahomes and this Kansas City offense are even more dangerous, in terms of big-play ability.
But, with the Chiefs, my concern with them is against teams that are committed to running the ball. They beat the Baltimore Ravens two weeks ago, but gave up a lot of yards on the ground. And, next to the Ravens, the Seahawks are probably the most committed team to the run in the NFL.
Then, last week, the Chiefs lost to the Chargers, who are right there breathing down their neck for the No 1 seed in the AFC. So this is now a huge game.
Were the Seahawks guilty of looking one week ahead?
I think so. One of the things that sometimes happens to young teams, and Seattle has a really young roster, is they can lose their focus and look too far ahead.
Obviously everyone would have had this Kansas City game circled on their schedule. This was going to have huge playoff implications for them, and they'd already beaten San Francisco earlier in the season. But, that was a trap game for them, on the road.
The naivety of youth showed up, they didn't play particularly well, didn't tackle well and they gave up big plays. That's usually the sign of a team that's not mentally prepared.
What was at the heart of the Chiefs slip up?
They had a physically demanding football game against the Ravens leading into the game, and it was on a Thursday, so a short week for them.
Kareem Hunt is gone after his off-the-field issues, and rightly so. But Spencer Ware was hurt too, so that weakened them even more at running back.
They certainly missed those guys, but Tyreek Hill was the even more critical loss - his big-play ability is so incredible. He is nursing a foot injury right now and the Chiefs, ideally, would like to be able to sit him and rest him, so he's fresh for the playoffs but, the way it is going, they're going to have to play to win all the way down the stretch due to the threat of the Chargers behind them.
How do these teams bounce back this weekend?
If you're the Seahawks, you've got to just pound it, pound it, pound it on the ground. That serves two purposes: it attacks the weakest part of the Kansas City defense, and Seattle is most comfortable running the football.
Plus, the Seahawks realise they have got to keep the ball away from Mahomes. If I'm Kansas City, my concern is my run defense - which has struggled all year - getting enough stops. If not, my star quarterback is going to be stuck on the sideline for eight minutes at a time, on a cold Sunday night in Seattle, probably in the rain.
If Mahomes is on the field for any length of time, he could carve the Seahawks secondary up.
Once you get to this part of the season, the other teams really know where your weak spots are, and they go after them. For the Seahawks, that's theirs - can they stop giving up big plays?
Mahomes vs Wilson
These are two to-level quarterbacks. But two diametrically different guys.
Russell Wilson is less than 6ft tall, but has great escapability and movement in the pocket. He can throw on the run, and he is just a winner. He has been a winner his whole career.
Mahomes, on the other hand, is a big, long, strong guy who can throw it 80 yards without even trying! He can throw from all kind of foot platforms, and all kind of angles and does some things in games - left-handed passes, no-look passes - that you would just never teach a young quarterback to do.
But he has such an amazing sense for the position, and he is just so competitive. He has no fear whatsoever. The guy is just amazing.
Will home-field advantage be a factor?
I think so. These two teams have the two loudest stadiums in the NFL - Arrowhead, where the Chiefs play, and CenturyLink for the Seahawks.
Seattle head coach Pete Carroll talks about the importance of their 12th man fans all the time. Let the 12s be a factor in the game. They are going to be going crazy! They realise what is at stake.
The noise in that stadium has actually registered before as an earthquake on a seismograph. So for Seattle, that's a huge advantage as they will make it really hard for Kansas City on offense, when they want to change a play at the line of scrimmage.
Will Chiefs get the No 1 seed? And will Seattle get in?
Under normal circumstances, this would be a season where you'd think the Chiefs would be a lock for that No 1 seed - what with the New England Patriots tapering off - but, right now, the Chargers are about as hot as any team in football. So this is a huge game for them.
But, I think they ultimately win on Sunday night and end up getting that No 1 seed, the bye, home-field advantage and all that comes with it. But I still see it coming down to the last week of the season.
As for the Seahawks, even if they do lose, I think they'll still make the playoffs. They've just about got enough of a cushion.
And what a job that would be by Coach Carroll, flipping this roster and still managing to get this team to January football. I don't think there were many people - experts or not - that felt Seattle were going to be in the mix. A lot of people figured they'd be a six to eight win team, at the max. How they've proven people wrong.
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