Potential Playoff Pitfalls For The 2014 Kansas City Chiefs

WR2-WR6

Let’s face it, this may be the weakest position group on the Chiefs’ roster. Apart from Dwayne Bowe, there’s absolutely nothing to write home about. For some, even Bowe’s fallen from grace and no longer inspires any confidence at wide receiver. Everyone’s counting on the development of his relationship with Alex Smith. Reports throughout the offseason suggest there’s an air about the two of them that makes that seem likely. Bowe also had the 8-catch, 150-yard playoff performance, but who’s to say if that’s a good indication of what the future holds?

Donnie Avery proved to be little more than inconsistent in 2013. Former first-round pick A.J. Jenkins has the God-given talent, but he’s on his second team since being drafted in 2012. The rest of the receiving corps is comprised of De’Anthony Thomas, Weston Dressler, Junior Hemingway, Kyle Williams, Albert Wilson and Frankie Hammond. The Chiefs’ top three receivers produced fewer than 1,800 receiving yards in 2013. Do you have faith that those names will improve upon that number in the season forthcoming (I don’t)?

The Chiefs visited with several free agent receivers in the spring but after losing out on Emmanuel Sanders, they’ve since decided that Thomas, Dressler, and the returning players are a qualified ensemble. Hopefully for their sake, they’re right. Jamaal Charles accounted for 40% of their offense in year one of this regime. He can’t continue to carry that kind of offensive load and be expected to stay healthy. Kansas City needs to find offense elsewhere and wide receiver’s a common place to look in a league now driven by throwing the football..

Andy Reid

Might seem strange to name the head coach that orchestrated the greatest single-season turnaround in franchise history to this list, but I’m crazy enough to do it and I’ll tell you why. Recall if you will Week 12 of the 2013 season. After holding a late lead, Kansas City dropped that game to division rival San Diego. In case you missed it, I wrote an entire article blaming Reid for the loss. I’ll summarize for those of you who’d prefer not to read that piece: Reid’s poor clock management left the Chargers with 82 seconds to put their game-winning drive together.

Given what appears to be a much tougher schedule, I think the best-case scenario for the Chiefs is 9-10 wins in 2014. In short terms, they can’t afford to lose another game due to a coaching gaffe. At least not in 2014. That could mean the difference between the 5th or 6th-seed in the AFC playoff picture and a .500 record (or worse, a 9-7 season that still leaves them at home come January 2015). This particular issue’s dogged Reid throughout his career. It might be unreasonable to expect him to grow out of it at this point. The team can only hope the mistakes he does make don’t come in the closing moments of a tight game.

Do you have any objections to the four items on this list? Are there other obstacles more glaring than those I cited? Is this unnecessary hand-wringing about what might befall the Chiefs in 2014? I’d love to hear your thoughts. Use the comment section below to chime in. As always, we appreciate your readership and support.

Until next time, Addicts!