Chiefs: Win or Lose, Veach Will
Own The Results
by Ransom Hawthorne | January 5, 2019
It’s been a whirlwind season, full of ups and downs. Mostly ups, with a team that has won the AFC West back to back to back, and wrapped up the one seed. However, as Patrick Mahomes said after the game: “The real season starts now.” Chiefs results, while impressive, have given fans plenty of cause for concern, as all four losses, have come to playoff teams. Whether Chiefs go the distance, or fall short, in the playoffs, will inevitably put Brett Veach in the spotlight. Why? Because the Chiefs playoff hopes rest on his acquisitions. Win or lose, Veach will own the results.
An Adequate Defense
No reasonable person expected Chiefs to field a good defense, this year. However, after a draft full of defenders, albeit without a first round pick, improvement was, at least, hoped for. Sutton’s units have been historically awful, this season, and Chiefs have had to lean on rookie phenom, Patrick Mahomes, all year. With two games left in the season, Reid got tired of waiting for improvement, and forced Sutton to bench Parker and Scandrick. Their replacements, and Chiefs hope for a merely adequate defense, in the playoffs, are CB Charvarius Ward, and S Jordan Lucas. Two players that Veach acquired at the cost of Parker Ehinger, and a 7th round pick. If Chiefs defense improves enough, in the playoffs, it’ll be largely due to those diamonds in the rough. If it doesn’t, chalk it up to the Chiefs lone, significant, FA signing being an awful Anthony Hitchens.
A Rejuvenated Offense
In eight games, where Sammy Watkins played at least 70% of the snaps, Chiefs scored 37.5 points per game. In the remaining eight, Chiefs scored 33.1 points per game. If you take out the Rams game, which was an outlier, the Chiefs were scoring 30.6 points per game, without Watkins. Certainly, other factors were at play, as well, including the loss of Kareem Hunt, and injuries to the OL, but there’s no way around it, Watkins makes a huge difference on the field. If the Chiefs offense returns to early season form, it’ll be due to improved OL play, and a healthy Watkins. Considering Veach signed Watkins, in addition to trading for and extending Erving, he deserves credit… if it works out. If the Chiefs offense continues to slide, and Watkins isn’t able go, or isn’t healthy enough to make a difference, it’ll be hard to ignore arguments that $16M could have gone a long way towards shoring up the defense.
The Bottom Line
In 2018, Brett Veach worked with limited picks, and limited cap space, but the way he used those resources will face close scrutiny. Whether finger pointing, or back patting, he deserves to be the center of that attention. One move here or there, could be the difference between Chiefs making the Super Bowl, and another early exit. If it’s the latter, the Chiefs GM better have a dynamic off-season, or the Chiefs will have to start looking for another leader. After glancing at Dorsey’s early performance, with better resources, I’m inclined to cut him some slack… for now… but the Chiefs are right in the middle of their Super Bowl window, they can’t afford to be patient for long. Here’s hoping that credit, not blame, will soon be assigned to KC’s young GM. Go Chiefs.
Ransom Hawthorne — ArrowheadOne
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