Why the Kansas City Chiefs Will Regress in 2014
By Austin Pitts
Jan 4, 2014; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Kansas City Chiefs cornerback Marcus Cooper (31) defends a pass intended for Indianapolis Colts receiver T.Y. Hilton (13) during the 2013 AFC wild card playoff football game at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Thomas J. Russo-USA TODAY Sports
Our Secondary Will Be Worse
I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I feel as if our secondary will put up an even worse showing than it did last year. Even though we have one of the top safeties in the league in Eric Berry, and our pass rush is deadly when working, I don’t think we have the depth and experience to keep up with some of the teams we’ll face.
Specifically, we can even look into our own division and see that we have to face Peyton Manning and Phillip Rivers twice each. That is a quarter of our schedule against offenses that can air the ball out just a bit. And while we have made moves such as drafting Phillip Gaines and moving some new people into the free safety spot, we still have a glaring hole in the slot which both of those teams can exploit, along with many others in the league.
Adding on to that, the experience in our secondary is incredibly limited. The leadership won’t falter, as Eric Berry is a natural leader, but actual game and league experience is simply lacking. While I loved what I saw of Marcus Cooper at times, he is still unproven and will most likely go through a trial by fire this season.
With all of these deficiencies, our overall pass defense could still improve. As long as our pass rush continues like it was in the first half of last season, we have a shot against any passing offense. The question will be if our rush will be effective enough to hide the holes that our secondary is trying to patch up.