First and foremost, there is the play on the defensive side of the ball. With a defense ranked in the bottom five of the league in both rushing and passing defense, this Chiefs defense has shown all year that they are allergic to getting stops. There is the notion that “this same defense was ranked 11th last year and we went to the Super Bowl”, and that would probably hold true if that wasn’t last year, and if players hadn’t been traded, cut, or regressed.
However, there is still some hope for this defense, in the form of Chris Jones. Should the Chiefs’ best interior defender return to form over the remaining 12 games, (alongside a hopefully resurgent Frank Clark), and take pressure off the Chiefs linebackers while dealing out pressure to opposing QB’s, this defense could easily iron out these kinks. Not being able to consistently get pressure is one of the main issues facing this Chiefs defense right now. When they can’t get pressure, opposing QB’s have all day to throw and burn the likes of Daniel Sorensen in the secondary. Should they be able to employ a reliable pass rush, the defense can at least return to average play.