One of the most startling stats from the Chiefs’ 17-27 loss to the Denver Broncos was the lack of a pass-rush from Kansas City’s defense.
The Chiefs’ have made their name in 2013 by getting after the quarterback. Against Peyton Manning and the Broncos though, Kansas City wasn’t even able to snag one sack.
Head coach Andy Reid discussed the lack of a pass rush with the media recently, saying, “I think he (Peyton Manning) did a great job of getting the ball out fast.”
“To get to the quarterback in this league, it’s not only having good people to rush the quarterback, it’s a joint effort. You have to make sure you make life rough on them as far as covering the receivers,” Reid explained. “He was able to get us a couple of times. His third down production wasn’t very good, his quarterback rating was well below what he normally played at. We gave our offense a great opportunity to start the second half with; three in-and-outs right in a row, bang, bang, bang. We didn’t take advantage of that offensively.”
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“We lost the field position battle there, but we were right in the position to take care of business and we didn’t take care of business. I think he made the adjustment to get the ball out as fast as he could. It wasn’t his best day.”
“To answer your question, going back on the turnovers, yeah we want turnovers,” Reid said. “We had three chances, legitimate chances to catch the football and there was pressure on the quarterback. He had to make adjustments to get the football out fast and we were there to make the interceptions. They were just low scoops that you have to make. Those are the tough ones, but we’re very capable of doing that.”
Looking ahead to Kansas City’s clash with Denver at Arrowhead, if the Chiefs can find a way to get after Manning, there’s a good chance they’ll be able to win that game. It’s not as if Kansas City played bad in Denver. They just didn’t make enough plays to win the game.
The Chiefs are in Denver’s league, and they have at least one more chance to prove that.