September 10, 2022
By Fred Liggett
sports.lstribune08@gmail.com
The time has come to embark on a new football season and for the Kansas City Chiefs it’s time for them to visit the site where they hope to end the season. The place is State Farm Stadium in Glendale Arizona where Super Bowl 57 will be played on Feb. 12, 2023. For now the Chiefs will attempt to not look ahead and just open their 2022 season with a win against the Arizona Cardinals who call this venue home throughout the regular season.
The Chiefs will bring a number of new faces with them to sunny Arizona to begin their journey towards making a return to the big game at the end of the year. Last season Chiefs fans were worried about a revamped offensive line and how they would hold up in front of QB Patrick Mahomes. This season fans are watching how a re-tooled wide receivers group will do catching the ball from Mahomes. New to the group are free agents Marquez Valdez-Scantling, JuJu Smith-Schuster and rookie Skyy Moore.
The defensive side of the ball also has new faces that the Chiefs will be depending on for success this season. First round pick George Karlaftis looks to be a threat on the D-line. In the secondary the Chiefs will look to veteran Justin Reid and rookie Trent McDuffie to make a difference against the pass happy AFC West Division.
While Chiefs fans ponder how well all the new faces will fare the team will see some familiar faces greeting them in the desert. Former Chiefs RB Darrel Williams, a Super Bowl 54 star, is now a starter for the Cardinals. Other former Chiefs on the Cardinals roster include C Rodney Hudson and LB Ben Niemann. Kansas City area prep football fans will remember Isiah Simmons a LB from Olathe North HS.
The Cardinals ended 2021 at 11-6 just a game back from the Chiefs 12-5 finish. The goal for Head Coach Kliff Kingsbury and the Cardinals is to take the next step up the ladder and win the NFC West Division. To do this the Cardinals will be leaning heavily on QB Kyler Murray on offense and LB Markus Golden along with DE JJ Watt on defense.
The Chiefs play twice in five days to open the new season and have the challenge of facing eight teams who had winning records in their first eight games. History will tell you the Chiefs have won their season opener every year since 2014. The Chiefs will need this streak to continue to have a successful season. Entering the new year the Chiefs have a fully healthy roster to use.
The Arizona Cardinals are closing the gap to the top-tier teams in the NFL but not close enough yet to beat the Chiefs. Chiefs open the new season with a win in the desert. That’s What I REID Into It for this week.
