Chiefs foundation set, faces future this offseason

I know it stings.

Any loss after breaking a 22-year playoff losing streak was going to.

Its a huge obstacle to play the New England Patriots at home in the playoffs. The Kansas City Chiefs found that out the hard way, but will be better off for it down the line.

The Chiefs injuries sealed the deal in New England. Jeremy Maclin’s absence exposed a young receiver corp that couldn’t step and meet the challenge, although veteran Jason Avant made a good show of it.  The lack of a Justin Houston pass rush made it painfully clear that the rest of the edge players are not able to take up the slack yet, either.

Furthermore, the run game, though not terrible, could have used a healthy and menacing dose of Spencer Ware. The truth is that the Patriots were able to get their ailing stars back in serviceable condition and the Chiefs were not. That’s not a dig on the Kansas City training staff, that’s just a fact of life in the NFL.

There has been talk about the emotional season and the toll it took on the this team. It’s fair to say the team is emotionally worn out after an 11-game winning streak, but its not that kind of “tired” that concerns me. The team was visible fatigued to my eye, nearly from the get-go. Maybe the cold in New England got to them or its possible they didn’t sleep much the night before. Either way, I didn’t see the edge they had played with the prior 11 weeks.

And that goes for the coaches as well as the players. The staff failed to make any successful adjustments, particularly at the half. Defensive coordinator Bob Sutton crawled back into the shell he was in early in the year and forgot what his defense is built on. A three-man rush is something we should never see from this defense. Ever. Tom Brady’s ridiculous 2.19-second release time didn’t help matters, but Josh McDaniels was playing chess and Sutton showed up with a pair of dice.

At the end of the day, the young players got experience in playoff competition and losing to an excellent opponent, which is something that is useful in developing a better professional football athlete.

I dug into these topics with Chris Clark and our special guest Benjamin Allbright (of milehighsports.com) this week on the ‘Check With Me’ podcast.

Here’s the show.

Looking to the (immediate) future

Before you start thinking ‘we gotta have a tackle or wide receiver with the first pick’, let me throw a spotlight on a few things before the college All-star games get going.

First, if you haven’t read Ben Almquist’s piece on free agency, go read that as soon as we’re done here. In it, Citadel outlines a number of possible moves to bolster these positions in free agency. As we’ll see below, they will still need to have draft picks fill out the depth chart, but free agent signings will let the front office focus on bigger fish.

Cornerback – Some are people are optimistic, but I am a realist. After talking with Joel Corry and several other experts, I expect Sean Smith to play somewhere else in 2016. He will be able to get $10M/yr in this market and the Chiefs just can’t spend that due to the Berry contract and being ready to sign Poe.

Phillip Gaines’ return should give Kansas City a corner tandem that can remain high-end, if not elite. Beyond that, the team is in trouble at cornerback. Now, Steven Nelson developed in 2015, but he still has a ways to go. Otherwise, he would have been in the nickel instead of Ron Parker. Another big-time corner in the first two rounds can go a long way to fix the situation. Dorsey can add a fifth-rounder too, just in case.

Edge Rusher – This pos season illustrates the situation. Tamba Hali is 100 years old and played valiantly in New England on one knee. Even if he returns next season (and he just might), the team needs another young edge rusher to pair-with/push Dee Ford. Against quality teams, backups Zombo and Moses are not good enough to get pressure.

If Justin Houston or Ford were to get injured next season, the team needs a pass rusher who can get the job done and rotate in, whether with Hali or not. The team needs an impact edge rusher in the first three rounds of the upcoming draft.

Wide Receiver – Jeremy Maclin broke 1,000 yards. He led the receiver corps and came up big, time and again. When he went down, the offense sputtered. It is just that simple, despite soon-to-be free agent Jason Avant’s efforts. I believe Chris Conley can become a high-end No. 2 wide receiver. I don’t think he can be a true top man. I think Albert Wilson, despite his regression in some aspects, is going to continue to develop and be a quality rotational player.

However, the 2015 post-season proved that you cannot allow your offense to be derailed by the injury of your #1 wideout. The Chiefs need to find their 1B receiver; a pass-catcher that can step into the primary “Z” role without missing a beat and be productive. Quality free agency or the first two days of the draft are a good place to find one.

* Wildcard – From his remarks in the week following the divisional round loss, it seems Derrick Johnson is intent on signing back with the Chiefs this offseason. If he does, great. The team could use an upgrade from Josh Mauga in the mid-rounds of the draft. Ramik Wilson is built more to replace Johnson than play next to him and no, D.J. Alexander is not going to be ready to be a starter.

This draft class has a deep number of speedy and powerful linebackers that could be worth taking early if the draft falls that way. Like the Steelers’ Dick LeBeau said, you can never have enough of them. If Johnson is somehow not back in Kansas City, an impact off-the-line linebacker becomes imperative.

That’s it for this week, Addicts.
Who do you want to see in the Super Bowl… Broncos to Patriots?

Enjoy the games!