The Chiefs received a stunning piece of injury news on Friday just before Week 18, as starting CB Jaylen Watson has been designated to return from Injured Reserve and will practice.
Initial reports indicated that Kansas City didn’t believe Watson would return this season, though his recent social media activity suggested it was a possibility. Fans had resigned themselves to not seeing Watson on the field for the playoffs but if he does return, the secondary instantly receives a massive boost.
While the defense has improved since Charles Omenihu came back, there’s little question that Watson would be an upgrade over Joshua Williams and Nazeeh Johnson alongside Trent McDuffie.
In six games prior to his injury, Watson compiled 32 tackles and six deflected passes while playing 91% of the defensive snaps. He ranked as the 44th-best cornerback out of 219 qualified players at Pro Football Focus, emerging as a legitimate replacement for departed star L’Jarius Sneed.
Watson surrendered just a 53.3% completion percentage and 75.4 passer rating when targeted in coverage, even better numbers than McDuffie put up in that stretch.
He obviously won’t play against the Broncos. The Chiefs have the first-round bye though, meaning Watson has another two weeks before he’d suit up for the playoffs. Suddenly, Kansas City could have its entire planned starting defense on the field for the first time all year.
It’s hard to overstate how important it is that the Chiefs are getting healthy at the right time. Hollywood Brown immediately improved spacing in the passing game, Isiah Pacheco is a proven competitor, and Omenihu raised both the floor and the ceiling of the defensive line.
Put everything together and you have a terrifying team marching toward a historic three-peat. The Chiefs are currently Super Bowl favorites (+370) at FanDuel Sportsbook, poised to run through the AFC once again.
We may be in a new year but these are the same old Chiefs. If Watson can suit up for the AFC Divisional Round, whichever offense they face sho
