Tyrann Mathieu Could Face an Expanded Role With Charvarius Ward's Potential Absence
Kansas City Chiefs safety Tyrann Mathieu wasn't pleased with how his defense finished the game in their season-opening 34-20 win over the Houston Texans a week ago.
In the final quarter of the game, the Chiefs' allowed the Texans to score 13 points to make the box score look closer than the game really was.
With injuries and suspensions to key players on the defensive side of the ball, what are the expectations for Mathieu going into the first divisional matchup of the year?
Today's Roughing the Kicker podcast goes into Mathieu's role on the defense and how his presence is felt in more ways than just on the box score with Arrowhead Report's Jordan Foote.
In his postgame press conference, Mathieu explained his frustrations about how his side played down the stretch and how it motivates him for this upcoming week.
“I’m pissed off,” Mathieu said “I felt like we played fairly decent, you know up until probably the last couple stretches in the fourth quarter. We started giving up big plays, big chunks — things that we weren’t necessarily doing throughout the game. In my mind, we have a lot more work to do. If we would’ve held those guys to seven points, it would’ve been a much better feeling. I think those guys scoring 20 leaves a bad taste in our mouth. We got a lot of work to do. I’m looking forward to next week.”
Mathieu could face a further increased role if cornerback Charvarius Ward doesn't play. Ward is a game-time decision facing a broken hand injury and the Chiefs' other usual starting cornerback, Bashaud Breeland, is still on suspension until Week 5.
With potential inexperience on both sides of Mathieu, he could see an expanded role in coverage situations and might not be able to get as many quarterback pressures (four) as he had last week.
Other safeties Dan Sorensen and Juan Thornhill will also play a large role in the Chiefs' gameplan if they are without Ward. Trying to hold Chargers wide receivers Keenan Allen and Mike Williams in check would be a lot harder without those two guys.
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