Chiefs Confident In Consistency and New Contributors Ahead of Week 1
Come Thursday night, the Kansas City Chiefs’ run it back tour will officially begin against the Houston Texans at Arrowhead Stadium.
For the Chiefs, the main focus is re-establishing the success built en route to their first Super Bowl championship in 50 years.
“We’re in game week now, everybody is ready to go,” quarterback Patrick Mahomes said to the media on Sunday. “You can feel the intensity, you can feel the mentality. I think everybody’s at the point now where we’re ready to play football again. I mean, we had that great year last year, but that’s last year. We’re a brand new football team, the Texans are a brand new football team. We’re going to go out there and compete against one of the best in the first week.”
Before COVID-19, the Chiefs were expected to return 20 of 22 starters from their Super Bowl roster but following the opt-outs of running back Damien Williams and right guard Laurent Duvernay-Tardif and the suspension of cornerback Baushaud Breeland, the number is down to 17 for Week 1.
Duvernay-Tardif is expected to be replaced by teammate Andrew Wylie moving to the right guard spot, with newcomer Kelechi Osemele playing left guard. Breeland's cornerback spot is still largely up in the air, likely including a variety of players.
Williams will be replaced by rookie running back Clyde-Edwards Helaire. The Chiefs 2019 first-round pick has the experience to be successful come game time, at least according to tight end Travis Kelce, who also spoke Sunday.
“Clyde has done an unbelievable job of just coming in and giving his effort, his best concentration, giving everything you need as a rookie to succeed,” Kelce said. “The first game is always built-up emotion, then you’re going to have the stage that we’re going to be on being the first game of the year. We’re going to see how he reacts to being in the big moment early.”
The big moment is exactly what the Chiefs are preparing for. New starting pieces in Helaire, Osemele and potentially cornerback Antonio Hamilton present potential obstacles ahead.
Other newcomers at the rotational level, including rookie defensive backs L'Jarius Sneed and Thakarius "BoPete" Keyes, rookie linebacker Willie Gay Jr., rookie defensive tackle Tershawn Wharton, veteran safety Tedric Thompson, veteran defensive end Taco Charlton, veteran tight end Ricky Seals-Jones and first-time 53-man roster member tight end Nick Keizer could add similar challenges.
Despite the turnover at those positions and a few new faces, Kelce said he expects the stage to bring out the true colors of the Chiefs, similarly to what fans saw last season.
“A lot of guys are going to go out there with a lot of emotion,” Kelce said. “It’s going to be a fun game, I can already tell, with just how things are gearing up here in the office. We’re just going to have to keep our composure and just play for each other and do our thing. I’m pretty sure you’ll see the Kansas City Chiefs from last year.”
Stay with Arrowhead Report for further coverage of Week 1 as the build-up for the game continues. For a Texans perspective, visit Texans Daily.
