Just one year ago, Kansas City had a bottom-10 pass defense in the NFL. They allowed 33 touchdown passes -- 4 more than any other team, including 20 to wide receivers. They were terrible. What a difference a year has made. I will be avoiding the Green Bay passing game this week.
Jordan Love and the Packers receivers have been pretty good of late, most recently lighting up the Lions on Thanksgiving. But that's a struggling pass defense, while Kansas City is now a lot better.
Through 11 games, Kansas City has the league's 4th-ranked pass defense, and has allowed just 13 touchdown passes; just over a third as many as they allowed last season. They've done a really nice job against opposing wide receivers -- elite players included.
Here are the week by week numbers of No. 1 wide receivers against Kansas City. Some of the best players in the league at their position, all of whom underperformed. I'll be staying away from Love, Christian Watson, Jayden Reed and Romeo Doubs this week.
| NO. 1 WIDE RECEIVERS AGAINST KANSAS CITY | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Tgt | No | Rec | TD |
| Amon-Ra St. Brown, Det. | 9 | 6 | 71 | 1 |
| Calvin Ridley, Jac. | 8 | 2 | 32 | 0 |
| DJ Moore, Chi. | 6 | 3 | 41 | 1 |
| Garrett Wilson, NYJ | 14 | 9 | 60 | 0 |
| Justin Jefferson, Minn. | 6 | 3 | 28 | 0 |
| Courtland Sutton, Den. | 6 | 4 | 46 | 1 |
| Keenan Allen, LAC | 9 | 4 | 55 | 0 |
| Courtland Sutton, Den. | 3 | 2 | 29 | 1 |
| Tyreek Hill, Mia. | 10 | 8 | 62 | 0 |
| A.J. Brown, Phil. | 4 | 1 | 8 | 0 |
| Davante Adams, L.V. | 7 | 5 | 73 | 0 |
Four of those players, at least, scored, and in a couple of those games, the No. 2 or 1A options did fine (Christian Kirk and DeVonta Smith both put up at least 99 yards).
But A.J. Brown did nothing and Keenan Allen and Justin Jefferson also had their worst games of the season. Even Tyreek Hill underperformed. None of those guys reached 75 yards. Something to keep in mind also in Week 14, when Stefon Diggs and the Bills play at Kansas City.
--Andy Richardson