A complete guide to fixing the Kansas City Chiefs run defense

Eric Berry is a bigger loss than we first anticipated

I wrote an article last week about how I was one of the people that thought safety Eric Berry would be a loss, but not a huge one. I was clearly wrong. I wrote the article on all the areas we are missing Berry on this defense and you can find that here.

Not only was Berry a big leader on the defense, but he could play all over the defense. One of the biggest things about him was he lined up in a different spot each play throwing off the quarterback and making him wonder what Berry’s role was for that play.

Berry was another great run defender that you could line up in the box next to Johnson and it was not a problem. He was great at finding the holes and delivering a hard hit on the running back before he even got past the line of scrimmage. Something that the Chiefs defense is lacking as I explained the hesitation this year from the linebackers.

Sutton has tried to replace that role with Sorensen and it has been a nightmare. Sorensen is nothing close to what Berry could do against the run and we have gotten a good look at that this season. Way too often we see him get pushed out of plays and he’s not aggressive at hitting the holes either.

Another thing that drives me nuts about Sorensen is while he makes some good plays from time to time and leads the team in tackles, I would almost bet he would lead the team in missed tackles as well. Berry was the teams best tackler by far. One of the reasons it went unappreciated was because Berry would come down to make the tackle after the carrier had already gotten the first down but he kept it from turning into a huge gain.

Now you have a bend-but-don’t-break defense that relies on key players like Johnson and Berry and one of those guys are out for the season and the other isn’t playing well.