The Jets defense will be tasked with slowing down the NFL's No. 5-ranked offense Sunday against the Chiefs (5-2) in Kansas City. While this is a different-looking Kansas City offense, the Chiefs are still led by a two-time NFL MVP and three-time Super Bowl MVP at quarterback.
"I mean they're led by Patrick Mahomes, that's really all you need to see," Jets second-year CB Azareye'h Thomas said on Wednesday. "They're an explosive offense. They got some speed, they got guys that can take the top off the ball, they got guys that can continue the route. Overall, great, great offense, great team."
Though the Chiefs slumped to a 6-11 record last season, losing their final six games, Mahomes played in only 7 games before sustaining an ACL injury. The Chiefs have won three Super Bowls (and lost one) this decade and HC Aaron Glenn talked about their "sustainable winning situation" during his press conference on Monday.
"That's a lot of credit to the players the coaching staff, and the organization," Glenn said. "We look forward to playing against a team like that."
In free agency, KC added RB Kenneth Walker III from Seattle in free agency, last season's Super Bowl MVP, to the attack on offense. He's added a dimension with 141 carries for 770 yards (5.5 per).
See photos of the Jets on the practice field ahead of their Week 9 matchup with the Chiefs.
"When you have a back like that, it kind of changes things," Thomas said. "You kind of got to play to his strengths, and he has a lot of them, honestly. But I mean, it doesn't really change anything that we're going to do -- corners got to come up and get ready to tackle. But overall, I don't feel like their identity has changed. I just feel like they've added more playmakers, and they've been smart with how they're using them." He added: "Overall, we just got to play our game.'
The quick and aggressive Thomas is fifth on the Jets with 37 tackles (19 solo), 2 TFL and 6 PD.
TE Travis Kelce, Mahomes' favorite target the past few seasons, leads the Chiefs with 43 targets, 29 receptions, 410 yards (fifth most in the NFL) and 2 TDs. In addition to Walker, rookie RB Emmett Johnson is a threat catching passes out of the backfield -- he has 14 receptions for 237 receiving yards (16.9 per) with a pair of TDs
"If we need to play man coverage a certain week, we'll play man coverage," Glenn said on Wednesday. "If we need to play zone coverage a certain week, we'll play zone coverage. We have guys that are versatile enough to be able to go back and forth and do things like that. Obviously, there are some things that you hang your hat on."
The Jets have the NFL's 11th-ranked defense and are 5th against the pass (194 yds/g) and 21st against the run (123.6 yds/g). They'll tussle Sunday with one of the league's top RB-QB combinations in Walker and Mahomes, who's hitting on 66.4% of his passes with 12 TDs and 4 INTs.
"Every team is different, every quarterback you go against is different," Glenn said. "Every quarterback has their strong points and their weak points, which you try to hit on the weak points. You're [got to be] different every week to be able to execute a game plan on how you want to win a game."
