What Would You Do To Fix The Chiefs?

The Chiefs have gotten blown out in four of their six games this year, including three in a row at home. Against Tampa Bay, which was one of the worst teams in the league, our most valuable players were Shaun Draughn and Edgar Jones for the blocked punt/interception – our only touchdown in eight quarters. We are unprepared. We commit turnovers and penalties with abandon, which means we lack discipline. Our defense gives up big plays with regularity and our offense looks like a body controlled by seven different people. Halftime adjustments are nonexistent. Players are playing well below their potential. Just incredibly, there’s the factoid that we are all probably most sick of: we’ve never led in a game this year. The product that Hunt, Pioli and Crennel have put on the field just stinks.

We’ve all spent hours talking about how bad the Chiefs are and what we’d do to fix our beloved team. Well, here’s our chance. We have 10 games left, including five divisional games, starting in a week and a half against the Raiders. We aren’t mathematically eliminated from the divisional title and a playoff berth by a long shot, but we are, very possibly, the very worst team in the NFL. If you had absolute control of this team, and your butt was on the line, what would you do from here on out?

Here are a three of my ideas, if I was the decider. I’d love to hear yours – concrete, real, actionable ideas for right now, not for the offseason, to help us win games. Because this team is in desperate need of real answers.

Promote Gary Gibbs to Defensive Coordinator. It’s clear to me that the Chiefs are woefully unprepared on defense and unable to make any halftime adjustments worth noting. Crennel is a defensive mastermind. I still believe that. But there’s no way one person can serve as head coach and a lead coordinator on such a crappy team that is so obviously in need of more discipline, professionalism and straight up coaching. I know many of you want to flat out get rid of Crennel but finding a head coach midway through the season is near impossible unless you hire from within, and I just don’t know if we have that replacement in-house. This dual role for Crennel is not working. Let’s at least fix that.

Open up the offensive playbook. Daboll’s playcalling criteria and Romeo’s gameplan have focused on (a) not getting blown out; and (b) playing not to lose. That has gotten us to a 1-5 record and four absolute, unadulterated blowouts. With the talent in this league, we are not going to win any games by rushing 40-50 times a game with no passing threat. Worst case scenario? We pass more and throw a few more interceptions, padding our league-leading turnover differential. Any offensive playcalling that creates predictability is a sure-fire recipe for disaster. My sub-recommendation here: bring Breaston back. Breaston has been nonexistent, with just four catches for 44 yards this entire season. With all the troubles with balls bouncing of our receivers’ hands, Breaston’s as reliable a receiver as we’ve got.

Let the players play. Coaches aside, the players need to make some plays. I think the coaches need to draw up simplified plans that emphasize one-on-one matchups, whether that is for wide receivers, tackles, cornerbacks or defensive ends. Let’s simplify the game plans and let nothing stand between our players and embarrassment but their own pride. No set of clever schemes are going to save this team. It’ll just be players making plays, or not.

Addicts, this is as low as the Chiefs have been. What remedies would you administer, if you were in charge, right now?