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The Kansas City Chiefs will see a familiar face in the Philadelphia Eagles’ defensive secondary on Sunday.
Former Chiefs CB Steven Nelson signed a one-year deal with the Eagles this offseason. A third-round pick by Kansas City in the 2015 NFL draft, Nelson played out his rookie contract with the Chiefs before hitting the market as an unrestricted free agent.
Nelson is very familiar with the Chiefs’ offense, practicing against players like Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce often in the early goings of his career. In his final two seasons in Kansas City, Nelson got a close look at Patrick Mahomes, especially when he was working on the scout team behind Alex Smith in 2017.
“Definitely, man. Me and my old teammates who have gone and retired now, we talk about it today,” Nelson told reporters. “Like how he used to shred us on the first-team defense and the stuff he was doing, was just like crazy you know what I mean. We always knew he had talent.”
Nelson spent two seasons in Pittsburgh after his time in Kansas City, but he hasn’t played against Mahomes since those days in practice. Still, Nelson is well aware that you have to defend every blade of grass when facing Mahomes because of his ability to extend plays.
“It makes it real hard because you’ve always got to defend the play within the play,” Nelson explained. “He can move around, get outside the pocket. It’s like you’re covering multiple routes at that point and then he can throw it from every angle. So it makes it a lot harder.”
Nelson knows that Mahomes has only improved since his time with the team.
“He can hurt you with his legs,” Nelson said. “Obviously, you know the arm strength he has. Then, just how accurate he is, you know throwing on the move with multiple guys trying to bring him down. He makes all those types of throws.”
He also know that the offensive scheme has only improved to cater to the talented personnel that Kansas City has on the offensive side of the ball.
“I would say, yeah.” Nelson said of the Chiefs’ ability to stretch the field vertically and horizontally. “They have the guys to do it. Not only the guys, but they have the quarterback who can throw it 100 yards at any time, so definitely.”
As for the upcoming matchup, despite a 1-2 record to start the season, Nelson cautioned underestimating the Chiefs’ offense. If they’re playing their best football, he knows they’re still capable of scoring points often and at will, as they did when he was still with the team.
“Honestly, I feel like they were good back then,” Nelson said of the Chiefs’ offense. “My last year there we went to the AFC championship. You guys know how that offense was. It was explosive, they was putting up like 40-50 points a game. They’re still capable of doing that.”
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