Takeaway #4: The new defense was a mixed bag
The Kansas City Chiefs have a brand new defense this season. They have a new coordinator, a new scheme/system, and about half of the starting players are new as well. With that many new pieces in play its understandable that the defense will probably not truly take form until about mid way through the season. Still, Sunday’s game was our first chance to see this new defense in action with hopes of it showing improvement over last season.
The bad news is that the defense gave up 26 points against an offense that only averaged 15.3 points per game last season and allowed a relatively unknown rookie (Gardner Minshew) in his first NFL game to go 22 of 25 for 275 yards, 2 touchdowns and 1 interception.
If you entered the game worried about K.C.’s pass coverage, those numbers that Minshew put up aren’t going to put your fears at ease. That said, the coverage wasn’t as bad as last season. Last year there were numerous wide open receivers where defenders either weren’t where they were supposed to be or they got beat so badly by their man that they couldn’t even make a play on the ball. On most of the completions they allowed, there was a defender in close coverage. Minshew just did a really nice job of being accurate and smart with his throws and his receivers made some nice grabs.
I’m not saying that K.C.’s pass coverage isn’t their weakest link; it is. I just think I saw enough to believe that if they can continue to improve throughout the season (plus they’ll get Morris Claiborne back from suspension) then they can clearly be better in coverage this year than they were last year when they almost made the Super Bowl.
On a positive note, I thought the tackling and run defense looked significantly better than last season. The Chiefs missed an inexcusable amount of tackles last season and I thought they looked much more sound in that department against the Jaguars. That alone will lead to a better defense than last season. Leonard Fournette looked really good on Sunday and it didn’t have anything to do with K.C.’s run defense. In fact, given how strong and fast Fournette looked, I was pleased that they held him to 13 carries for 66 yards and no touchdowns.
If the Chiefs can be even just a little bit better in coverage this season and are better against the run as well as just tackling better all around, this defense will be good enough to get the Chiefs where they want to go as long as the offense continues to be elite. While there is definitely room to improve, I actually thought the defense took an encouraging first step on Sunday.
So there you have it Chiefs fans, my four big takeaways from the Chiefs season opening win over the Jaguars. Do you agree with them? Did you have any takeaways that you think are even bigger than these? I’d love to read your thoughts in the comments below.