On Sunday evening, the Kansas City Chiefs will face the Atlanta Falcons. We welcome Tre’Shon Diaz from The Falcon Addict — our sister site SBNation about the Falcons — for Five questions to the enemy.

1) If Patrick Mahomes is Superman, then no player has been more of his kryptonite than former Denver Broncos safety Justin Simmons. How has Simmons performed in the Falcons’ secondary?

Justin Simmons has always been rock solid. We haven’t seen him make the kind of impactful plays he became known for during his time in Denver – but the safety hasn’t made any mistakes, and it’s clear that offenses don’t like to test him deep. Jessie Bates seems to be making Simmons’ life a lot easier.

Simmons’ natural leadership skills were on display from the start. The Falcons secondary looked mediocre even with players like Bates and Terrell, but Simmons has turned it into a real force.

2) Kirk Cousins ​​had a seemingly mediocre first six quarters as Atlanta’s starting quarterback before putting together one of the best drives of his career to beat the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday night. Do you expect the Falcons offense to build on their late-game success?

The Kirk Cousins ​​experience was interesting, to say the least. Week 1 was less about Cousins ​​and more about first-time playmaker and OC Zac Robinson, who rolled out a substandard game plan that betrayed whether the Falcons would run or pass, didn’t use any plays, and only had Cousins ​​at quarterback once. This situation made Cousins ​​look a lot more rusty than he was — but rusty he was nonetheless.

After Kirk threw his first touchdown pass to Darnell Mooney on Monday night, something seemed to have changed. While many have pointed to physical limitations, it actually seems like the majority were mental. Cousins ​​wasn’t sure about his decision (or his new teammates) before the second half of the Eagles game, but it seems like things are heading in the right direction. I think the Falcons offense will be able to continue to improve as they become more comfortable in the freshmen system.

3) Former Falcons coach Arthur Smith was blamed for the disappointing results of expected fantasy stars like Drake London, Kyle Pitts and Bijan Robinson. What have you seen from the new team that suggests these former top-ten picks can reach their expected peaks?

I think Smith gets a lot of criticism from the fantasy community, who need to understand how bad the situation was for most of Smith’s tenure. It’s a miracle they won seven games in their first two years. Kyle Pitts has broken the 1,000-yard mark and Bijan Robinson had 1,400 all-purpose yards as a rookie, so we’ve seen some of these picks already crashing to their ceiling. Drake London is the one who hasn’t had a season like that — and when your quarterbacks are Marcus Mariota and Desmond Ridder, that’s no surprise.

This offense runs through Bijan — and the usage has been great. The team wants to use Kyle Pitts as a traditional in-line tight end. I don’t know what that means for his fantasy value, but I expect his role to increase in importance as the season goes on. Drake London will be treated as the team’s WR1 and it will be Cousins ​​to feed him. Coaching staffs can only do so much. At some point, players have to execute, and the lack of execution is why these players’ fantasy values ​​have previously dropped.

4) Since the Chiefs and Falcons rarely play each other, which offensive and defensive players do you think should be more well-known league-wide?

On offense, Matthew Bergeron. The second-year left guard had a respectable rookie season after moving up from his college position to right tackle. Now, with a full year of experience under his belt, he appears ready to hit the ground running. The Falcons were able to run left at will on Monday night, and that was thanks in large part to Bergeron. His pass protection was the area that needed the most improvement, but he did well early on against tough back-to-back interior battles; it will be interesting to see how he fares against Chris Jones and co.

For defense, I’m going with Kaden Elliss, the team’s Swiss Army knife. Elliss is used as an inside linebacker, outside linebacker, or interior lineman depending on the situation. His game reminds me a lot of Leo Chenal’s. It’s rare to find guys who can do so many different things. The Falcons have used a lot of 5-man fronts – and in the last game against the Eagles, it was Elliss who applied the pressure that forced Jalen Hurts to throw an interception.

5) Can you predict how this will all end?

I expect the Chiefs to play like the best team in the league. It doesn’t matter who they’re missing on offense; we’re talking about Andy Ried. Still, I think Atlanta can give them a tough fight. The offensive line has been solid; everyone is finally starting to gel. To beat the Chiefs, a team doesn’t have to beat themselves first and foremost – and if Atlanta can play flawlessly, it could be a one-point game for both teams again.