Five stats that could determine the Chiefs’ game against 49ers Welcome

chiefStats:back to chiefStats — the place where I toss a few stats out into the ethos for Kansas City Chiefs fans to absorb before the game. I am hoping this article can work its way into Chiefs fans pregame ritual.Last week we talked about the Steelers having difficulty with top five points per game offenses Kansas City Chiefs T-Shirt , and it came to fruition when Pittsburgh couldn’t keep up with the Chiefs high powered offense.Now our focus turns towards the 49ers, and below are five topics which could alter the outcome of the game.1. 49ers sacks allowedWe’ll start our analysis with a nice little Tweet:For reference, the worst pass protection team in 2017 (the Colts) gave up a sack percentage of 10.3 percent.The Chiefs defense has been very inept at sacking the quarterback to start the 2018 season, tallying only two sacks. So far in 2018, the Chiefs have a miserable sack percentage of 1.8 percent; only the Giants have been worse (1.7 percent).All that said, I’m not ready to throw in the towel on the Chiefs pass rush. Perhaps one reason for the Chiefs low sack totals is that the Steelers and Chargers are just good at protecting the QB. In 2017, the Chargers finished first in the NFL in sack percentage (3.0 percent), and the Steelers finished third (3.9 percent).On Sunday against the 49ers, we should have a better idea of what the Chiefs pass rush is capable of.2. 49ers running gameThis is the 49ers’ strength. The 49ers have the second-best yards per rushing attempt average in the NFL so far in the young season.Matt Breida is leading the charge for the 49ers with 184 rushing yards on only 22 attempts — that’s an average of 8.4 yards per attempt. Breida should provide a good test for the Chiefs run defense.I’m very curious to see how the Chiefs fare against the 49ers running game. I believe the Chiefs strength on defense is their ability to stop the run. Sunday should prove to be a good test on the defensive side of the ball.If the 49ers get into a shootout with the Chiefs it could spell major problems for their offense if they have to abandon the run.3. It’s been a while...Remember last week when it had been a long time since the Chiefs had beaten the Steelers in Pittsburgh? Well, the same could be said about the 49ers playing in Kansas City.Cool story — the Chiefs haven’t lost at home to the 49ers in my lifetime... hopefully it stays that way.Of course, I missed an important piece of information when crafting the Tweet above:Ahhhh yes, there we go, now the facts are complete.4. QB PlayGaroppolo has not played up to the hype in 2018 amassing the following stats:55.9 Cmp%, 467 yards, 7.9 Y/A3 TD, 3 INT, 77.4 QB RatingContrast this with what Mahomes is doing:69.1 Cmp%, 582 yards, 10.6 Y/A10 TD, 0 INT, 143.3 QB RatingAs you can see, there is a massive disparity in quarterback play between the two. Obviously, the Chiefs defense hasn’t been on par with the ones Garoppolo has faced (Vikings Kansas City Chiefs Hats , Lions), but Mahomes hasn’t had a cakewalk either. Both the Steelers and Chargers should have good defenses when everything is said and done in 2018.The last thing the 49ers want to do is get into a shootout with the Chiefs. If the start of the season has anything to do with how the rest of the year will go, the 49ers will lose the game if Garoppolo is asked to keep up with Mahomes.So if I’m the Chiefs, my goal is to be aggressive and score early.5. TurnoversThe 49ers have started the season with a bit of a turnover bug, coughing up four turnovers while only generating two of their own.If the 49ers were to continue to give up turnovers at this same pace, they would give up 32 on the entire season which would have been the third-worst mark in 2017. The 49ers are also on pace to have a minus-32 turnover differential in 2018 — this would have been the worst in the NFL in 2017.Obviously the 49ers are unlikely to finish the season at the same pace of allowing turnovers, but it bodes well for a Chiefs defense which has struggled to make splash plays so far in 2018.The Chiefs defense is currently sitting at two turnovers forced on the season. If the Chiefs want to adjust their defensive game plan to include more risk, in hopes to get more turnovers, this week against the 49ers the week to do it.So to summarize, the keys to the game are:Chiefs need to take advantage of the 49ers poor pass protection at the start of the season.Who’s going to win the running game battle? Will the Chiefs improved front be able to stop Breida and Morris?Will the 49ers continue to lose in Kansas City?The Chiefs should be heavily favored due to Mahomes’ play being significantly better than Garoppolo’s thus far.The Chiefs defense needs to play a ball-hawk style, and try to generate turnovers. The Kansas City Chiefs defeated the Cincinnati Bengals, 45-10, on Sunday Night Football at Arrowhead Stadium.Usually, in this article, I will list the winners and losers from the game—but not tonight. I could nitpick, but the Chiefs had this game won midway through the third quarter.Winners only.WinnersPhoto by Adam Glanzman/Getty ImagesChiefs head coach Andy Reid won his 200th NFL game on Sunday night—and that’s made up of 189 regular-season wins and 11 postseason wins. While Reid has had his postseason struggles, his regular-season success is undeniable, and he’s now within one win of eighth all time. He is five wins (205) from former Chiefs head coach Marty Schottenheimer and nine wins (209) from Chuck Noll. Once Reid overtakes Noll, be it this year or next, he will sit alone in sixth. “That’s an individual thing, I’m not really good with that,” Reid said. “We are about team. I know a lot of people involved with each one of those wins that have been crucial, so Kansas City Chiefs Womens Hoodie , I enjoy it and I appreciate it, but I would tell you it’s everyone. Everyone is involved. I’ve been blessed to be around some good people, players and coaches. Ownership has been phenomenal. I’ve been really blessed to be in a great position and be a part of it.”Jay Biggerstaff-USA TODAY SportsChiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes continues to play at an MVP-caliber level, and he should once again be the frontrunner after this week’s performance. Mahomes finished 28 of 39 for 358 yards, four touchdowns and one interception. He continued to show development in being comfortable in the pocket, as well as his ability to make plays with his legs. Mahomes also had 45 rushing yards on four rushes in the win. The Chiefs never punted—a feat that has occurred only two other times in franchise history, against the Carolina Panthers in December 2000 and away against the Los Angeles Rams in December of 1991.Mahomes connected with eight different receivers on Sunday night, including the big three—Travis Kelce had five catches for 95 yards, Sammy Watkins had four catches for 74 yards and Tyreek Hill had seven catches for 68 yards. Hill had the trio’s only touchdown on the evening during the same drive in which he dropped a wide-open touchdown pass. It was the 20th receiving touchdown of his three-year career.Denny Medley-USA TODAY SportsAfter a slow start to the season, Chiefs running back Kareem Hunt recorded his fourth game in a row of 80 rushing yards or more. Hunt had 86 rushing yards on the night, as well as a 2-yard rushing touchdown. Through the air, Hunt had five catches for 55 yards and two touchdowns. The three touchdowns make 20 touchdowns in Hunt’s two-year career. Hunt has tapped back into the kind of elusiveness we grew to expect stemming from his rookie season. Hunt has 13 career games with 100 yards from scrimmage or more in 23 total tries.Also, Chiefs fans weren’t the only ones who noticed his ridiculous hurdle:Tight end Demetrius Harris has Mahomes’ other touchdown with his only catch of the game.The offensive line tandem of center Jordan Devey and right guard Andrew Wylie is especially noteworthy. Based upon our first look, Geno Atkins was kept in check on the duo’s first full night together. The game marked Wylie’s first career start.Denny Medley-USA TODAY SportsChiefs fans will have trouble admitting, but defensive coordinator Bob Sutton deserves a lot of credit for the gameplan he put together against the Bengals.This comments came through from wide receiver AJ Green after the game:“They didn’t play a lot of press. I think they had drive where I had a couple of catches where they would be pressing me and bailing and then a lot of two-manning on my side. They switched up some things that we didn’t see on film...They played a lot of two-man. They didn’t show that on film during their previous games. So they played a lot of two-man and they didn’t bail that much on film, and they bailed a lot on me.”Green was the Bengals’ only effective offensive player—he had seven catches for 117 yards in the losing effort.Linebacker Dee Ford continues to be the Chiefs’ best defensive player. Ford sacked Andy Dalton for the fifth sack of his career, and Dalton fumbled on the play but managed to recover the football. Chris Jones also had a nice sack on the evening.Denny Medley-USA TODAY SportsChiefs safety Ron Parker picked off Dalton for his first touchdown in his eight-year career. It was the second interception of the season and the 11th for his career. The interception score gave the Chiefs a 38-7 lead with 11 minutes to go in the third quarter and pretty much sealed the game. The Chiefs hardly looked back after the pick-six.As it turns out, rookie linebacker Dorian O’Daniel really does exist. O’Daniel recorded his first career tackle (and tackle for loss) in the third quarter, and he finished with four solo tackles. Watch O’Daniel’s tackle of Bengals running back Joe Mixon here:Thunderous.I liked that it seemed like Reggie Ragland and Anthony Hitchens turned it on in this game, recording three tackles apiece. The Bengals were behind most of the game so they had to throw the ball quite a bit, but the explosive Mixon was held to just 50 rushing yards on 13 carries partly thanks to the effort of Ragland and Hitchens. I have begun to think that Ragland is just starting to get healthy as the Chiefs approach their eighth game of the season.As promised, no losers tonight. Except for maybe these guys.