Why the Kansas City Chiefs Will Regress in 2014
By Austin Pitts
Dec 15, 2013; Oakland, CA, USA; Kansas City Chiefs running back Jamaal Charles (25) eludes Oakland Raiders cornerback Tracy Porter (23) to score on a 39-yard touchdown reception in the first quarter at O.co Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Teams Will Key Off on Jamaal EVEN MORE
Everyone knows the Jamaal is the workhouse for the Kansas City Chiefs offense. That’s a common fact, and one that we didn’t try to hide last year as he was given the ball over and over again, and in various different ways.
This year, expect a lot of defenses to completely focus on taking Jamaal out of the game. Look for athletic Mike backers to be on “Jamaal Watch”, and follow him all over the field. Also, don’t be surprised if teams throw 8 men in the box on us.
While Andy Reid could easily scheme up some ways to get Jamaal outside still, teams are going to specifically focus on forcing us to beat them with a different player. I’m not saying that we have no offenses weapons outside of JC, but what we have is limited and not proven.
Our tight end situation panning out to what a lot of people think it could be would be immensely helpful, but that is no guarantee.
On the outside, Dwayne Bowe will have to step up big time, and does anyone have a ton of faith in that? I still think that Bowe could be a very solid, consistent number one guy, but he hasn’t proven that yet and I don’t think this year will be the year he does it. After him, the drops add up even faster, which is a horrible sign for our receiving core. While Junior Hemingway and AJ Jenkins could finally figure out the league, that is going to take time and more importantly games, and we don’t have the firepower to bounce back from early losses that should be wins. One main bright spot in this all is DAT, but again, we’ll have to see how his game transitions to the NFL.