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Chiefs will lose. Defense will get torched. Hope I am WRONG.

So HB is playing and I will change my result. KC 41- Cleve 24

Tyrann Mathieu activated from COVID list in time to play vs. Browns After a week or more spent holding our collective breath in Chiefs Kingdom, the K.C. Chiefs have announced they’ve activated star safety Tyrann Mathieu from the COVID/reserve list just in time to play on Sunday against the Cleveland Browns. The Chiefs made a surprise move when they first placed Mathieu on the COVID/reserve list late last week after he’d tested positive for the coronavirus. The move brought a cloud over the team’s secondary given his overall importance, but the team remained positive in the early going with the belief he would be back for the team’s season-opening game and even practice leading up to the Browns contest. Unfortunately for the Chiefs and Mathieu, things had not gone according to plan until Saturday as Mathieu continued to miss practice throughout the week. Late this week, defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo admitted they had a Plan B in the event Mathieu could not go. Finally on Saturday, the literal last day for the Chiefs to activate him in time to play on Sunday afternoon, the team got their answer.

Tyrann Mathieu activated from COVID list in time to play vs. Browns After a week or more spent holding our collective breath in Chiefs Kingdom, the K.C. Chiefs have announced they’ve activated star safety Tyrann Mathieu from the COVID/reserve list just in time to play on Sunday against the Cleveland Browns. The Chiefs made a surprise move when they first placed Mathieu on the COVID/reserve list late last week after he’d tested positive for the coronavirus. The move brought a cloud over the team’s secondary given his overall importance, but the team remained positive in the early going with the belief he would be back for the team’s season-opening game and even practice leading up to the Browns contest. Unfortunately for the Chiefs and Mathieu, things had not gone according to plan until Saturday as Mathieu continued to miss practice throughout the week. Late this week, defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo admitted they had a Plan B in the event Mathieu could not go. Finally on Saturday, the literal last day for the Chiefs to activate him in time to play on Sunday afternoon, the team got their answer.

I assume HB is out. Its up to the offense. KC will need a huge day from Mahomes and at least 40 points. I think they get it. KC 41 Cleve 38. Mahomes with a game clinching touchdown drive as time runs out.

Replacing Mathieu, the player So Mathieu may now be in line to legitimately miss his first game as a Chief (he rested Week 17 last year with all the other starters). That should mean more playing time for third-year safety Juan Thornhill, who had an interesting training camp in his own right. Because he missed OTA (organized team activities) sessions, the Chiefs had Thornhill report to St. Joseph three days early with the rookies and quarterbacks. “He missed all of that OTA time,” explained defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo back in late August. “Juan and I talked; I thought that set him back a little bit mentally. We have a few wrinkles here and there.” After Thornhill recovered from an early-camp groin injury, he mixed with the first team, second team and sometimes the third team. Then there was a breakthrough of sorts, when he recorded a diving interception against the Arizona Cardinals in the Chiefs’ second preseason game. “I’m back,” the 25-year-old declared after the game. “There were times last season I was doubting myself. I was never 100% — I just had to fight through the pain. This offseason, I’ve just attacked it. I’m trying to get my knee back to 100%, and I can definitely say I’m back.”

Chiefs DC Steve Spagnuolo said that S Tyrann Matheiu's status for Sunday is "up in the air right now." Mathieu has been on the COVID-19 list since September 1st and has only done virtual meetings with the team in preparation for this week's game against Cleveland. Spagnuolo also noted that there are different game plans depending on if Mathieu can play or not on Sunday. The Chiefs defense was already a bit of a contrarian play, but if you are aiming to use them in Week 1, note that Mathieu's absence would mean a lot for them.

Where did you find that?

Kelce seems to agree. “I think we’ve got a lot of mismatch problems, man,” he told reporters on Wednesday. “It is what it is. I think we’ve got great athletes, especially the two young guys (Gray and Fortson) coming up and being very professional early on in their career, taking notes and figuring out natural instincts to be able to go out there and play in the field. And obviously, the veteran aspect in Blake Bell.” Bell, a Super Bowl LIV champion, returned to the Chiefs this year after a sabbatical with the Dallas Cowboys. “Having him back in the room and knowing that he knows the offense already — we just keep growing,” Kelce added. “There’s a lot of possibilities that we can do with that group.” Friend-of-the-site Herbie Teope of The Kansas City Star followed up by asking for the name of personnel group, noting that 12 personnel (one running back and two tight ends) is called Tiger. What does that make 14 personnel (one running back and all four tight ends)? “That one’s T-Rex — T-Rex, baby,” Kelce said with a smile.

Mathieu was first reported to be in the COVID protocol on September 1. “Tyrann’s still in the protocol,” said Reid. “We’ll just see how that goes. He is getting better, though, which is a good thing.” Since Mathieu has been reported to be vaccinated, so long is he is asymptomatic, he can return to the team after two negative tests 24 hours apart. Perhaps Reid’s comments mean that Mathieu has received one negative test, and the Chiefs may see him back at practice by the end of the week. “As long as everything’s physically OK, and (vice president of sports medicine and performance) Rick (Burkholder) and the docs stay on top of that, and we’re in communication with him, obviously, so if he can go, he’ll go. If he can’t, then he can’t. “[We will] make sure he’s safe to do it, though.”

Browns have a very good team and could win it all. The best team does not always get to the big game. Good test for KC. If HB does not play its a real test for KC.

Good points. Browns have lost 15 consecutive opening games. 15 I hope the law of averages, way over due, does not show up this Sunday.

Its very difficult to beat any decent NFL Team two times in one season. We shall see. Cleve has to deal with the same stuff and Covid too. DWBH

So do you have Cleve winning this weekend too?

Yes. It will be interesting to see how the rookies do on that oline.

Ill wait to see if Honey Badger is playing. I did some Browns research and like most teams they feel they have improved. They feel their secondary has been upgraded and Clowney will improve their pass rush. This may be true but having a new secondary against the KC offense game one will likely lead to some KC big plays. The Chiefs ability to have multiple tight ends and Bell chipping should mitigate any pass rush. Then there is KC abilty to also run the ball. I watched the first half of the play off game and KC ran well. So this years team should be able to improve on that. CEH was out for that game.

Multiple-tight end sets Reid is one of the most successful play-callers in the league using multiple tight end sets — partially due to his creativity but also because of the run-pass balance he maintains. While, traditionally, teams have utilized multiple tight ends to gain an extra blocker in the running game, Reid tends to stick to the same mix of play-calling he would use with one tight end on the field. The Chiefs have proven its pass catchers thrive in multiple-tight end sets. In the 2018 season, Hill, Kelce and Sammy Watkins each finished in the top 20 of receiving yards out of 12 personnel. Mahomes added 13 touchdowns. Reid is a master at diversifying the assignments of his tight ends out of multiple tight end sets. He baits defenses into developing assumptions about the Chiefs’ play calls and flips their expectations against them. Running back LeSean McCoy — who played for Reid in both Kansas City and Philadelphia — told the Kansas City Star he thinks “Coach (Reid) likes drawing up plays in 12 personnel. Run, pass, whatever it is, they all look the same. That’s how you psyche teams out: by having everything look the same.” It’s one of the reasons Mahomes and Kelce are so effective with the run-pass option.

Versatility Tight ends are among the most versatile players on NFL rosters, making them invaluable assets on offense (and special teams, too). Somewhere near the intersection of a mini offensive lineman and a beefed-up wide receiver (literally — in Fortson’s case), modern NFL tight ends are capable of creating mismatches all over the field. With a full cupboard of contributors at the position, the Chiefs’ offense increases its chances of finding and exploiting those mismatches. Some teams have athletic off-ball linebackers who can match up with fast tight ends in the slot. Others have big cornerbacks who can match the physicality of tight ends on the boundary. Not every team has both those types of players on its roster, and few teams have multiples of them. As Kelce put it this offseason, defenses “bring in more linebackers or a bigger guy because we’re bringing in bigger guys, so they try to match the personnel, which can also kind of play in our advantage because we’ve got guys that can run routes everywhere in the tight end room. It’s just trying to take advantage of those mismatches and just be accountable for the team. Anything that coach Reid can imagine, we want to be able to give him that option to call.”

Why the Chiefs’ four-man tight end room is pivotal to 2021 success The personnel groupings Andy Reid has at his disposal this season should help open up a balanced attack on offense. https://www.arrowheadpride.com/2021/9/7/22660028/why-the-chiefs-four-man-tight-end-room-is-pivotal-to-2021-success While the decrease in multiple tight end sets was a footnote in a successful 2020 regular season for the Chiefs, the significance of the change reared its ugly head on the biggest stage. Despite having each of its starting offensive tackles sidelined with injuries in Super Bowl LV, the Chiefs used five-man protection on 92.3% of dropbacks. That was the third-highest usage rate of five-man protection by any team in the NFL Next Gen Stats era (since 2016). It’s no wonder bringing back Bell was one of the team’s priorities in free agency, along with signing offensive guards Joe Thuney and Kyle Long. The Chiefs did not trust its backup tight ends in pass protection when it needed them the most in the 2020 season. That should change with the depth the team has at the position now. In addition to using its tight ends to chip block — a quick-hitting block players use before releasing into a route — the Chiefs have the luxury of dedicating full-time tight end help in pass protection when the scouting report calls for it. With the trio of Patrick Mahomes, Tyreek Hill and Kelce always a threat to create plays, the team can afford to use a player like Bell in-line to reinforce its pass protection. Per Pro Football Focus, Bell only gave up four pressures (including one sack) in 90 pass-blocking snaps for the Chiefs in 2019. Last season with the Dallas Cowboys, Bell did not allow a pressure in 43 pass-blocking snaps. The genius way Reid utilized his tight ends on the play was lost in the excitement of the Chiefs simply lining up in 14 personnel against the Vikings. Kelce, Gray, and Fortson — whom defenses may consider ‘receiving tight ends’ — immediately broke out into passing routes at the snap of the ball. Bell — who often gets the “blocking” tight end tag — engaged a defender at the line of scrimmage for a few moments before slipping off the block and settling over the middle of the field for a touchdown catch. That is insanely tough to stop. While it remains to be seen how often the Chiefs will utilize multiple tight end sets this year, a few things are certain: The opportunities are endless, and the Chiefs have a plan. The diversity of personnel groupings — and play calls out of those groupings — that Reid has at his disposal this season should help open up the balanced attack the Chiefs want to establish. The tight end room will play a pivotal role in making it all tick.

Agree. Players would be a little better protected with a few extra substitutions and maybe not have to make a minor injury a season ending injury.

Defense just needs to be average and Mahomes & Co will out score the other guys.

Good. I see lots of options at receiver including the TEs. Hardman does not have to be THE GUY to replace PART TIME WATKINS. He will make some big plays and stretch the defense opening things up for other guys and RBs.

Agree. I do think these TE will see work flanked out & in the slot. Red Zone & short yardage could be 14.

Lots of options. Especially in the RED Zone.

I think KC considers a couple of those guys as receivers too. So 4 active could be. I think Reid looks for the unusual opportunities.