Chiefs D dead last by a wide margin

[Legend of AC 269]

Chiefs are giving up 508 yds/game.  Next closest is Tampa at 443/game.  It’s hard to fathom how the Chiefs got worse in the offseason, but it appears to be the case.  The only constant is Bob Sutton, hmmm.  One thing is for sure - Mahomes isn’t throwing 80 TDs this year, so the defense will need to improve if we’re to make any noise this year.

[oldtimer 8,694]

anybody really surprised?

[Dan4pres 125]

In both games you have this:

1) Chiefs scored quickly which didn't allow the defense to fully recharge.

2) Chiefs had significant leads in both games so both opponents were playing against prevent defenses at various times of the game.

3) Chiefs played against two future Hall of Fame quarterbacks.

4) Chiefs are playing with a completely new defensive backfield. The players need to communicate and cover for each other. They will improve in this area.

5) Both games were on the road so they didn't have the advantage of the Arrowhead noise helping them out.

 

That being said,  I agree that the secondary needs to improve A LOT! Having Berry back will help a lot and I think Watts needs to start over Murray. I also think that O'Daniel needs to come in on obvious passing downs. That is why they drafted him for God's sake. 

Luckily, we are still winning games against good teams while the defense is going through some growing pains. Make no mistake, every defensive starter is auditioning as to whether they will be part of the long term solution on defense (Berry and Houston included).

 

[Fmbl2187 2,279]

39 minutes ago, Dan4pres said:

In both games you have this:

1) Chiefs scored quickly which didn't allow the defense to fully recharge.

2) Chiefs had significant leads in both games so both opponents were playing against prevent defenses at various times of the game.

3) Chiefs played against two future Hall of Fame quarterbacks.

4) Chiefs are playing with a completely new defensive backfield. The players need to communicate and cover for each other. They will improve in this area.

5) Both games were on the road so they didn't have the advantage of the Arrowhead noise helping them out.

 

That being said,  I agree that the secondary needs to improve A LOT! Having Berry back will help a lot and I think Watts needs to start over Murray. I also think that O'Daniel needs to come in on obvious passing downs. That is why they drafted him for God's sake. 

Luckily, we are still winning games against good teams while the defense is going through some growing pains. Make no mistake, every defensive starter is auditioning at to whether they will be part of the long term solution on defense (Berry and Houston included).

 

Thanks, Dan.  You saved me from  posting the same points.  Plus, we all knew this season we were going to have to rely on shootouts. This shows also how statistics lie.  Teams with the best offense always have bad defensive stats, because opponents are always desperate to catch up, are often playing against prevent defense, and have to be on the field a long time  because of having quick scoring offenses.  Holding and PI penalties will also go down. The better stat would be number of points given up per minute on the field.

The D will improve.  We saw that in the first quarter, and everyone should remember the defense also gave up only 7 points in the entire second half. Our depth is also good in most areas and will prevent utter exhaustion much of the time. Defensive holding and PI penalties will drop with increasing coaching emphasis on the young secondary players.  Ragland will also get healthy, and Berry might even join the scrum.  I am not going to join the hand wringing crowd on this thread. We will lose some games for sure, but I would guess it will mostly be games with a lot of turnovers and dropped passes.  Those kinds of games are inevitable.  Then everyone here will be screaming about the offending player(s), butterfingers, etc. ad nauseum.  People here hate Sutton and will scream about him, no matter how many games we win.  These are all just wild predictions, of course.

One other thing.  We are dominant in two out of three phases of the game, not just one,  when you add in special teams.  As I posted on another thread, we will win by field position and un-missed field goals.  The last game was a good example of those two things working together. I would hate to be one of our opponents.  They must be terrified, which will hamper them and cause them to scheme in crazy ways during the prior week of any game.

[Evad 242]

6 minutes ago, Fmbl2187 said:

Thanks, Dan.  You saved me from  posting the same points.  Plus, we all knew this season we were going to have to rely on shootouts. This shows also how statistics lie.  Teams with the best offense always have bad defensive stats, because opponents are always desperate to catch up, are often playing prevent, and have to be on the field a long time  because of having quick scoring offenses.  Holding and PI penalties will also go down. The better stat would be number of points given up per minute on the field.

The D will improve.  We saw that in the first quarter, and everyone should remember the defense also gave up only 7 points in the entire second half. Our depth is also good in most areas and will prevent utter exhaustion much of the time. Defensive holding and PI penalties will drop with increasing coaching emphasis on the young secondary players.  Ragland will also get healthy, and Berry might even join the scrum.  I am not going to join the hand wringing crowd on this thread. We will lose some games for sure, but I would guess it will mostly be games with a lot of turnovers and dropped passes.  Those kinds of games are inevitable.  Then everyone here will be screaming about the offending player(s), butterfingers, etc. ad nauseum.  People here hate Sutton and will scream about him, no matter how many games we win.  These are all just wild predictions, of course.

One other thing.  We are dominant in two out of three phases of the game, not just one,  when you add in special teams.  As I posted on another thread, we will win by field position and un-missed field goals.  The last game was a good example of those two things working together.

I agree, both you and Dan make excellent points, my point is .... who cares, we won

[soonerborn77 276]

45 minutes ago, Legend of AC said:

Chiefs are giving up 508 yds/game.  Next closest is Tampa at 443/game.  It’s hard to fathom how the Chiefs got worse in the offseason, but it appears to be the case.  The only constant is Bob Sutton, hmmm.  One thing is for sure - Mahomes isn’t throwing 80 TDs this year, so the defense will need to improve if we’re to make any noise this year.

Another thing for sure is we won't face HOF qb's on the road on teams who were in the top 5 in offense the prior year every game either.  I know the D sucks, but its not like we were getting lit up by average offensive teams....

[dksww 484]

I have concerns about the defense right now, but if we get lit up and 30+ points given up to the 9ers and Broncos then I'll be really concerned.  Those offenses are terrible and we shouldn't give up more than 20 points

[Legend of AC 269]

9 minutes ago, soonerborn77 said:

Another thing for sure is we won't face HOF qb's on the road on teams who were in the top 5 in offense the prior year every game either.  I know the D sucks, but its not like we were getting lit up by average offensive teams....

[Legend of AC 269]

This can be spun any way we’d like, but the fact is that this defense is bad and the success we’ve had is unsustainable unless the defense starts to step up.  This week is their opportunity.  

[FANATIC 852]

2-0 Formula for success. Keep it up. Forces the offense to be aggressive. 

[FANATIC 852]

6 minutes ago, Legend of AC said:

This can be spun any way we’d like, but the fact is that this defense is bad and the success we’ve had is unsustainable unless the defense starts to step up.  This week is their opportunity.  

Not sure that is a fact? The goal is simple. End up with more points.

[Legend of AC 269]

3 minutes ago, FANATIC said:

Not sure that is a fact? The goal is simple. End up with more points.

Fine.  How many teams in the history of professional football have won a Lombardi with the last ranked defense?  Hint: it rhymes with hero.

[dksww 484]

3 minutes ago, Legend of AC said:

Fine.  How many teams in the history of professional football have won a Lombardi with the last ranked defense?  Hint: it rhymes with hero.

Super Bowl expectations this year are ridiculous.

Beating both LAC and PIT on the road to start the season means we are already playing with house money. 

You're welcome to your opinion, but my plan was to let this  year play out, hope Mahomes looks good and see what changes to the defense need to be made going foward.

[Legend of AC 269]

Perhaps even more disturbing is the amount points this defense is giving up per game.  At 32.5 a clip, Sutton’s bend-but-don’t-break methodology has failed miserably.  

[dksww 484]

1 minute ago, Legend of AC said:

Perhaps even more disturbing is the amount points this defense is giving up per game.  At 32.5 a clip, Sutton’s bend-but-don’t-break methodology has failed miserably.  

Alarming, but odds are most teams in the league would be in the same position/rankings had they opened the season playing Rivers and Big Ben on the road.

 

[Legend of AC 269]

Just now, dksww said:

Super Bowl expectations this year are ridiculous.

I’d have agreed with you before the season started, but based on what Mahomes is doing, it kinda looks like we can make a run this year.  And at 2-0, statistically this team has a good shot to make the playoffs.  Look at the schedule and tell me what games scare you based on the lethality of this offense.  Expectations need to be reset due to circumstances.

[dksww 484]

7 minutes ago, Legend of AC said:

I’d have agreed with you before the season started, but based on what Mahomes is doing, it kinda looks like we can make a run this year.  And at 2-0, statistically this team has a good shot to make the playoffs.  Look at the schedule and tell me what games scare you based on the lethality of this offense.  Expectations need to be reset due to circumstances.

I know, but it's only been 2 games.  We just have to wait and see if the defense can stop average or bad teams because our schedule lightens up big time after week 6.

If they can prove to do so, the Chiefs may be favorites the rest of the way out except for the NE and LAR games.

KC is already laying 6.5 to the 9ers last I saw this morning. 

[Evad 242]

4 minutes ago, Legend of AC said:

I’d have agreed with you before the season started, but based on what Mahomes is doing, it kinda looks like we can make a run this year.  And at 2-0, statistically this team has a good shot to make the playoffs.  Look at the schedule and tell me what games scare you based on the lethality of this offense.  Expectations need to be reset due to circumstances.

So, you seem to be arguing with yourself here, either we lose because of the defense or we win because of the offense,  which is it?

[West 6,714]

Pretty sure Reid gave Bob kudos for his "adjustments" at the post game presser.

It is what it it is....Sutton is around another year, the DB's need to cover much better and our pass rush needs to improve.

Also its probably just me, but I swear Justin Houston is getting held quite a bit this year.  I know the Chiefs are playing on the road and the league is protecting Big Ben and Rivers...but some of those holds were pretty obvious.

w

[Wolfie 11]

Ignore that Evad guy... he's cute but a jerk! : ) my season prediction 12-4. 

[jetlord 10,210]

17 minutes ago, Legend of AC said:

 .  Look at the schedule and tell me what games scare you based on the lethality of this offense.  

JAX, NE, LAR.  Not saying the Chiefs can't beat any of these teams, but unless NE is showing their age, that's three tough games.

[Adamixoye 604]

The defense is bad, no question about that, but yards per game is not going to be a good measure for all the reasons stated above.  I would like to see different metrics used that adjust for "pace" and quality of opponent.  I bet we look better using those...though possibly still at the bottom of the league.

[jetlord 10,210]

1 minute ago, Wolfie said:

Ignore that Evad guy... he's cute but a jerk! : ) my season prediction 12-4. 

Wow!  A Wolfie sighting.

[kkuenn 3,608]

29 minutes ago, Legend of AC said:

Fine.  How many teams in the history of professional football have won a Lombardi with the last ranked defense?  Hint: it rhymes with hero.

I doubt we will be last. We get healthy and Berry back and we will improve. By the way there has been 3 teams ranked 20 or worse in total defense to win the super bowl. Last one in 2011 was Giants ranked 25th.

 

 

[soonerborn77 276]

43 minutes ago, Legend of AC said:

Fine.  How many teams in the history of professional football have won a Lombardi with the last ranked defense?  Hint: it rhymes with hero.

Are you doing this to be dramatic, do you really think we will finish dead last?  I'm guessing that answer rhymes with rope...