Kansas City Chiefs: 5 keys to get back on track on Monday Night Football

Keep Willie Gay, Juan Thornhill, and Rashad Fenton on the Field

The Chiefs’ defense this season has shown a severe lack of speed, athleticism, and playmaking ability. A few of the rare exceptions to this have been Willie Gay, Juan Thornhill, and Rashad Fenton. The problem is that the Chiefs haven’t had them on the field on a consistent basis. In Gay’s case, some of that is due to an early injury, but in all three players’ cases, there have been times where the Chiefs have opted to play inferior players over them.

Whatever reservations the Chiefs coaches have had about playing these three on a consistent basis, it’s time to move past them. The results on defense simply haven’t been good enough to hold back on playing the most gifted players on the roster. You could make an excuse about veterans playing ahead of them because they know the system better if those veterans weren’t getting beat on a regular basis. We all know that hasn’t been the case.

With the future of some of KC’s biggest names and highest-paid defenders in doubt after this season, it is all the more important to see what you have in these promising younger players to better plan how to build the defense going forward. So not only does getting these guys on the field now help you in the short term because of their upside, but it sets you up better for the future as well.

With an elite offense, the Chiefs don’t need a shut-down defense. They need a defense that makes an occasional big play here and there and these three have shown the ability to do that if you just get them on the field and let them use their abilities.

There is one more key to getting this team back on track for the defense.