2016 Chiefs: A 1969 Hit
By Laddie Morse
If you’ve read my Saturday morning post for very long, then you know about my devotion to music. This week’s post will be Hopelessly Devoted.
Ever since the year 1969… the year of the Kansas City Chiefs championship season… the men in red and gold have been music to my ears. I’ve also made it no secret that I’m Hooked on a Feeling that the 2016 Chiefs are ready to make a championship run… which would also be music to my ears. As you can tell, Everybody’s Talkin, so it’s the The Time of the Season to Come Together and cheer for our Chiefs!
The 2016 Kansas City Chiefs may have their detractors but there is one essential element that most all Super Bowl champions have, and these Chiefs have it in aces: a dominant defensive line.
Fans should expect the K.C. defensive line to be the best in the AFC West and probably the whole AFC. It’s not going to be Denver, their time has passed with the exit of Malik Jackson who was likely their best lineman but now he’s a Jaguar.
With Mike DeVito coming back in 2015, following a year off from a ruptured Achilles’ tendon and Dontari Poe still recovering from back surgery the defensive line gave up an average of more than 31 per game in the first fours weeks of the season. With both DeVito back in the groove and Poe more completely recovered, the Chiefs gave up only 11.8 points per game in weeks 6 through 16.
The top three defenses in points allowed per game for the whole season in 2015 were, the Seahawks at 17.3, the Bengals at 17.4 and the Chiefs at 17.9. So, the Chiefs would have placed them first in the league by a large margin if they were able to sustain their games 6-16 pace all year. Now, there’s no reason to believe they won’t be able to do that in 2016.
A healthy Dontari Poe in a contract year is going to be more than any team can handle, even with double teams. Remember this: Dontari Poe wasn’t even the Chiefs best D-lineman last year. That would be the newly re-signed Jaye Howard. K.C. fans can expect the Chiefs defensive front to be dominant all day every day all week every week all season long. Sorry Denver, consider yourself Bronco-busted.
Next: What makes this defense sing?