The Kansas City Chiefs are not Super Bowl worthy right now
The Defense
Over the past few weeks there seems to be some Chiefs fans that want to argue about who is more at fault for K.C.’s struggles. Some argue that the defense is still far too soft, plagued by the same issues from previous seasons under Bob Sutton. Others are arguing that if the offense was performing like one of the elite units in football (like most of us thought they would), the Chiefs could have easily won the past couple of weeks.
Let’s just end this debate right now: They’re both right. Both sides of the ball share a significant role in the team’s struggles.
When it comes to the defense, I would personally rank the issues they are having in the following order.
1. Horrible linebacker play against both the run and pass
2. Not enough pressure on the quarterback
3. Poor tackling all around
4. Defensive front losing the battle in the trenches
5. Cornerback play (including penalties)
If you asked five different Chiefs fans to rank those five issues you might get five different orders, but I think we can all agree that all five need to be better. That’s a lot for a defense to improve. As the trade deadline grows nearer, I am becoming more and more convinced that the Chiefs would be better off trading for a major upgrade at linebacker than they would be trading for an elite cornerback.
The Chiefs are just incredibly soft in the middle of their defense. The defensive tackles get pushed around. The linebackers either run themselves out of plays, get caught up on blocks, or miss tackles. It would be one thing if they were choosing to be soft at linebacker against the run because they were playing guys that are great in coverage, but they’e been bad in coverage too! I’ve gone on and on about the run defense the past two weeks. I’m not going into it again today. I’ll just say that they are one of if not the worst run defense in football and leave it at that.
The Chiefs need help in the middle of their defense. They need Chris Jones back from injury to wreak some havoc up front. They also need an upgrade at linebacker. I know Anthony Hitchens was out on Sunday, but honestly he’s been a problem as well. It’s just depressing that the Chiefs have committed a decent amount of resources to their front seven and they can’t get pressure on the quarterback, stop the run, cover short passes, or even tackle well. That’s an embarrassing truth that Chiefs general manager Brett Veach has to own.
I know the cornerback play hasn’t been great and the penalties for grabbing and holding are infuriating, but if the Chiefs were actually getting pressure on the quarterback, the corners wouldn’t have to cover so long and some of those penalties would go away. The bottom line is that the defense has plenty of issues to correct and Steve Spagnuolo needs to prove that K.C. brought the right guy in to turn this defense around. Right now it’s just the same thing as last year with different faces. Actually, at least we had a pass rush last year.
Next up let’s talk about the offensive line.