Questions for the Chiefs down the stretch

Now that our Kansas City Chiefs have evened their record to .500, some would say very surprisingly, it’s time to see what we should be looking for down the stretch.

First, can Charcandrick West be the guy? It’s an important question because there is a possibility Jamaal Charles is not brought back next season. The odds of him departing after the season grow with each week of West appearing to have the stuff to be a quality NFL tailback.

Will he be as good as Charles? No, obviously not, but he is showing he can at least be solid. And with the emergence of Spencer Ware, the Chiefs have the makings of a young, cheap, solid backfield for the next few years. West is currently dealing with a hamstring issue, which is also important to watch, as injury issues such as this can really derail a season.

Second, just who and what is Alex Smith? He’s currently on an extended streak of interception-less play, and it can be said this is the best this team has truly looked in years, maybe the best four-game stretch since Andy Reid took over as the head coach. In this four-game stretch, Smith has been everything the Chiefs have wanted, not turning the ball over and helping the offense get first downs.

Will this play continue against teams that are less then stellar, and what should we honestly expect? It will be interesting to see what level of play Smith plays to the rest of the season, which will help determine what we can expect going forward.

The re-emergence of Eric Berry may be the best sports story of the year, and for it to happen in our city is something special. His play has equaled, and to a degree exceeded how he was playing at before he was sick, which is quite possibly one of the greatest things someone could imagine. The rise of his performance really mirrors the performance of the defense, which has been at an elite level this past month.

Berry has been a playmaker at safety, and along with corners Sean Smith and Marcus Peters, has really helped to raise the level of this entire defense. Needless to say, Berry’s performance has been impressive, but for his play to be coming off the heels of a cancer treatment, is something incredible.

What are the odds that Cairo Santos and his right leg survive the season? The main sticking point with this offense has been its consistent inability to score touchdowns despite getting the ball far enough down the field to kick a field goal. Santos performance has been really impressive this season, especially considering how often the Chiefs have asked Santos to kick. Hopefully his leg doesn’t fall off before he needs to make a vital, important kick at the end of the season.

Can this offensive line keep up its play? This is one of the more vital and important aspects moving forward. Maybe it’s nothing  but this line really appears to have gelled and solidified since the departure of Donald Stephenson and Ben Grubbs and the return of Jeff Allen to the lineup. No idea if those two moves are at all related to the better play by the line, but there is no doubt they are playing better.

If they can keep this performance up, so can Alex Smith, and so can Charcandrick West, and thus, the rest of the team. Let’s hope they do.