Some things I’m looking for tomorrow:
- Jedrick Wills yr 2: hoping for a jump from Wills this year and I’m hopeful it’s evident in game 1. He played well his rookie year, but a year 2 leap from him with a full offseason under the belt would put the O-line on another level (if that’s even possible). Cleaning up penalties and a bit more consistency in the run game (specifically when we aren’t using zone concepts that let him get downhill) will give us the anchor LT that is critical to true SB contention.
- Anthony Walker/JJ3: what difference might we expect out of the addition of TWO vocal leaders on the defensive side of the ball? Woods will be handing the keys to the defense to two newcomers, and they each add a degree of leadership that has been sorely missing.
- JOK: it’s not fair to expect much out of the defense tomorrow and even less fair to count on the rookies getting their first NFL start against the best offense in the league… but I’m looking for flashes that indicate what we might be able to expect from both the defense and the rookies, and particularly JOK. Can he give us a taste of what we might expect in a playoff matchup against Kelce?
- Schwartz/Odell: I’m curious the impact the vertical route threat has tomorrow and how we utilize these two (especially since Odell will be limited). We lacked this element last year, and I’m hopeful this allows us to unlock some aspects of the offense and mix up some of the RPO.
Speed: it was immediately apparent in the playoffs last year that the Chiefs were a step faster (specifically on the offensive side of the ball). Will our roster improvements effectively neutralized their speed advantage?
Coaching: Andy Reid is exceptional at scheming up all kinds of goodies during the off-season to the tune of a 4-0 start in their last 4 seasons (absurd). As we all know… our season opener record leaves plenty to be desired. It’s a tall order to expect Stefanski to lead a young team (and overhauled defense) into Arrowhead and topple the Chiefs’ early season supremacy, but I’m hoping for Stefanski to personally match up to Reid a bit better than he did in the playoff loss where he was undeniably out-coached.
So glad the season is finally here!
ETA a prediction: 28-24 chiefs… but I think we surprise them with our defense when we see them again in January…
