3 proper overreactions to the Chiefs' troubling performance vs Jets
By Jacob Milham
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Overreaction #3: The Chiefs defense needs to look inward for solutions.
Namely, the interior defensive line.
The interior defensive line looked surprisingly fine against the Detroit Lions without Chris Jones. Now, three weeks after Jones' return, that unit looks like what fans expected it to be: Jones and a bunch of "just a guy" players. I want them to prove me wrong. I want Turk Wharton to return to his pre-ACL form. I am still waiting on the game that Derrick Nnadi makes me believe in. But luckily, I am not holding my breath.
The interior defenders did little to disrupt Zach Wilson's pass game, not even Jones. He registered one of the team's two sacks, but only two other pressures outside of that. According to PFF, three of the Chiefs' top five pass rushers were defensive backs. Watching the game, I cannot prove them wrong.
Some of Sunday's issues may lie with the Jets keeping the Chiefs honest on their alignment, I will admit. That is the only explanation I can think of for 63% of Nnadi's snaps being on pass plays. That would explain the confusing nature of Matt Dickerson's snaps nearly matching Jones' snaps on the interior. A quality rushing attack might just be the bane of this Chiefs defense.
It does not help matters that Keondre Coburn and Neil Farrell were healthy scratches this week against the Jets. That is not saying they would immediately bolster the line, especially in the run game. But they cannot do much worse than the current crop of players is doing alongside Jones. Veach drafted Coburn for a reason. He traded for Farrell for a reason. Let the players at least have a chance when players higher up the depth chart are not producing in a meaningful manner.
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