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I
f you’ve watched a Kansas City Chiefs game this season or even just looked at a box score from one of their matchups, you know their defense isn’t good.
The Chiefs defense ranks 31st in the league in total points allowed through four weeks (125), 30th in rushing yards allowed (584), and 27th in passing yards allowed (1,167), according to ESPN. They are also 32nd in yards per carry allowed (5.4), and 30th in average yards per completion (8.8).
Most recently, they were carved up by the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 4, who had second-year quarterback Jalen Hurts throw for a career-high 387 yards and two touchdowns with zero turnovers. The Eagles’ offense scored a total of 30 points against Kansas City in that game, despite their offense only averaging 23.5 points per game through four weeks of regular-season play, according to ESPN.
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Former NFL safety and ESPN analyst Ryan Clark sounded off on Twitter regarding the Chiefs’ defense this week, offering to un-retire to help them even if he is washed up.
But on Tuesday, October 5, Clark really went off on the Chiefs’ defense and projected that their Week 5 opponent, the Buffalo Bills, would break an insane NFL record during the Sunday Night Football matchup.
Clark: Bills Will Post 78 Points vs. Chiefs
Here is what Clark had to say during a segment on ESPN’s morning show, “Get Up!” in which he was asked to address his tweet on Monday, October 4:
“Listen — I was probably washed in my last year in anyway. But for what I’m seeing from the Kansas City Chiefs, they have to give me a tryout,” Clark said. “I figure, you put me back there with Tyrann Mathieu, I can’t do any worse than they’re doing already. If you go back to halftime yesterday — 18 for 24, almost 250 yards, 25 yards rushing, and that was Jalen Hurts, the Jalen Hurts who couldn’t move the football against the San Francisco 49ers two weeks ago, the Jalen Hurts who couldn’t move the football against the Dallas Cowboys. The Kansas City Chiefs are Swiss cheese; nobody even likes Swiss cheese, you don’t put Swiss cheese on anything, and that’s what the Kansas City Chiefs are.
“You have Patrick Mahomes, hell, let him play defense,” Clark continued. “Put Travis Kelce at defensive end, Tyreek Hill at cornerback, can’t be no worse. Turn it into a fricken flag football team, because that’s what you’re playing on defense anyway.”
Host Mike Greenburg mentioned that the Chiefs are going to play the Bills in Week 5, which prompted Clark to interrupt Greenburg.
“[The Bills] are going to score 78 points,” Clark said.
The NFL record for points scored in an NFL game by one team is 72, which was done by the 1966 Washington Redskins in a 72-41 win over the New York Giants on November 17 of that year, per StatMuse. That game also set the NFL record for most total points scored in a game with 113.
Clark is predicting that the Bills will break that NFL record set by the ’66 Washington team against Kansas City in Week 5.
Defensive Struggles, as Told by Big Red
“I think there are areas we got to take care of and it’s more situations we got to take care of and certain coverages and just calls,” head coach Andy Reid said Monday, October 4, of what the points of emphasis are for Kansas City’s defense moving forward. “So, the scheme and we just tighten that up a little bit I think we’ll be okay. Never quite as good as you think and never as bad as you think. A few tweaks here and there I think we’ll be alright.”
Part of the reason the Chiefs have struggled so much defensively is because of injuries. In Week 4 alone, they were without two of their top 3 cornerbacks — Rashad Fenton and Charvarius Ward — and defensive end Frank Clark missed his third game this season due to a lingering hamstring issue. Tack on the fact that second-year linebacker and starter Willie Gay is still on injured reserve — although he is eligible to turn to action in Week 5 — and Kansas City is far from 100% healthy defensively.
“I think that you play three run teams is a factor to it and that’s probably added to the numbers there,” Reid explained when asked if he felt something was missing along the Chiefs’ defensive line. “I think that you start getting guys back in here and I think you add Frank [Clark] in the equation. Frank was an All-Pro and you’re missing that element, but I think once we get everyone back in there going and kind of in the flow, I think it will pick up a little bit. Second half, I thought it was better. When you look at it, the first half wasn’t quite as good as the second half.”
When the Chiefs take on the Bills in Week 5, they will be facing a Buffalo offense that is averaging 33.5 points per game this season, which is second-best in the league. While five touchdowns against the Eagles from Mahomes was enough for the Chiefs to scrape out a win in Week 4, the Chiefs offense will likely have to score more than 42 points in Week 5 to come out with a win against the Bills based on how their defense has looked this season.
Hopefully, Clark’s prediction doesn’t come to fruition. Otherwise, Mahomes will need to have an all-world performance for the Chiefs to have any chance at winning.