It’s the end of the week here at Arrowhead Pride Joe Montana Jersey , so that means we’re moving on from the Denver Broncos and onto the Kansas City Chiefs matchup against the Cleveland Browns!Last week’s defensive performance left a lot to be desired. While the defense turned the ball over and got some timely stops at the end of the game, execution errors and poor tackling reared their ugly heads again.Meanwhile, the Browns are going through quite a bit of turmoil, having fired head coach Hue Jackson and offensive coordinator Todd Haley this week. Former running backs coach Freddie Kitchens has been promoted to OC and defensive coordinator Gregg Williams is now running the show. Quite simply, it’s hard to say what exactly the Chiefs are going to see this weekend.Nevertheless, I’m here this week to take a look at some of the things we can probably expect to see out of the Cleveland offense, along with what the Chiefs defense can do to stop it.The Browns offenseCharles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports2018 first overall pick Baker Mayfield has the reins at quarterback for the Browns. He’s a dynamic athlete who is great at extending plays with his legs and throwing on the run. A bit of a gunslinger, Mayfield has averaged an interception per game in the six games he’s started. He’s one of the league’s up-and-coming exciting players.The Cleveland running backs are led by rookie Nick Chubb, who is averaging 6.1 yards per carry. He’s not the fastest back, but he’s a strong runner between the tackles. Duke Johnson Jr. is Cleveland’s pass-catching back but has gotten a fair amount of run since they traded Carlos Hyde earlier this season.At wide receiver, the Browns have target-monster Jarvis Landry leading the way. He’s been fantastic already this year with 528 yards on 49 targets. The Chiefs will have to watch out for him in the short passing game while keeping an eye on rookie burner Antonio Callaway, who can take the top off of a defense. Damion Ratley and Rashard Higgins round out the Cleveland receiving corps.Second-year tight end David Njoku is the primary player to watch at this spot. He’s a big, quick player who is dangerous across the middle. He does have inconsistent hands and is just an okay blocker. The Browns utilize a significant amount of 11 personnel, so Seth Devalve doesn’t see the field very often.The interior of the Browns offensive line is a real strength for this team. Joel Bitonio and Kevin Zeitler are stud guards against the run and the pass and center JC Tretter is an underrated blocker as well. Where the Browns struggle to protect is on the edges of the line, with right tackle Chris Hubbard allowing 8.5 sacks so far this season and left tackle Desmond Harrison...well, we’ll get to him in a bit.How to defendShotgun-spread runsThis year, the Browns have leaned heavily on their 11 personnel, especially in the last couple of weeks. With the Browns operating heavily in the shotgun, that means a fair bit of the Browns run game is out of the spread.Typically, spread-run offenses attack defenses on the edges or interior gaps with speed/explosive running backs. Due to light boxes against 11 personnel, these slower developing runs are typically more successful with backs that can get up to speed quickly and into the second level of the defense before the linebackers have a chance to react. Cleveland doesn’t exactly have that kind of speed or explosion at the running back position.Teams have success defending these spread runs simply by maintaining good gap discipline. Even though the Chiefs have been hesitant at the inside linebacker position this year, the slower developing runs play into their hands, allowing the linebackers to read and process their keys and then react slower than against some other teams.The numbers align with this for the Chiefs defense this season. Against 11 personnel, the Chiefs are allowing 4.5 yards per carry — down from their league-worst season average of 5.4 yards per carry. The Browns are a volume rushing team, bearing the fourth-most rushing attempts in the league. If they plan to continue to implement their spread running game, that bodes better for the Chiefs than if they utilize 21 personnel — 5.625 yards per carry allowed by KC — or 12 personnel — a staggering 6.3 yards per carry.Desmond Harrison and the bull rushBrowns left tackle Desmond Harrison is not the prototypical size for an NFL offensive tackle. Weighing in at 285-290, Harrison is more of an athletic player that blocks well in space. Where he struggles is against power.Shown above, the Pittsburgh Steelers pit one of their interior defensive linemen against Harrison. He immediately lets the interior defensive lineman into his chest while bending at the hips, balance over his head. This allows the defender to bull rush Harrison directly back to Mayfield Limited Larry Johnson Jersey , as he’s not able to anchor and re-set against the rush.Harrison shows poor strength often when in pass protection. Chiefs pass rusher Breeland Speaks may not have a great pass rush plan or a lot of moves in his arsenal, but he does lean heavily on the bull rush. With that being a weakness in Harrison’s game, Speaks — and Chris Jones lining up in a wide position — should have some success getting to the quarterback this week.Which leads us to...Seven-step drops and pocket awarenessMayfield has been sacked 20 times in six games. That is a ridiculous rate, and unfortunately for Cleveland, it’s largely due to its own design.The Browns implement lots of seven-step drops and longer developing route concepts in their passing game. With poor offensive tackles, there are lots of occasions where the opposition’s pass rushers are meeting Mayfield at the top of his drop. As this has occurred, we start seeing Mayfield revert to some pocket navigation tendencies that get him in trouble.As shown above, Mayfield gets to the top of a seven-step drop and scans the field. When his first read is taken away, Mayfield tends to climb the pocket and move to his right. In both instances, he climbs directly into pressure and into a sack. These plays are in the same drive, with only one snap in between them, showing that the tendency occurs repeatedly.If the Chiefs can get some early hits on Mayfield, look for Dee Ford to attack these tendencies with his excellent counter moves to catch the quarterback climbing the pocket.The bottom lineWith all the changes in the coaching staff for the Browns, it’s hard to say exactly what the Chiefs defense will see this week.From a personnel standpoint, the Browns have good wide receivers, bigger running backs to go with their stout interior offensive line, and terrible offensive tackles. Schematics aside, this plays into the Chiefs strengths with their pass rush and better-than-average cornerback play this season.If the Browns do stick with their spread running game, I think the Chiefs defense has the schematic advantage this week. The Cincinnati Bengals came into the Sunday Night Football matchup 11th in the league in yards per carry and ran 94 percent of their snaps out of 11 personnel. They rushed for 3.4 yards per carry. The Pittsburgh Steelers ran their spread offense 90 percent of the game and averaged 2.5 yards per carry. Quite simply, the Chiefs defense has been better stopping the spread run game.If the Browns line up in heavier formations — something they could do with a new offensive coordinator — that’s where things get interesting. They can successfully take the air out of the ball and run the clock while moving the chains against the Chiefs poor base defense.In the passing game, the Chiefs should be able to tee off on the edges against bad tackles. Believe it or not, I expect multiple sacks out of both Ford and Speaks this week in advantageous matchups. This is a great game for Sutton to press with his corners and mix in some match looks to try to confuse a rookie quarterback. Zone blitzes focused on the tackles having to make a read should find success, as well as showing A-gap pressure, then dropping eight to flood the secondary and force Mayfield to miss an underneath defender for an interception.I expect this game to be closer to the Bengals matchup than last week’s Broncos matchup, with the Chiefs jumping out early by stopping the spread rushing attack, then pinning their ears back as the Browns have to throw to keep up. The Chiefs defense could use another good performance this week to work out some of the kinks, and they’ve got the right opponent to do so. Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid and quarterback Patrick Mahomes met with the media on Wednesday morning before the team’s practice session.Here are the key takeaways from their interaction with the media:Reid said that five players — Eric Berry, Cam Erving, Anthony Hitchens Len Dawson Jersey Salute to Service , Mitch Morse and Sammy Watkins — would not practice on Wednesday afternoon.Reid said that Erving wasn’t injured; he’s been sick “for a couple of days.”Morse remains in concussion protocol, and Hitchens is still nursing his rib injury.Berry, of course, is still day to day with his heel issue — along with Watkins.Previously, Reid had referred to Watkins’ injury as an ankle problem, but on Wednesday, Reid said Watkins had “hurt his foot.”Reid said both Berry and Watkins are making progress.Reid was asked for more details about Morse’s progress in the concussion protocol.“He still has symptoms,” said Reid. “Everybody can look at it however they look at it. The important thing is he gets himself right. That’s all we care about. He is making progress. We know he likes to play football. But at the same time, you have to make sure that that’s right. The football can wait here till it is right for him. When he gets the OK, he can get back there and go.”Photo by Tim Warner/Getty ImagesReid said that he still isn’t sure when Daniel Sorensen — who was moved from injured reserve to the active roster on Monday and has been practicing with the team for a couple of weeks — will be able to play.“[Sorensen] has done well with it,“ Reid said. “We will just see. We will see how he goes. We will see how he does during practice here. I’ll tell you the same thing with Justin [Houston]. We will just see how they do in practice and take it from there. I can’t tell you that it is one snap or 50 snaps. I can’t tell you that.”Reid said he was glad to have Sorensen back on the practice field.“It is good to have him back out there in whatever capacity he can go at,” he said. “It is good to get him back in there. He is a good football player. I don’t know how much he can play or not play right now. We are looking at it just like you are looking at it. We are just seeing where he is at. He looked good when he was at practice this past week.”Reporters asked Reid no questions about the Arizona Cardinals, but in his opening statement, Reid said the Chiefs are treating their upcoming opponent with respect, and praised new Cardinals offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich.“We look forward to the challenge of playing the Cardinals. We know they are a good football team and we have had a chance to look at their tape. They have made a couple changes there with Byron. We have the utmost respect for Byron. I do personally. I think he is an up-and-coming coach there that someday will be a head coach.“Defensively, they are as good as anybody in the National Football League,” Reid continued. “We have to make sure that we get ourselves ready on both sides of the ball. On special teams, they have tremendous talent there on special teams. You have to make sure you solidify and get down there scheme and are able to adjust to their speed there. Our guys will go through this week of preparation — which is the most important thing — and stick with the process and get themselves ready to play a good team.”Photo by Ralph Freso/Getty ImagesIn his turn before the press, quarterback Patrick Mahomes didn’t talk as if the Chiefs are going to be facing a 2-6 team.“The D-line is really really good, they can rush the passer, they can stop the run game and they stop balls really well. For me, you have to know those things. They’ve got some tall guys on the D-line, but at the same time, they are good everywhere. They have Patrick Peterson at corner. They have dudes everywhere on that defense. For me it’s going to be a great test to get to go up against these guys. We are going to try to be ourselves and keep what we have going... going.”Reid was asked if the Chiefs are “immune from being upset.”“Guys are going to be asked that question a lot,” Reid responded. “That is just part of this game. You always hear that. You can let [point] spreads and all these things — ‘trap game,’ all these terms that pop up — and things that happen come into it. But if you can honestly focus on the process and discipline yourself to do that, that normally takes care of things. At least, it makes it an even game in that area, where you are not going to let distractions get in the way.”Reid was then asked if his team was good at avoiding distractions.“Well Marcus Allen Jersey , we will find out,” he said. “Time tells you that, right? It is important that you focus on the things that you can control. Part of it is getting ready to play a good football team and not listen — well, you asked the question — but not listen to the questions. You have to have small ears on that.”With Len Dawson’s Chiefs single-season touchdown record on the line on Sunday, both Reid and Mahomes were asked about the Hall of Fame quarterback.Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports“I did all those post-games with him and I think the world of him,” Reid said of Dawson. “He was so in tuned when we were doing those with the game. He still has that feel. He has been there, he has done it, it doesn’t matter the age gap or the time away from being in the huddle. He just gets it. I love that part of it. He is a Hall of Famer all the way around. Person, player... obviously. How many guys can be Hall of Fame caliber at two things? And he did it as a player and as a commentator. Amazing guy.”Mahomes has 29 touchdown passes on the season, which ties Dawson’s 1962 record but is still one short of the Dawson’s franchise record of 30 set in 1964’s 14-game season.“Len has had a ton of success in the NFL and was kind of ahead of his time,” said Mahomes. ”Throwing all those touchdowns, I think the record has stood for a very long time. It would be awesome to pass that, but hopefully we can just keep building on that and getting more and more wins.”Mahomes said he isn’t focused on Dawson’s record any more than any of the other records he’s been surpassing.“I don’t think there’s any time for that,” he said. “When you are trying to focus on a NFL team — if you want to make sure you’re prepared — you can’t focus on the statistics and everything like that. For me, it’s all about the wins. That’s all I want to do. I feel like the first thing I said when I came here was that I just want to win football games.”Other notes from Reid and Mahomes at Wednesday’s press appearances:Reid was asked about Mitchell Schwartz, who is approaching 7,000 consecutive snaps.“You go back to the Denver game where I sat a bunch of the guys. and he wanted to be out there. If sat him down, he would have done that, too — but he wanted to be out there. He wants to play — [that’s] what he wants to do.”Reid said that Schwartz’s presence on the line has been helpful to Mahomes, too.“Not only is he a good player, but very intelligent and he helped everybody there with his presence and calls.”Mahomes spoke about Cardinals quarterback Josh Rosen, with whom he roomed when both participated in the Manning Passing Academy.“I know he throws a beautiful ball. Every single time it leaves his hand it’s a perfect spiral. I know he’s a very smart guy, so I know he’ll have a lot of success in this league.”Mahomes said Rosen loves the game.“He was a guy that was up with me early, working with all those kids and just loving the experience. I know that he loves football and loves being able to just go out there and [be] a quarterback. and those are the guys that have success.”Mahomes was asked if the Chiefs team has a collegiate feel to it. “It’s awesome to be able to be really good friends with your teammates. We all hang out with each other — it seems like all the time. I know a lot of guys still play video games with each other like every single day. I don’t have that time right now, but it’s cool you can just relate to each other. I feel like it builds chemistry — and that way you can get on the field and just kind of know what guys are thinking [because] you know how that guy thinks. That’s a big thing I think that’s helped build success on this team.”