The Kansas City Chiefs are 2-0 and sitting alone atop the AFC West heading into Week 3 of the 2022 NFL season.
Things might seem like they’re going flawlessly for the Chiefs after wins against the Arizona Cardinals and Los Angeles Chargers, but as the players and coaches say, there are always things they can work on and get better at. Through two weeks of play, there is one particular stat that is standing out on the offensive side of the ball that points to an area needing some work.
In the first two weeks of play, the Chiefs have faced third down 20 different times. They’ve only converted those third downs nine times for a 45% conversion percentage. Ahead of the two games set for Monday night, that ranks tenth in the NFL.
It’s hardly a bad percentage when stacked up against the rest of the league and it’s a small sample size with just two games under their belt. There’s also the fact that they only faced third down eight times against the Cardinals in Week 1. Still, there is clear room for improvement here when compared to last season’s performance. Kansas City finished the 2021 regular season converting on third down at a 52.2% clip, which was good for the best mark in the NFL.
Looking specifically at the game against the Chargers, it was a poor play call (the handoff to Mecole Hardman) on the second third down of the game that killed the drive and gave Los Angeles a chance to put points on the board first. In total, the Chiefs only converted 33% of their third downs against the Chargers. Yes, L.A. is one of the best defenses the team will face this season, but that number will need to improve heading into Week 3, even against a reeling Colts team.
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