Kansas City Chiefs Must Keep Jeremy Maclin Involved to Seal Playoff Spot

Jeremy Maclin's biggest game of the season wasn't supposed to come against the Buffalo Bills.

Entering Week 12, the former Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver had caught 48 passes for just 612 yards and two touchdowns in nine games with the Kansas City Chiefs. With Alex Smith throwing him passes, opportunities down the field have been severely limited for Maclin.

Such a limited passing game going against a defense that features one of the most reputable cornerback pairings in the league was supposed to mute Maclin's output once again. Instead, the receiver caught nine passes for a season-high 160 yards with one touchdown.

Neither Stephon Gilmore nor Ronald Darby were able to shut the veteran down despite their bloated reputations.

Gilmore and Darby were supposed to get the better of Maclin in this offense. Despite the Bills' low-ranked pass defense as a whole, Gilmore and particularly Darby have been receiving rave reviews all season long for their play.

Pro Football Focus, a website that tracks the effectiveness of cornerbacks when they are targeted, rates both Gilmore and Darby highly. Darby had a plus-10.9 grade in coverage and Gilmore had a plus-4.6 grade entering Week 12. Neither player was allowing a quarterback rating of more than 77 entering Week 12.

While they are both reputable players, neither is a shutdown cornerback. Neither player would be considered an exceptionally difficult matchup for a receiver of Maclin's quality.

Because of the offense he plays in, Maclin's quality has been forgotten. The receiver entered this game coming off the back of three consecutive games with just three receptions in each, and in none of those games did he eclipse 35 yards. This wasn't an unusual stretch.

In six of Maclin's nine games this season, he has failed to reach 60 yards receiving. He had consecutive games with over 140 yards early in the season, but those were the only games of over 100 yards he had enjoyed this season before facing the Bills.

Maclin's play hasn't deteriorated. He is still just as good as the receiver who led the Philadelphia Eagles in 2014 with 1,318 yards and 10 touchdowns on 85 receptions. Maclin is an explosive, diverse and precise receiver who excels working downfield.

The Chiefs need to continue to be aggressive with how they use him, making him a focal point of their passing game.

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His longest gain of the day was also his touchdown reception. With around two minutes left in the first half, the Chiefs came out with three receivers, a tight end and a running back on 1st-and-10. Maclin was alone to the near side of the field.

Darby was the cornerback confronting Maclin at the line. He was playing press-man coverage and didn't mask his intentions at the snap.

When the ball was snapped, Darby didn't attempt to jam Maclin at the line. Instead he relied on his quick feet and balance to mirror Maclin's movement. Maclin didn't make an aggressive inside move, but he did release toward his inside shoulder before using a head fake to create some hesitation in the cornerback.

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Darby wasn't a widely beloved prospect entering the NFL, but the one thing that was clear to everyone was his straight-line speed. The defensive back ran a 4.38 40-yard dash at the combine, and that speed has shown against professional athletes throughout his rookie season.

Maclin was able to get level with him quickly after his release; that wasn't surprising because Darby had to be wary of any comeback routes or turns infield.

Cornerbacks with great speed can typically afford to be less aggressive early in routes because they can recover against receivers in the second half of the play. Against a receiver with the speed of Maclin, that isn't as easy.

Not only did Maclin get level with Darby quickly, but he was able to pull away down the sideline to a point that Darby couldn't impact him when Alex Smith unleashed his pass downfield. It was a perfect pass from Smith, which Maclin caught comfortably before striding into the end zone.

This play went for 41 yards and the touchdown. Over the course of his career, Maclin has always been able to get open deep with relative ease.

Before this game against the Bills, 81 of his 391 career receptions had gone for at least 20 yards, while 22 of those had gone for 40 yards or more. Unsurprisingly, this season hasn't been filled with big plays. With three gains of over 20 yards and one gain of over 40 against the Bills, Maclin has 12 receptions of 20-plus yards and three receptions of 40-plus yards so far this season.

His second-longest reception, a 37-yard gain earlier in the second quarter, shouldn't have counted.

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While the play occurred to the same side of the field and from a similar starting point, on this occasion Maclin beat backup cornerback Mario Butler with his speed. Butler had begun the play in off coverage, giving himself a cushion to protect against the deep ball.

That cushion didn't matter as Maclin blazed past him too easily.

It should have been a touchdown reception for the receiver. He had cleanly beaten Butler and was expecting the ball to be thrown farther downfield and to the outside. If that had happened, Maclin would have had an easy over-the-shoulder reception to make.

Instead, Smith missed this pass. He threw the ball just far enough for Maclin to read the flight of it and adjust, but he had to turn farther infield and dive beneath the ball to get his hands on it. He initially caught the ball but didn't control it through the process.

The Chiefs were too quick to get the next snap off, so Rex Ryan couldn't challenge to overturn the call.

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Having beaten Darby for a big play late during the second quarter, Maclin went to work against Gilmore early in the third quarter. Maclin is versatile enough to line up in the slot, and that is what he did on this occasion. Gilmore typically doesn't excel in the slot.

Gilmore is a bigger, stronger cornerback than anyone else on the Bills roster.

He uses that size to disrupt receivers early in their routes and muscle them away from the ball at the catch point. With his 6'1", 190-pound frame, he has the ability to lean on smaller receivers. Maclin isn't a big receiver, but he's also not small. He is officially listed at 6'0" and 198 pounds.

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Gilmore didn't attempt to disrupt Maclin at the line of scrimmage. Instead he ushered the receiver toward the sideline. Maclin didn't align outside the numbers, so there was plenty of space for him to advance into. The receiver willingly did so.

Although Gilmore is a big corner who relies on his physicality, he is not a lumbering player.

He isn't like a Brandon Browner or Antonio Cromartie, players who need to use their physicality to cover for their lack of fluidity. Gilmore is able to comfortably turn with Maclin and accelerate with him as he advances downfield. He stays on the inside shoulder of the receiver through the early stages of his route.

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As Maclin advances downfield, Gilmore plays his coverage perfectly. He mirrored Maclin's release comfortably before flipping his hips to accelerate onto his shoulder. Once established there, he turned his eyes back to locate any potential pass from the quarterback.

Maclin is blanketed at this point.

To escape that blanket, he has to use his hands. Technically, what Maclin does here is illegal. He pushes off against Gilmore, and it should have been called by the officials. However, it was also a smart move from the receiver because he was subtle in how he created a pocket of space against the cornerback.

Smith's pass wasn't perfect, but it was accurate enough for Maclin to catch with a dive to the ground. Had it been put in a spot where he could run underneath it, the receiver would likely have had another long touchdown reception. 

The Chiefs have a relatively easy remaining schedule with games against the Baltimore Ravens and Cleveland Browns standing out as games they should comfortably win.

Games against the Oakland Raiders will be vitally important, though. The Chiefs face the Raiders next week and in Week 17. The Raiders are a division rival and another team competing for a playoff spot. They have a loaded offense that the Chiefs can't expect to shut down or even comfortably contain.

It's very unlikely that the Chiefs can overcome the Raiders in both games if they play conservatively on offense. They will need to look to Maclin and tight end Travis Kelce with a downfield passing game to exploit the Raiders defense and keep pace with their offense.

No matter how effective running backs Charcandrick West and Spencer Ware can be, neither player can replace Jamaal Charles. This is particularly true against better caliber of opposition.

When Charles tore his ACL earlier this season, the natural reaction for the Chiefs should have been to look for Maclin more. That hasn't been the case, but his usage against the Bills indicates that it is a route that Andy Reid can take the offense in.

If he does get Maclin more involved, the Chiefs should expect to be playing in January.