The K.C. Chiefs defense, understandably, has once again drawn the ire of Chiefs Kingdom. The Las Vegas Raiders defense, much maligned in the national media, surrendered 27 points and 406 yards in four quarters and an overtime the the Baltimore Ravens. In nearly one less quarter the Chiefs defense surrendered 31 points and 481 yards.
What is probably the most glaring statistic is yards per play. The Chiefs defense allowed the Ravens to rush for a whopping 6.1 yards per rush and a total of 7.1 yards per play. Again, both falling short of the Raiders production a week earlier.
It’s just one game. It is virtually meaningless aside from the possibility the Chiefs will be competing with the Ravens for playoff seeding. It’s still fairly shocking that the Raiders, a veritable dumpster fire of an organization for the last several seasons, performed better considering the high price tag for the Chiefs defense.
In my opinion, the primary cause of Sunday’s debacle was personnel. The Chiefs have a lot of “pass rushers” on the defensive line but not many elite “run stuffers.” Against a team like the Ravens this will be a problem, one the coaching staff needs to solve if we face the Ravens in the playoffs.
The pass rush is impacting the whole defense
Regardless of your countenance regarding this team, positive or negative, the Chiefs defense must bounce back as they look to the Los Angeles Chargers. The Chargers possess an ascending quarterback, one who possesses a number of playmaking traits like the Chiefs own Patrick Mahomes, and a number of matchup problems in the passing game.
One of the biggest challenges for the Chiefs last season was rushing the passer. Through 16 games, they generated only 32 sacks and only three players broke double digits in quarterback hits. The coaching staff made some major changes on the line, bringing in Jarran Reed and moving Chris Jones to outside full time in hopes they could stimulate production.
Through two games the Chiefs have three sacks and six quarterback hits putting them on pace to finish well below last year’s marks in 2021. To add some additional context, this puts the team near the bottom of the league in pressure. As Frank Clark says correctly, “Sacks come in bunches.” Nevertheless, this stat line is concerning.
Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert is off to a hot start completing 70.5 percent of his passes for over 300 yards per game. If the Chiefs are unable to create pressure on Sunday, it’s unlikely the secondary will be able to hold the line.
The secondary has suffered considerably under the current conditions. According to Pro Football Focus, the group of six players in our secondary who have received the bulk of snaps have averaged a rating of 56.2. Mike Hughes has been the only bright spot, with a group leading 71.7 rating. He has played rather well, making the mid-offseason trade look like a steal. Unfortunately, as this player’s performance has been a bit rough this season, Daniel Sorensen brings up the rear with a rating of 35.5.
It’s early in the season, and I’d be the first to argue this isn’t time to panic, but the fundamentals of this defense are unsustainable for a team seeking a championship. Coupled with their inability to stop the run, the defense’s lack of pass rush will make even poor teams multi-dimensional.
The Chargers are viewed as the primary challenger to the Chiefs in the AFC West, and they’ll take the field Sunday as the fifth ranked offense in the NFL. They also possess the best defense the Chiefs have played this year. This weekend’s contest will go a long way in either calming or heightening concern in Chiefs Kingdom.