Behind Enemy Lines: 5 questions with Chiefs Wire for Week 15

Week 15 is nearly here, and the New Orleans Saints are set to kick off with the Kansas City Chiefs for a pivotal matchup featuring all-star talents on both sides: ranging from Drew Brees and Alvin Kamara to Patrick Mahomes and Tyrann Mathieu.

To get the best information, I exchanged a series of questions and answers with Charles Goldman over at Chiefs Wire. Follow this link for my responses to his questions. Here’s what I’ve learned in this week’s Behind Enemy Lines:

Saints Wire: Patrick Mahomes coughed up 3 turnovers last week against the Dolphins, is that an aberration or has he gotten some lucky bounces? Can the Saints defense take advantage of that?

Charles Goldman: "I think you can chalk it up to an unlucky day. Two of the interceptions came off of tipped passes and one was an absolutely mind-melting play by Xavien Howard, who leads the NFL in interceptions. I don’t think the Saints will get so lucky forcing interceptions from Mahomes, but I do think they’ll be able to pressure him with their tackle situation. "Both of the Chiefs’ bookend tackles, Eric Fisher and Mike Remmers, are dealing with back injuries and didn’t practice on Wednesday or Thursday. Their best options to replace them are Martinas Rankin and Yasir Durant. Rankin hasn’t played a snap in over a year and Durant is an undrafted rookie who surrendered a sack in Week 14 against the Dolphins. If you have any sort of competent edge pressure, you can get to Mahomes this week."

Saints Wire: Tyrann Mathieu remains a fan-favorite in New Orleans, but he isn't the only one making plays on defense in K.C. Where is the weak link for the Saints offense to try to exploit?

Charles Goldman: "If I were the Saints I would be throwing the ball to Alvin Kamara on literally every play possible. For whatever reason, the Chiefs are entirely unwilling to play their most athletic linebacker in rookie Willie Gay Jr., at least outside of snaps in their base 4-3 personnel group. If Ben Niemann or Anthony Hitchens is on the field and matched up against Kamara in man coverage -- abandon whatever play you have called and check to a pass to Kamara. Heck, he could probably go for 200 scrimmage yards against this defense with ease as they’ve also had struggles defending the run at times this year."

Saints Wire: The Saints offensive line had its hands full with the Eagles defensive front. Can the Chiefs get home with rushing four, or could we expect a lot of blitzes?

Charles Goldman: "The Chiefs had probably their best game of the season rushing the passer last week against the Miami Dolphins and a lot of it came when they were just rushing four. They notched four sacks on the day and were inches away from a few more. The great thing about Kansas City is that when their pass rush is on, they can really come at you from every angle. "On the interior, Chris Jones is extremely quick and powerful. Tershawn Wharton looked like John Randle at times with his speed getting to Tua Tagovailoa last week. Frank Clark is relentless in his effort and energy. Watch out for rookie DE Mike Danna too, he’s really starting to put things together when it comes to having a pass rush plan. "As for the blitzes, Spagnuolo has been using them a lot, but they haven’t really been very successful lately. They had more success early on in the season against teams like the Bills, but things have tapered off as the season progressed. I expect them to still send pressure on key downs, but they'll need to be careful, especially if Taysom Hill is the quarterback."

Saints Wire: How has rookie RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire looked? He has a lot of fans in Louisiana after being picked by the Chiefs.

Charles Goldman: "He’s every bit as good as advertised. He still does all the things he was known for at LSU, bouncing off would-be tackles, running with power and leg drive. He’s coming off of one of his best games when it comes to catching the ball too. I think that’ll be key for him moving forward, given how often the Chiefs like to drop back and throw. If he can really solidify himself as a receiving option out of the backfield in these final few games it’ll open up a lot of different things for the KC offense."

Saints Wire: Alright, let's see your score prediction. How do you see this one playing out?

Charles Goldman: "I should probably be less confident given the tackle situation for the Chiefs, but beating Kansas City is all about being able to outscore them. I’m not sure that New Orleans can do that with or without Drew Brees. The Chiefs are averaging about three points more per game this season compared to the Saints. I expect this game to come down to the wire with some drama in the final moments as has been the trend lately with Kansas City, perhaps with a quarterback leading a game-winning drive or falling short."

1

1