The Kansas City Chiefs lost to the Tennessee Titans in the Wild-Card round of the 2017 playoffs. Lack of defensive personnel was Brett Veach’s problem.
The Kansas City Chiefs lost yet another terrible playoff game to the Tennessee Titans during the Wild Card round of the 2017 playoffs. A game that most thought was an easy win over the Titans and had fans already looking at who the Chiefs would play in the divisional round. Even going into halftime, it seemed that Kansas City was a sure win.
Unfortunately, the Chiefs came out in the second half looking vulnerable on both sides of the football. While most fans will talk about the significant loss of star tight end Travis Kelce, the injury of defensive end Chris Jones was an even more substantial impact on the second half. Without Jones on the field, the entire offensive line could focus solely on outside linebacker Justin Houston.
Most of the criticism went to defensive coordinator Bob Sutton for his scheme going into the second half and refusing to adjust during the game as the Titans ran the ball down the Chiefs throats. Rushing the ball for 202 yards, the Chiefs defense could not figure out a way to get off the field in the second half. Titans running back Derrick Henry averaged 6.8 yards a run showing the poor performance and ability of the Chiefs to stop the run.
While personnel was indeed an issue on the field, Sutton’s inability to make changes that have proven to work earlier in the season had fans screaming at their television. At least I was. Tennessee had a mediocre passing game with minimal weapons for quarterback Marcus Mariota to utilize. The Chiefs still came out in nickel packages almost the entire second half instead of loading up the box to attack the strength of the Titans.
Remember when the Chiefs changed right before the bye week during the regular season to utilizing more two inside linebacker sets, base sets, and attacked the run game? It worked against some of the best rushing attacks including the Dallas Cowboys and Buffalo Bills. Which makes you question why Sutton wasn’t going back to those sets for the Titans game when they had proven all season that throwing the ball is a weakness for them.
Regardless, it was another playoff loss where the opposing team ran at will, and the Chiefs defense couldn’t come up with an answer. Just like the season before when Kansas City hosted the Pittsburgh Steelers and let running back Le’Veon Bell rush for 170 yards. When it comes to the playoff losses in recent years, watching the defense try and defend the run haunts Chiefs fans.
The offense is not off the hook either. During both of those playoff losses, the offense failed to attack and at times have any success. Kansas City fell short of scoring a single point in the second half against Tennessee and Pittsburgh they waited too long to try and score again. Aggressiveness on both sides of the ball is something that has lacked for the Chiefs, and general manager Brett Veach has taken notice. He has proven that these losses are a direct result of the 2018 offseason for the organization.