New York Jets vs Kansas City Chiefs Pre-Blame Ball

EAST RUTHERFORD, NEW JERSEY - OCTOBER 25: Harrison Phillips #97 of the New York Jets runs onto the field prior to the game against the Miami Dolphins at MetLife Stadium on October 25, 2026 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Photo by Kathryn Riley/Getty Images) | Getty Images Plenty of people hand out game balls after the game. That’s easy. Watch the game, see who does well, give them the game ball. We’re doing something a little different. We’re handing out a pre-game ball. Before we watch the game, let’s settle on a player or players we think might be a decisive advantage for the Jets in the upcoming game. Occasionally we might hand out a pre-blame ball. If we think the Jets are going to get slaughtered, we’ll try to identify a prime culprit.One caveat: the quarterback is off limits. Nothing personal against quarterbacks, but they are obviously the most important players on the field. We could give out a pre-game or pre-blame ball to the quarterback virtually every week, but that would be boring, so we’re not going to do it. We’ll try to identify somebody besides the quarterback for the glory or the ignominy. This approach comes with the obvious drawback that predictions are difficult, especially about the future. We’re destined to get many of these wrong. No matter. We’ll have some laughs along the way. Let’s get to it.Today, for the first time this season, we’re handing out a pre-blame ball. It’s difficult to see a plausible Jets path to victory against the Chiefs in Kansas City, so pre-blame ball it is. The pre-blame ball for the Jets game against the Kansas City Chiefs goes to (drum roll please) – the interior defensive line!The Chiefs lead the NFL in yards per rushing attempt this year at 5.1 yards per attempt. After years of struggling to run the ball, the Chiefs signed Kenneth Walker in the offseason. Problem solved. Walker is second in the NFL with 110 rushing yards per game. He’s averaging a ridiculous 5.5 yards per carry. In short, Walker and the Kansas City running game are a problem for Chiefs opponents.The Jets have not defended the run particularly well this year. Ollie Gordon and the Miami Dolphins lit the Jets up for 150+ rushing yards two weeks ago. A week prior to that the Jets couldn’t stop Patriots third string running back Corey Kiner from running the ball right down their throats to close out a Patriots win. A few weeks before that the Chicago Bears absolutely torched the Jets on the ground to the tune of 230+ rushing yards. All those games came BEFORE the Jets place their best run defender on the defensive line, T’Vondre Sweat, on the injured reserve list. Now Sweat is out and the Jets are facing arguably the best running game in the NFL. To make matters worse, Harrison Phillips has been battling an injury and did not practice this week until Friday. This could be a long game for the Jets’ run defense.Ordinarily a team might try to compensate by loading the box with eight and nine man fronts. The Chiefs, however, are no ordinary opponent. They have Patrick Mahomes at quarterback. Load up the box to try to stop the run and Mahomes will surely burn you through the air. The Jets will have to pick their poison, and I’m guessing they’d rather not try to stop Mahomes with little help over the top.This seems like a nightmare matchup for a Jets run defense that has struggled this season. The interior defensive line was already getting pushed around with Sweat in the lineup. Without him, and with a hobbled Harrison Phillips who was struggling even when healthy, look out. This could get ugly.Jets interior defensive line, come on down! You’ve been singled out for blame before the first snap is taken. Let’s see you prove me wrong.What about you? Who would you give the pre-game or pre-blame ball to? Let us know in the comments.