The Kansas City Chiefs Are A Flawed Team

The Kansas City Chiefs are a flawed team.

There are, however, no teams in the NFL that are not. The question is, what are those flaw?

Most of us can agree with some of them, and fight about others.

Let me preface this by saying that most of us know the Chiefs are somewhat disrespected in the media. Many of us watch SportsCenter, NFL Live, First Take, etc. If they are mentioned, more often than not, it is negative. With only one team in the NFL, Seattle, with a better record, that gets on our nerves. Some of their comments are valid, but it is the complete dismissal of the team that irks me the most.

Now to the flaws. Andy Reid and Bob Sutton have done a remarkable job of turning the talent of this team into what it should have been. More importantly, the culture has become one of the best we’ve seen in years. Accolades aside, I have issues with what Mr. Sutton has been doing lately.

With Brandon Flowers, Eric Berry, Kendrick Lewis, Sean Smith, Abdullah Huasain and Marcus Cooper all on one unit, the defense should not, ever, be allowing Matt McGloin to throw for 297 yards and two touchdowns. And allowing that game to get within four points. Going into the season I thought the Chiefs had the potential to have one of the best secondaries in the NFL. I was proven wrong  many times this season. Though to be fair, they have made plays at times this season.

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Speaking of Marcus Cooper, I imagine he spent the day after the Denver game on a shrink’s couch. That, however, was coaching. He was being carved apart by a surgeon, and at some point an adjustment needed to be made.

I know Justin Houston has been injured, but that shouldn’t matter, too much. The lack of pass rush is based on scheme, hence my comment about coach Sutton. If they don’t get pressure, even the McGloin’s of the world will complete passes. eI will admit, however, I believe that had Hali and Houston not been injured in the San Diego game, the Chiefs would have won handily.

Having Hali, Poe—you know, the guy you all hated last year— andJackson, the guy you’ve hated for a number of years; all playing great should also prevent this from happening. Throw in Johnson and Frank Zombo, who has been playing well, and it should never happen

I can understand when you get picked apart by Peyton Manning and Phillip Rivers, but not if you want to be what we all want the Chiefs to be, champions. History will prove that. Great defenses will make great quarterbacks uncomfortable. They don’t like that, and it shows.

On to the offense.

I am a big Alex Smith fan.  I think Jamaal Charles if pretty good too. Other NFL teams know Charles is pretty special as well, and they are not stupid. I don’t think you can count on screen passes for touchdowns every week though.  As the Chiefs enter the playoffs (just think how much fun that is to type) they will come across better defenses than Oakland and Washington, which isn’t’ saying much.

The offense is flawed too, but I think we all knew that.

Now for the fun part.

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Why the Chiefs are as good as any other team. I can easily make the case that the only game the Chiefs had no realistic chance to win was the game in Denver, and that was by no means a blow out. They should have won the game against them in K.C. but the receivers decided to take the day off and it still came down to the last play. The San Diego game still pains me.

The Chiefs have the best special teams in the NFL. Ironically, they are third in scoring behind only Denver and Chicago. They are fourth in points allowed. I know the NFL rates offense and defense based on yards gained/given up, but I could care less.

Simply score, and don’t let the other team score. That’s how you win the game of football.

The offense came together this year. New coach, quarterback, some offensive lineman, tight ends and they are getting better every week.  I think this is Dwayne Bowe’s best year. It doesn’t show up in the stats, but he’s never been a better team player and his blocking is essential to the offense they run.

I have not lost faith in the defense. Contrary to what I wrote above, I still believe in Sutton.  If we see these things, I suspect he does too.

The Chiefs are healthy, or as healthy as an NFL team can be going into week 16.  That may be the most important factor for a team at this stage.

All year long I’ve been telling people the Chiefs are not going to the Super Bowl, but compared to last year, I couldn’t be happier. Now, I’m not so sure. I think they are better than the Colts, but I guess we get find out tomorrow.

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I think they’re better than any team that gets the Wild Card. They are, in my view better than the Bengals, but Cincy will be tough at home.

As crazy as this sounds to me, I think they are better than the Patriots, except of course, Tom Brady, the best quarterback I’ve ever seen play, and I’m old.  Like the Patriots, I think the Chiefs are better than the Broncos too, except Manning.  That’s why the pass rush must return. Make them shaky in the pocket, and the Chiefs can beat them both, home or on the road.

In many ways, the playoffs start this Sunday.  Kansas City needs to punch the Colts in the mouth and more importantly, do it again next week on the road in San Diego.

If they do that, there will be a change in what you hear about them, and how other teams perceive them.