There were a lot of reasons the K.C. Chiefs lost to the Cincinnati Bengals in the AFC Championship game. Some say it’s Patrick Mahomes, some say it’s Andy Reid, and some might even say the defense.
If you were to make a “blame pie” and divide the losing factors and how big their impact was, you’d probably give the largest slice of pie to Mahomes. Not many will disagree.
That said, I believe the next biggest slice would have to be given to the Chiefs pass rush. They failed in a game where the matchup was heavily in their favor. The Bengals had allowed the most sacks in the league over the course of the season and the Chiefs defensive line generated a lot of pressure during the Week 17 game against Cincinnati.
KC Chiefs pass-rush major concern heading into offseason
The Chiefs were only able to muster one sack against the weak Bengals line in what was the biggest game of the year with a Super Bowl appearance on the line.
It’s an issue we’ve run into far too often with this unit. How many times did we look at the Chiefs’ defensive line on paper versus an underwhelming opponent and say, “They should dominate,” only for them to disappoint?
It happened once again against the Bengals. It was a matchup they simply should have won. That same Bengals team gave up 9 sacks to the Tennessee Titans in the round prior and the Chiefs struggled to get Burrow in their grasp. It’s fair to wonder if the game would’ve ended differently if the Chiefs just brought Burrow down a few more times. It’s embarrassing that the Chiefs allowed a team as mediocre in the trenches as Cincinnati beat them and move on in the postseason.
A disappointing end of the season for a unit into which they had invested heavily, the Chiefs will now have some big decisions to make regarding who stays and who goes. Some have already come to a conclusion about who they want to see go, but regardless everyone can agree that you can’t roll the same exact group back out for another year.
Frank Clark in particular has disappointed massively for multiple seasons now and the “Playoff Clark” label he earned from the fanbase has quietly faded away. It’s hard to imagine he is back again at his cap number combined with his lack of production.
Chris Jones is yet to record a sack in the postseason in his career, but he still led the team in quarterback pressures and there’s a misconception about his job as a defensive tackle. Yes, when Jones gets sacks it’s nice and when he didn’t bring Joe Burrow down, it was discouraging. However, as a pass-rushing defensive tackle, his job is to take on double-teams and push the pocket so the edges can finish off sacks.
The truth is the Chiefs haven’t given Jones sufficient help on the edges. Look back when Chris Jones had a career-high in sacks and who was playing next to him. Justin Houston and Dee Ford. He was able to play a lot more freely with those guys and faced much fewer double-teams. The Chiefs rely on Chris Jones too much for all of their pass-rush. So much that they tried moving him out to the edge. Make no mistake, There’s no scenario where the Chiefs pass rush is better next year without Jones.
Melvin Ingram is a nice piece, but a 32-year-old who was acquired for a 6th round pick cannot be your best defensive end. Ideally, he should be a depth piece on a really good defensive line, and he can’t be the difference between being a decent pass-rush and a terrible pass-rush like he was in 2021.
The Chiefs will likely have to sign a couple of veterans in a free agency class that will consist of many notable defensive ends but they will also have to add some youth and talent through the draft. The team lacked pass rush in 2020 and their answer was signing Jarran Reed, who didn’t perform the way they expected and they spent a 4th round pick on Joshua Kaindoh who may never be a factor.
Brett Veach and company will need to attack the defensive line once again and fix a pass-rush that calls themselves “Sack Nation” yet does anything but get sacks. You spent a ton of effort in resources on the offensive line last offseason to make sure it was never an issue again now it’s the defensive line’s turn.