Post by Purple Pain on Oct 29, 2019 12:36:34 GMT -6
Dalvin Cook must have cracked a smile when he learned Packers running backs Aaron Jones and Jamaal Williams combined for 262 yards from scrimmage and four touchdowns on Sunday night against the Chiefs — his next opponent at Arrowhead Stadium this weekend. Or maybe one just hasn’t left his face so far this season.
It has been that kind of year for Cook, the NFL’s rushing leader in yards and touchdowns. There’s little reason to think that won’t continue Sunday in Kansas City, where the Chiefs run defense has already surrendered four 100-yard rushers (and 99 yards to Oakland’s Josh Jacobs) and a 159-yard, two-touchdown receiving night from Packers running back Aaron Jones on Sunday.
At the halfway point, Cook’s all-time pace (currently 2,232 yards from scrimmage) would give him the 17th-best season in league history. He’s given the Vikings offense a real threat underneath, a perfect complement to a vertical play-action passing game.
1. It’s not only that the Chiefs defense is porous against the run, but how they’ve sprung their leaks. Kansas City is banged up. Frank Clark is out with a neck injury. Defensive tackles Chris Jones and Xavier Williams are also sidelined. Chiefs linebackers are an uneven bunch, susceptible to big plays as shown by Aaron Jones and the Packers. They benched cover man Darron Lee because he wasn’t great in coverage, which led to the good decision of playing Reggie Ragland more.
But Anthony Hitchens (six missed tackles) and Damien Wilson (five) play a lot, and they’re vulnerable. Replacement DTs Derrick Nnadi and Khalen Saunders are young.
When teams bulk up, the Chiefs have an even harder time stopping the run, playing into the Vikings’ strengths. Only the Steelers, Lions and Cardinals are as bad at stopping runs from ’12 personnel,’ or two tight ends, as the Chiefs, according to Sharp Football.
Kansas City is allowing a 62% success rate to runners out of two tight end formations, their weakest matchup in the run game, while it’s the strength (49% success) of the Vikings’ third-ranked rushing attack.
It has been that kind of year for Cook, the NFL’s rushing leader in yards and touchdowns. There’s little reason to think that won’t continue Sunday in Kansas City, where the Chiefs run defense has already surrendered four 100-yard rushers (and 99 yards to Oakland’s Josh Jacobs) and a 159-yard, two-touchdown receiving night from Packers running back Aaron Jones on Sunday.
At the halfway point, Cook’s all-time pace (currently 2,232 yards from scrimmage) would give him the 17th-best season in league history. He’s given the Vikings offense a real threat underneath, a perfect complement to a vertical play-action passing game.
1. It’s not only that the Chiefs defense is porous against the run, but how they’ve sprung their leaks. Kansas City is banged up. Frank Clark is out with a neck injury. Defensive tackles Chris Jones and Xavier Williams are also sidelined. Chiefs linebackers are an uneven bunch, susceptible to big plays as shown by Aaron Jones and the Packers. They benched cover man Darron Lee because he wasn’t great in coverage, which led to the good decision of playing Reggie Ragland more.
But Anthony Hitchens (six missed tackles) and Damien Wilson (five) play a lot, and they’re vulnerable. Replacement DTs Derrick Nnadi and Khalen Saunders are young.
When teams bulk up, the Chiefs have an even harder time stopping the run, playing into the Vikings’ strengths. Only the Steelers, Lions and Cardinals are as bad at stopping runs from ’12 personnel,’ or two tight ends, as the Chiefs, according to Sharp Football.
Kansas City is allowing a 62% success rate to runners out of two tight end formations, their weakest matchup in the run game, while it’s the strength (49% success) of the Vikings’ third-ranked rushing attack.
you can wake up now.
... and neither is this Chris guy.