The good and bad news for the 6-3 Kansas City Chiefs

Injuries have plagued the Chiefs throughout the regular season. A number of key contributors (read: starters) have missed significant time through the top half of Kansas City’s schedule. The team’s roster, while deep, has struggled mightily with the drop in talent and game experience. Two weeks of rest will serve the Chiefs “sick and shut in” list well. It’s possible with a full week of non-game preparation that the team could see every notably-injured player return for its Week 11 tilt with the New York Giants.

Kansas City’s problem areas are a by-product of injuries along the offensive line, the outside linebacker positions and the defensive backfield. While the recent returns of cornerback Steven Nelson, guard Laurent Duvernay-Tardif and center Mitch Morse haven’t been a cure-all for what ails the Chiefs, there have been clear improvements to their respective position groups. The team hopes it can get other role players such as wide receiver Albert Wilson and outside linebacker Dee Ford back to help with reinforcements down the stretch.

Let me be clear, returning players may have a quantifiable impact on the back half of Kansas City’s schedule, but it does not a panacea make. The Chiefs need an infusion of talent and on this side of the trade deadline, that’s unlikely to come until the offseason. As an example, safeties like the Daniel Sorensens and Eric Murrays of the world, as serviceable as they may be in spots, aren’t good long-term options. Teams will eventually exploit them and over Kansas City’s recent four-game stretch, that’s precisely what they’ve done. The loss of All-Pro safety Eric Berry has severely limited options for defensive coordinator Bob Sutton. His reserve players aren’t remotely as dynamic and have forced him to overcompensate with sub-packages and schemes that expose this defense’s biggest weaknesses.