Biggest Surprise: Eric Berry’s impact
I’ll be honest: I typically think intangibles are overrated. Eric Berry’s story is certainly an incredible one, inspiring and encouraging and every other sort of warm, fuzzy feeling you can conjure. His comeback from numerous injuries, including Hodgkin’s lymphoma, is incredible and there’s no denying he’s one of the single best defensive players in the entire NFL when he’s healthy.
That said, if you’d have asked me before the season started if the Chiefs could withstand the loss of Berry, I would have said they’d be okay. I had high hopes for Eric Murray, his understudy who’d yet to really see the field. Daniel Sorensen continued to develop and look good year over year, and his new extension made me confident the front office felt the same. Ron Parker was a versatile safety who can play all over and the Chiefs had enough impact at corner, a la Marcus Peters, to keep the secondary in decent shape overall.
Fast forward to Week 1 and my eyes were glued to Eric Berry well before he was injured, as he was masterfully taking Tom Brady’s top target out of the game during the Chiefs season-opening win over the New England Patriots. Rob Gronkowski was nowhere to be found and the Chiefs rolled over the defending Super Bowl champions on the road in primetime. It was a statement performance in a statement game. Unfortunately it was the last we’d see of Berry in 2017.
Since that moment the Chiefs have struggled to replace Berry and, consequently, other pieces have fallen apart as well. Suddenly the entire secondary has looked suspect. Sorensen’s parameters have been defined and Eric Murray has proved not ready to eliminate opposing tight ends. The overall run defense continues to disappoint and Marcus Peters feels like a loose lugnut in a way, like the tire is going to fall off at any point in some emotional episode. Is that Berry’s influence lost on the field? We’re searching for answers and that sounds as good as any for why Peters is a bit more dramatic this year than ever.
Overall, it’s just clear that Berry is sincerely missed and I, for one, never thought the toll taken would be this big. Color me wrong and count me in among those desperate to see Berry get healthy and ready for another season at safety.