{"id":4991,"date":"2016-10-27T23:59:40","date_gmt":"2016-10-28T03:59:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonprofootball.com\/?p=4991"},"modified":"2016-10-27T23:59:40","modified_gmt":"2016-10-28T03:59:40","slug":"kansas-city-chiefs-week-eight-keys-victory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2016\/10\/27\/kansas-city-chiefs-week-eight-keys-victory\/","title":{"rendered":"Kansas City Chiefs Week Eight Keys to Victory"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The halfway point of the NFL season is upon us, and the <strong>AFC West<\/strong> and <strong>AFC South<\/strong> are both up for grabs in this crucial matchup. This week the <strong>Kansas City Chiefs<\/strong> go on the road to take on the <strong>Indianapolis Colts<\/strong>. The Chiefs are coming off back-to-back wins against teams with explosive offenses and poor defenses, and this Sunday should be no different as they face <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/L\/LuckAn00.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Andrew Luck<\/a><\/strong>. Here are the Chiefs keys to victory for week eight.<\/p>\n<h2>Kansas City Chiefs Week Eight Keys to Victory<\/h2>\n<h3>Prevent Big Plays Downfield by Pressuring <a href=\"http:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/L\/LuckAn00.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Andrew Luck<\/a><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With otherworldly talent and deep threat <strong>T.Y. Hilton<\/strong> at his disposal, the expected return of <strong>Donte Moncrief<\/strong> makes Luck and the Colts passing attack more lethal.<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When Luck has time (emphasis on <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When Luck has time<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">), he can make some big throws downfield.<\/span>\u00a0The former number-one overall pick, though, is being protected by one of the worst offensive lines in the league. Luck has been sacked and hurried more than any quarterback this season. The line\u2019s inability to pick up stunt and delayed blitzes have made it easy for defenses to manufacture pressure. As the game progresses and Luck gets\u00a0hit more, he becomes visibly uncomfortable in the pocket and starts checking down frequently, limiting his shots down the field to guys like <a href=\"http:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/H\/HiltT.00.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Hilton<\/a>. Expect Kansas City to send plenty of delayed blitzes from linebackers and safeties in the box.<\/p>\n<h3>Run Misdirection and Read Option Plays<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Based off film study, one of Colts glaring weaknesses is the linebacker corps\u2019 inability to defend the read-option;<\/span>\u00a0they tend to over-commit, leaving the second option wide open. <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Although we haven\u2019t seen it much this season, look for Alex Smith to run the ball more<\/span>. The Chiefs should also utilize <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/H\/HillTy00.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tyreek Hill<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0on jet sweeps and ball fakes to keep the linebackers stationary. These factors will help the Chiefs control both the clock and tempo of the game. <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Indianapolis already struggles with corralling one featured ballcarrier.\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But when weapons like \u00a0<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/search\/search.fcgi?pid=SmitAl03,SmitAl02&amp;search=Alex+Smith&amp;utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Alex Smith<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/W\/WareSp00.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><b>Spencer Ware<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/H\/HillTy00.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Tyreek Hill<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/W\/WestCh01.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><b>Charcandrick West<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> need to be accounted for, they&#8217;ll be kept<\/span>\u00a0guessing all game long.<\/p>\n<h3>Attack the Middle of the Field<\/h3>\n<p>The way to attack the Colts defense passing defense\u00a0is through\u00a0the middle. The linebackers once again are the weakness because of their sub-par coverage skills. They consistently give up five to ten-yard passes over the middle to slot receivers, tight ends and running backs. With the emergence of <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/C\/ConlCh00.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Chris Conley<\/a><\/strong> in the last few weeks, plenty of spot routes should go his way over the middle. Pair that with slants to <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/M\/MaclJe00.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jeremy Maclin<\/a><\/strong> and running back button hooks and this offense will have no problem moving the ball, especially considering how poorly the Colts are at making the first tackle. We could see many of these short plays break into something more due to poor tackling. Playing conservatively has been a knock against <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/R\/ReidAn20.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Andy Reid<\/a>\u2019s<\/strong> playcalling, but this week it&#8217;ll be\u00a0exactly what the doctor ordered.<\/p>\n<h3>Conclusion<\/h3>\n<p>Kansas City is the better team of the two this week. They just need to execute their game plan and not turn the ball over. Between the Colts poor offensive line, poor defense and tendency to commit penalties (Third most in the league) the Colts will likely beat themselves.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Kansas City Chiefs Week Eight Keys to Victory: This week we\u2019ll see the Kansas City Chiefs go on the road to take on the Indianapolis Colts<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1626,"featured_media":2636,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[50,311,337,55,61,56,122,40,300,297],"class_list":["post-4991","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chiefs","tag-afc-south","tag-afc-west","tag-alex-smith","tag-andrew-luck","tag-football","tag-indianapolis-colts","tag-kansas-city-chiefs","tag-nfl","tag-spencer-ware","tag-tyreek-hill"],"modified_by":"Will Cotchery, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4991","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1626"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4991"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4991\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2636"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4991"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4991"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4991"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}