When we surveyed our writing staff at midseason, it’s clear that everyone is down on the defense in 2017.
For a team that is 6-3 after nine games and comes out of the bye week with an easier schedule than most, you’d think there wouldn’t be a lot to complain about. The Kansas City Chiefs have convincing wins over the NFL’s best teams and have weathered injuries and the hardest part of the schedule to come out with a winning record and two-game lead in the AFC West as they prepare for the stretch run. In other words, it’s been a very good year so far by nearly anyone’s definition.
But what is missing at this point is the defensive identity and intensity that we’re used to seeing in Kansas City. Every year it seems the Chiefs are well-represented in the Pro Bowl on defense, with players like Marcus Peters, Justin Houston and company representing the red and gold in style. While Peters and Houston in particular will likely resurface on Pro Bowl rosters, the reality is that the Chiefs are allowing more yards than nearly any other NFL team.
Several players are looking older and slower than before. Other positions are dangerously thin. Some players have yet to really break through, while other draft picks are so raw they’ve yet to add a single meaningful contribution. Together it’s all meant the Chiefs defense is a shell of its former self, which is likely why nearly every staff writer mentions the defense or an aspect of it when surveyed about the biggest disappointments at midseason.
Biggest Disappointment: Chris Jones
Make no mistake, the second-year man out of Mississippi State is one of the most promising young defensive line talents in the NFL. The problem is that he’s not quite ready to play at a high level on a consistent basis. He can be an absolute one-man wrecking crew one week (as was the case in the Kansas City Chiefs’ matchup with the Philadelphia Eagles). The next week, he’s relatively quiet and struggles to make a quantifiable impact on the game. It typically takes three years for a defensive lineman to get their bearings at the pro level. Jones has flashed the ability to be an All-Pro in the National Football League, but he hasn’t yet matured to the point where he can play that well week in and week out. With more time to grow, he could soon become the best front seven player on the defensive side of the football for Kansas City. [Reach]
Biggest Disappointment: Derrick Johnson
The biggest disappointment so far this year is Derrick Johnson. Despite coming off his second torn Achilles injury and being 34 years old, Chiefs fans had high hopes for Johnson. It was expected he would be back at nearly full strength and he would be a big jolt to the anemic run defense of the Chiefs. However, Johnson appears to have fallen back a lot more than many of us thought. He is slow, for Johnson that is, and is playing hesitant because of it. Gone is the bullet through the line that would blow up a running back as he took the handoff. Gone is the speed man who could beat even the fastest running back to the corner. It appears we are seeing the end of Johnson’s brilliant KC career and that is just sad to say. [Britt Zank]
Biggest Disappointment: Run defense
This is an area where I really expected the Chiefs to be improved. With the addition of Bennie Logan, along with the return of Derrick Johnson and Justin Houston, I expected this group to resolve the issues they had a year ago. The reality is, they’ve gotten worse. The Chiefs have already given up 1’049 yards on the ground this year, the third highest total in the league. I give Bob Sutton a bit of a pass here because he is working without a superb run defender in Eric Berry, and a Derrick Johnson who is a shell of his former self. The Chiefs have nine weeks to figure this one out before the playoffs start. This is an issue that could loom large in January. [Austin Owen]
Biggest Disappointment: Overall defense
I would say my biggest disappointment for this year so far would be how bad the defense has looked. Last year we could always count on the defense to carry this team and make turnovers. They also scored multiple times to win us games. This year the defense seems like it’s just an absolute mess. Guys aren’t playing as well as we had expected them to, missed tackles all over the place, and not getting the turnovers we need. Also not being able to stop the run or the pass. Complete turn around from last year. [Travis Steffen]
Coming into the season, I had my doubts about this team. Specifically, on the defensive side of the ball, and so far through the first half of the year, the Chiefs have not made me feel much better about our defensive situation. I understand that we have a lot of talent on defense, especially with the addition of former first round pick Reggie Ragland, who was highly touted coming out of the 2016 NFL draft. The problem seems to be getting the defense to mesh, and seeing our defense struggle like this after years of being a top defense in the league just sucks to watch. We saw some improvement against Dallas against the run, but the pass defense outside of Ron Parker and Marcus Peters still leaves a lot to be desired. Hopefully in the second half of this season, the defense finds their fire and turns all their woes around. [Kody Latham]
Biggest Disappointment: Cornerback rotation
For me this is the biggest disappointment for the Chiefs this year because it was, again for me, a glaring issue before the season started.
Yes, the Chiefs had reason to believe that they already had an answer in house for the outside cornerback spot across from Marcus Peters. Phillip Gaines was healthy and motivated in a contract season. Terrance Mitchell had come out of nowhere to play well down the stretch the previous season. Steven Nelson had played bigger than his smaller stature to rotate outside on several occasions.
Through it all, however, all of those were also question marks. Nelson was good inside in his first full NFL season, so why mess with a good thing? Mitchell was a journeyman who failed to stick for a reason for years before he signed and starred with the Chiefs. Gaines had been inconsistent for years, so can you really lean on him.
Ultimately, the Chiefs decided to not take a single defensive back until their very last pick in a draft that was loaded with playmakers in the secondary. At the time, I was among the vocal minority begging for first or second round help at both pass rush and the secondary instead of making a move for Patrick Mahomes. I certainly hope I’m wrong and Mahomes is the franchise QB down the stretch, but it’s hard to not think about what might have been had the Chiefs taken T.J. Watt and Chidobe Awuzie, for example, in the first two rounds. [Matt Conner]