The high-octane offence, better known as the Kansas City Chiefs, take their talents over to MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on Sunday Night Football to face one of the best secondaries in the NFL, the New York Jets.
These two AFC clubs have been going in opposite directions of late, with the Jets losing 15-10 versus the New England Patriots last week, dropping them to 1-2 this season, while the Chiefs looked like their old selves at home to the Chicago Bears, improving to 2-1 thanks to a 41-10 victory.
Match preview
The hype surrounding New York heading into the regular season seems to have evaporated, particularly offensively, as this team have lost consecutive games, putting up a mere 10 points in a defeat to the Dallas Cowboys (30-10) and again last week versus the Pats.
Aaron Rodgers was supposed to be the answer to their prayers on the offensive side of the ball, but with the former four-time league MVP now on the long-term injured list, this team look like the same dismal and inefficient unit from years past, dead-last regarding points-per-game (14.0) and yards-per-game (225.0) in 2023.
Because of the Rodgers injury, their top selection at the 2021 draft has been given a new lease on his NFL life, which looked all but dead last season, but Zach Wilson has not come close to making the most of his second chance with the Jets ranked dead-last in the passing game after three weeks this season, averaging a mere 133.7 yards per game through the air so far, nearly 15 fewer than the second-worst team in that department (the Chicago Bears at 148.3).
The third-year pivot was supposed to be aided by a solid rushing attack, but last week, the ground game was nowhere to be found as the Jets could only muster 38 total yards out of the backfield against New England on 22 carries from four different players.
All of that has put a lot more pressure on their defence to hold down the fort, and for the most part, they have done their part, only allowing an 85.6 passer rating to the Patriots' Mac Jones last weekend, while their cornerbacks all held their targets to a rating of below 90 last Sunday.
When it comes to getting penetration along the line of scrimmage, Robert Saleh has seen his team regress significantly since week one, registering five sacks in a victory over the Buffalo Bills (22-16 in overtime), but managing one in each of their last two contests, while their O-line have conceded three in each of their games thus far.
Following a disappointing season debut for the Super Bowl champs, it appears to be business as usual with Andy Reid and his Chiefs, who have won back-to-back encounters by a combined score of 58-19, moving them up to first in the AFC West.
Whether it was the presence of the Chiefs' newest fan Taylor Swift or just the improvements that come as a season progresses, Kansas City had the Bears secondary seeing red all afternoon last week, pun intended, as five KC players had at least 35 yards receiving with the Chiefs managing over 300 yards through the air.
While it seems like things are back to normal in the KC passing attack, the pass defence, which has often been deemed the Achilles heel of this team in previous campaigns, deserves a ton of praise for their play this year, allowing the sixth-lowest rating through the air (75.6) despite facing two former Pro Bowl QBs in Jared Goff and Trevor Lawrence.
They have been a little easier to run against, though, through three weeks of the new campaign, allowing over 100 yards on the ground in two of their games played, while giving up an average of 4.5 yards per carry against the Bears.
Kansas City head into this Sunday night fixture having won their last three regular-season road contests versus AFC East opponents and they have not lost to a team in that division in the regular season since 2018 (43-40 loss at the New England Patriots).
The Chiefs have suffered only one defeat in their last eight regular-season road contests dating back to October 2022, putting up 30 or more points in all but two of those encounters.
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Team News
Rodgers underwent surgery on his left Achilles in mid-September, with the Jets pivot expected to be out until the middle of January at the earliest, Micheal Clemons is probable this weekend despite a sore elbow, Mekhi Becton was limited at practice this week due to an issue in his knee, Wes Schweitzer is a doubt because of a concussion, while Tony Adams might not be available due to an injured hamstring.
In week three, Wilson went 18 of 36 for 157 yards, with Garrett Wilson being his top receiver, catching five passes for 48 yards, Allen Lazard had just three catches for 39 yards, while the running duo of Breece Hall and Dalvin Cook had a game to forget as the former rushed for 18 yards on 12 carries and the latter collected the same but with only eight touches out of the backfield.
The Jets corner trio of Sauce Gardner, DJ Reed and Michael Carter each held their targets to a sub-90 ratings versus the Pats, Jordan Whitehead led New York with nine tackles, while Quincy Williams and CJ Mosley collected seven each.
Donovan Smith should be ready to go for KC on Sunday despite previously hurting his ribs, Chris Jones saw limited practice time this week with a sore groin, Nick Bolton missed practice because of an ankle sprain and Noah Gray could be a game-time decision as he has the flu.
In the presence of multiple Grammy Award-winning artist Taylor Swift, Travis Kelce, reportedly her new boyfriend, had seven catches for 69 yards and a score, one of three TDs thrown by Patrick Mahomes on the day, with the reigning league MVP also finding Jerick McKinnon for a pair of passing scores, while Clyde Edwards-Helaire and Isiah Pacheco each ran for one themselves.
Jones and Mike Danna each registered a sack against Chicago, Mike Edwards had an interception and Drue Tranquill posted a half-sack and led the team with four tackles.
Head To Head
The success gap between these two clubs may be significantly in favour of the Chiefs over the past decade, but the results have been split, with KC leading overall 20-19-1.
Not since November 2020 have these teams faced each other in a regular season encounter when KC won 35-9 as Mahomes connected with Tyreek Hill for a pair of scores before finding Kelce, Mecole Hardman and Demarcus Robinson for one each in a comfortable triumph.
The Jets, however, have won the last four meetings versus KC at MetLife Stadium, the last time being in 2017 (38-31) when Josh McCown ran for two touchdowns and Bilal Powell had one score on the ground while Mike Nugent hit a 43-yards field goal in overtime during a December 2007 clash, enabling New York to come away with a 13-10 victory.
KC last triumphed in Jersey in October 2005 when Morten Andersen booted three field goals, Priest Holmes had a TD run and catch and Dante Hall caught a 60-yard bomb from Trent Green for a major score, helping the Chiefs win 29-25.
We say: New York Jets 10-27 Kansas City Chiefs
The Jets' secondary might be able to keep Mahomes and the Chiefs at bay for a while, but unless they get the ground game working, it is hard to fathom Zach Wilson being able to trade scores with an offence as potent as Kansas City.
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