The Kansas City Chiefs are middle of the road when it comes to their offense in the red zone. But the Chiefs defense? They’re very good in the red zone. In fact, the Chiefs defense’s 23 percent in red zone efficiency is the best in the NFL. It’s not all Ryan Fitzpatrick either. The Jets and Texans were both 0-
“We do a good job with that,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said. “I don’t know why. You always talk about the end line being the 12th man there. Our guys know how to space it out. We worked hard on it at training camp. So much of that is eliminating the seams in there because they’ll just try to pull you apart. You only need a small area to deliver on. Teams will try to pull you apart and test your discipline. Everything is a little faster down there. Your weaknesses are going to be exploited, your strengths show up. Our guys, I’ll tell you right now, are staying very disciplined.”
The Steelers offense is fifth in the league in the red zone.
“This will be a good challenge for them because they are good in the red zone,” Reid said. “You have to know how to space the field particularly in the pass game and then you have to trust it.”
Ben Roethlisberger can hang in there and take hits. He may not get off balance and throw a duck like Ryan Fitzpatrick did (a few times). The Steelers have excellent route-runners. The challenge is certainly on this weekend.