Kansas City Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes isn’t the only one with some history with one of his opponents in Week 1.
Chiefs OC Eric Bieniemy has some history of his own with Arizona Cardinals DC Vance Joseph. During the 1990 college football season, where Bieniemy racked up the second-most rushing yards in the nation for the Colorado Buffaloes en route to a national championship, Joseph would first join the team as a backup QB/RB. The two have long been friends and colleagues since.
“It’d be unjust if I didn’t mention this, they’re led by a great defensive coordinator who is a former teammate,” Bieniemy told reporters on Thursday. “We’ve known each other for well over half of our lives because we went to college together. He does a heck of a job. He’s done a great job since he’s been there of getting those guys to rally.”
Bieniemy has great respect for Joseph. They’ve faced off before when Joseph was the head coach for the Denver Broncos back in 2018, but this chess match will be much different. Bieniemy explained that the Cardinals’ defense has the pieces to be disruptive to their game plan.
“Like anything and everything, it starts up front,” Bieniemy explained. “They’ve got a number of guys up front who are playing some great ball. You’ve got J.J. Watt, you’ve got the Markus Golden kid. Obviously, they’ve got the young kid who I watched in high school play, Isaiah Simmons. They’ve got the big kid, Zaven (Collins), No. 25. I mean, this team is impressive, you’ve got Byron Murphy in the back end, Mr. Budda Baker. There’s a number of guys who have done a lot of good things.”
Just as the Cardinals players are quite in-sync with Joseph, Bieniemy feels his offense has the chemistry to match, even with all the new pieces at receiver. It’ll come down to who wants it more in Week 1 when the teams meet at State Farm Stadium.
“These guys have been with (Vance Joseph) now, for the most part, for about four years,” Bieniemy said. “We know that they’re going to come ready. Plus they feel that they have something to prove. Well, so do the Chiefs.”
