Chiefs vs. Seahawks: Breaking Down Kansas City's Game Plan

While riding a four-game winning streak and coming away victorious in six of their last seven games, the Kansas City Chiefs want to continue their winning ways as the NFL season inches closer to the end. For the second week in a row, the Chiefs find themselves playing another opponent, this time the Seattle Seahawks, that is in crucial need of a win in order to stay in the playoff hunt.

And for the second week in a row, the Kansas City Chiefs’ offense will be challenged, making the Chiefs fight hard in order to capture another win.

Teams like the Chiefs and the Seahawks play with a lot of pressure in the months of November and December with hopes of extending their seasons going into the postseason in January.

Although the Seattle Seahawks have been up and down this year, they are currently on a three-game winning streak and they are coming off a Super Bowl season.

The Chiefs are capable of winning this game against the Seahawks, but all three facets of the game must go well with errors kept to a minimum.

Stop Seattle’s running game

Although the Chiefs are 18th and near the middle of the pack against the run, very few teams have exploited Kansas City’s biggest weakness. The Chiefs have allowed 4.7 yards per carry, the third most in the NFL.

With Seattle owning the best rushing game in the league with running back Marshawn Lynch and quarterback Russell Wilson contributing, Kansas City’s defense will be challenged at Arrowhead Stadium.

The Chiefs are the only team in the NFL that has yet to allow a rushing touchdown. Surprisingly, many teams have thrown the ball against the Chiefs while in red-zone situations, helping the Chiefs not allow a touchdown on the ground.

Although Wilson is a reliable quarterback, Seahawks coach Pete Carroll will make running the ball a priority, especially against the Chiefs.

Defensive end Allen Bailey and inside linebacker Josh Mauga have stepped up and been key this season for the Chiefs against the run and will need to pull through this Sunday in order to help the Chiefs capture another win.

Take care of the football on offense

This seems like an obvious plan in every game, but if there was a game where the Chiefs really needed to be flawless in the turnover category, it would be this week.

Seattle’s defense doesn’t win games by coming up with takeaways as it only has six interceptions and 12 takeaways altogether on the season, both below league average. However, defensive backs Earl Thomas and Richard Sherman have proven that they can jump up and snag passes thrown by quarterbacks and help set the offense up with great field position.

Thomas had five interceptions last year, while Sherman has posted back-to-back eight-interception seasons.

Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith has done a good job taking care of the ball, throwing just four interceptions, with three of them coming in Week 1. From Week 2 up to this point, the Chiefs have thrown only one interception, the fewest of any NFL team.

Use speed to beat Seattle’s defense

Scatbacks Jamaal Charles, Knile Davis and De’Anthony Thomas will likely see time on offense against the Seahawks. Seattle ranks eighth against the pass and fourth against the run. Chiefs coach Andy Reid likes to use his running backs in the passing game and will likely keep his tailbacks heavily active in this game.

The Chiefs also need to get the ball to speedy tight end Travis Kelce, who was only thrown to twice last week despite leading the team in receptions, yards and touchdowns through the air going into Week 10.

While Seattle has a stout and sound defense, the Chiefs can gash through it by giving the ball to their fastest players and letting them run through for big gains.

Follow @Farzin21