Jaylen Watson - Returning from IR

[Dante84]

Source: Chiefs fear that CB Jaylen Watson has a broken ankle.

— Zach Gelb (@ZachGelb) October 21, 2024

#Chiefs CB Jaylen Watson, one of their emerging young players on defense, suffered a fractured ankle in Sunday’s win over the #49ers, sources say.

He’ll have more imaging done today to determine if a return this season is possible. But tough reality for an up-and-coming corner. pic.twitter.com/86J6M58zqm

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) October 21, 2024

Breaking: The #Chiefs are designating CB Jaylen Watson to return from IR, and he will practice today, sources tell @NFLonFOX. This is a huge boost for Kansas City, who has been without Watson since late October due to a broken fibula.

He and Trent McDuffie are one of the best CB… pic.twitter.com/ePRd10X5YG

— Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) January 3, 2025

[duncan_idaho]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

I can't see buzz-sawing Baltimore.

I just don't know how you do it. I mean if Jackson vapor-locks again, that's one thing, but if he's playing well, that game is going to be damn tough one.

Our physicality in the back-end provides us an edge that most teams don't have -- we can protect against Henry without having to sell out. But with Andrews seemingly figuring things out over the last half of the season, they have the ability to work in the areas we're weakest.

I can see us beating up Buffalo and the NFC representative but if Baltimore comes through Orchard Park, they're going to be a really tough out.

And if they AREN'T....lordy, you're not wrong. Combine that with the 'toughest SB run in NFL history' last season and you just slam the door shut on the greatest stretch in NFL history. A 3-peat, 4 championships in 6 years (5 conference championships), 8 straight Championship Game appearances, a streak both with dominance and degree of difficulty.

The argument is over. The only thing you could do at that point is stretch it out and stick with "well we'll see if they can do it for as long as NE..."

But over a single period of time, nobody will have every even approached what KC has on their racket right now.

I can see the offense presenting stuff for which the Ravens have no answer. To blowtorch them, KC would have to get a few early stops or turnovers and get up two scores + and force Baltimore away from the run game.

Make them one-dimensional WITHOUT Zay Flowers out there?

[threebag]

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by duncan_idaho

I can see the offense presenting stuff for which the Ravens have no answer. To blowtorch them, KC would have to get a few early stops or turnovers and get up two scores + and force Baltimore away from the run game.

Make them one-dimensional WITHOUT Zay Flowers out there?

Yeah - it's not really our offensive production that concerns me.

I think we'll be able to score 30+ if necessary.

I just don't know that we can keep THEM under 30+.

Though I will concede that this requires that I ignore literally every historical datapoint on both Henry vs. the Chiefs AND Jackson vs. the Chiefs.

But it's the playoffs -- I'm not expected to be rational.

[MahomesMagic]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

I can't see buzz-sawing Baltimore.

I just don't know how you do it. I mean if Jackson vapor-locks again, that's one thing, but if he's playing well, that game is going to be damn tough one.

Our physicality in the back-end provides us an edge that most teams don't have -- we can protect against Henry without having to sell out. But with Andrews seemingly figuring things out over the last half of the season, they have the ability to work in the areas we're weakest.

I can see us beating up Buffalo and the NFC representative but if Baltimore comes through Orchard Park, they're going to be a really tough out.

And if they AREN'T....lordy, you're not wrong. Combine that with the 'toughest SB run in NFL history' last season and you just slam the door shut on the greatest stretch in NFL history. A 3-peat, 4 championships in 6 years (5 conference championships), 8 straight Championship Game appearances, a streak both with dominance and degree of difficulty.

The argument is over. The only thing you could do at that point is stretch it out and stick with "well we'll see if they can do it for as long as NE..."

But over a single period of time, nobody will have every even approached what KC has on their racket right now.

I think Baltimore in the AFC Champ would be harder for us than anyone in the NFC.


We could score more this year by attacking their corners (the weakness on their D) but that would require Hollywood and Worthy getting in sync with Mahomes further down the field.

[MVChiefFan]

Not only are we getting healthy at the right time, but we’ve also been able to get some players valuable experience during the storm. Hicks is the main one that comes to mind. He just got better and better each week. This may be shaping up perfectly, fellas. Saturday can’t get here soon enough!

[RunKC]

Some of you guys forget just how bad Lamar is in the playoffs.

Lamar-8 TD’s, 6 INT’s, 81.2 rating
Allen-23 TD’s, 4 INT’s, 102.3 rating

There is no way anyone fears Lamar more than Allen. And for the 50th time, if you contain Henry then Lamar struggles. It’s been proven with every single loss this season. They drop from 30 PPG to 20 PPG when Henry has less than 85 yards rushing.

We are an elite rush defense. We’ve shut down good RB’s all season long. Spags is gonna do the same thing and put McDuffie on Flowers and dare them to beat them.

Their defensive resurgence is not real either. They’ve feasted on terrible offenses like the Browns, Texans post Dell injury, Steelers 3X and the Giants. They don’t have a great pass rush fellas. Van Noy blitzing isn’t gonna work against Mahomes.

We also have more weapons now than we did week 1 when we lost Hollywood. It’s the Bills. Always was. Josh Allen alone makes them harder to beat.

[smithandrew051]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

Yeah - it's not really our offensive production that concerns me.

I think we'll be able to score 30+ if necessary.

I just don't know that we can keep THEM under 30+.

Though I will concede that this requires that I ignore literally every historical datapoint on both Henry vs. the Chiefs AND Jackson vs. the Chiefs.

But it's the playoffs -- I'm not expected to be rational.

Baltimore didn’t get the luxury of resting starters in Week 18 like Buffalo.

They’ve been playing for their lives every week. Then consecutive road trips to Buffalo and KC. The Chiefs will have a major rest advantage.

I don’t expect Baltimore to be easy by any stretch, but I fully expect that to be the difference in the game.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by MVChiefFan

Not only are we getting healthy at the right time, but we’ve also been able to get some players valuable experience during the storm. Hicks is the main one that comes to mind. He just got better and better each week. This may be shaping up perfectly, fellas. Saturday can’t get here soon enough!

The playing time Williams got to work through his early season funk has also proven invaluable.

If you have Watson/McDuffie on the boundary and healthy all season, odds are Williams never gets the chance to earn his stripes back and make himself a viable option out wide.

But out of necessity, he got on the field and seems to have earned back the trust of the staff. Just in the nick of time, it would appear, as I believe Steven Nelson was signed to take his job if he didn't get things sorted.

[Deberg_1990]

Will we get to see much Nazeeh and FAU these playoffs?

[Dunerdr]

Originally Posted by Deberg_1990

Will we get to see much Nazeeh and FAU these playoffs?

Hoping to see FAU in the rotation. He’s been surprisingly impactful in limited snaps.

Nazeeh has been impactful but in a different way.

[tredadda]

KC is a very bad matchup for Baltimore despite what talking heads say.

Mentally Baltimore and especially Lamar, whether he says so publicly or not, have to dread playing a KC team that they just can’t seem to beat. That takes its toll over time.

Physically Baltimore succeeds by bullying teams. One team they can’t bully is KC. KC forces the Ravens to play the game KC wants, not the other way around.

Offensively KC has a healthy offense with all their weapons and the best QB whose numbers continue to improve as the season wears on. Their weakness is at LT, but I don’t think Baltimore has an elite enough DE to fully take advantage of it. Their defense has regressed from last year. Plus Andy vs Orr is a mismatch.

Defensively KC can commit to stopping the run because their corners (McDuffie, Watson, Williams) can be left on an island or with minimal protection. Plus Spags vs Monken is another mismatch.

Buffalo is a team that has beaten KC enough to believe they can do it again. Plus Allen is an X-Factor who is capable of carrying his team on his shoulders.

If I am KC and could pick, I would rather face the Ravens and if I’m Baltimore, I am cheering for the Texans with all my might hoping for the upset.

[Hammock Parties]

100% agree with all the above.

Also Baltimore's interior OL still isn't good at stop our interior rush. It's why Lamar has to rely on ad-lib plays to move the ball against us.

Gonna be tough to do that in Arrowhead again, especially with Omenihu now playing. Could barely do it in Week 1.

If we play the Bills we have to deal with a far better OL.

[TheGuardian]

Man I don't get some of these takes.

WE literally present the worst match up for the RAvens. We have stopped running games all season, including Henry. And we have corners that can play man to man all day regardless of who they have.

The only thing that gets tough is Lamar if he breaks contain. Which he did to us a lot in week 1. But it didn't really hurt us eg net them a lot of scores.

Buffalo is a tougher matchup for us. Not the RAvens.

[Hammock Parties]

If Zay can't play, the Ravens are who we want, 100%.

Their receivers are terrible without Zay. Close to the Chiefs receivers last season.

[staylor26]

Even if he plays, I highly doubt he's going to be 100%.