Ten takeaways from Kansas City Chiefs training camp

The run defense looks much better

Last season, the Chiefs were 27th in the NFL in rushing yards allowed with 132.1 yards allowed per game and 31st in the NFL with an even 5.0 yards per carry allowed. What’s really sad about that number is that you would think a team that led the NFL in scoring would see the rushing yards against them go down—even if it was just out of necessity on the part of their opponents to throw the ball. The problem was that the Chiefs were so bad at stopping the run that teams could continue to run the ball on them even while trying to keep up.

While the defense could still have some shortcomings this year (more on that later), the early signs in camp point to the run defense looking much better. To my eye, it appears the change in scheme and coaching is helping a lot. Guys are in a better position to make a play. It could also certainly have to do with the new players they have brought in, but either way, there is a more physical nature to the front seven that seemed to be lacking the last several years.

Now, it should be noted that for many of the drills I watched, they were working on stopping the run so it’s much easier for a defense to stuff the run when they are 100% certain a run is coming. The real test will be in game situations. Can the players identify what the offense is doing and shut things down like I saw them do in camp? That remains to be seen but the run defense was one of two positive noticeable upgrades I witnessed at camp on the defensive side of the ball.

If they can go from terrible at stopping the run to even just average it could be enough of an upgrade over the defense last season to put a team with an elite offense over the top. Now let’s talk about the other thing that is noticeably better on the defensive side of the ball in camp this year.