By Fred Liggett
FredL@lstribune.net
The 2018 NFL season is well underway and week one action saw several teams make an interesting opening statement. The defending AFC West Division champions were one of those teams making their statement with new additions to the team.
The Kansas City Chiefs opened the season with their ninth straight win over the Los Angeles Chargers. This win was aided by QB Patrick Mahomes who was responsible for four touchdowns and no interceptions to go along with a 127.5 QB rating. Defensively the win was aided by free agent pickup LB Anthony Hichens who led the team with 15 tackles. The Chiefs and head coach Andy Reid continue their mastery of the AFC West division into the 2018 season.
Up next for the Chiefs is another road trip, this time they head east to Pittsburgh for another key AFC matchup. The Chiefs and Steelers are perennial playoff participants so playoff implications are on the line Sunday even though it’s just week two of the season. The Steelers opening statement to the new year was a mixed bag of results. They played division rival Cleveland and returned home without a win…or a loss. Yes, the Steelers tied the Browns on opening day and now stand at 0-0-1. The Steelers let an early lead get away from them and failed to find a winning score. All Pro QB Ben Roethlisberger suffered an elbow injury that has kept him out of practice this week. The upside for the Steelers came in the form of RB James Conner who filled in for hold-out Le’Veon Bell and finished with 135 yards.
This week’s game against the Steelers reminds me of the 2017 meeting between the two teams. The Chiefs were coming in off from a win while the Steelers had struggled without Le’Veon Bell and Roethlisberger was seen on the sidelines shouting at then offensive coordinator Todd Haley. Bell’s first game saw him go over 100 yards and Roethlisberger showed no signs of dissatisfaction with the playbook in a win over the Chiefs. Connor appears to be a worthy fill-in for Bell who continues his holdout as of press time. Expect Roethlisberger to start and the veteran to play well against the Chiefs secondary. The Chiefs have lost three in a row to the Steelers and dropped six out of their last seven meetings. Playing at home, the Steelers will get well with yet another victory over the Chiefs. The Chiefs will return home at 1-1 heading into their home opener next week.
That’s What I REID Into It for this week.
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