Chiefs: Zeros, Computers, Wizardry
by David Bell
I am not yet sure if all the success isn’t something to do with magic. Somehow the Chiefs are 7-1. I would not have predicted it. I didn’t predict it is the absolute truth of the matter. Remember the patter and negativity during the first half of the Patriots game? I warned that you had to let the team play it all out. What a heck of a fun game to watch.
I should have written that day, when I wrote these things in the game thread, such as, let the game play out and see what the outcome is to be, what? “Do You Believe in Magic?”
Yes, it’s true — I felt that Brett Veach should make a trade that would aid the Chiefs Defense yesterday. Or bring us an offensive Lineman to shore up a group that has been significantly impacted by injury. Or perhaps a CB or Safety. How about another ILB? We sure can play a blame game right there right? At least maybe a defensive lineman who could stuff blockers and still make a tackle. When the dust settled, the number of moves made by GM Brett Veach was tallied to the 2018 activity as a big, fat zero.
So, Do We Know Why?
The players who were targeted didn’t fit something in the Veach Profile. Of course we all know all of the players considered. Ha Ha Clinton-Dix was one that could have fit but didn’t. Dante Fowler Jr., a DE didn’t make the grade for Veach to cut a deal. I was writing over the weekend about the weakness the Chiefs had in the front 3 stuffing blocks and making tackles. They weren’t and the game stats showed the problem. Patrick Peterson was my best target and that didn’t happen either though Collins of the Giants might have been something eyed by Mr. Veach.
At the end of the day, something happened… if you will. That something was not what most of us thought would occur. It meant the Chiefs were not giving up the draft pick of next season for any player out there. Veach was farming for big potatoes to harvest that fit the Chief’s needs. They had to fit the Chiefs… Profile… had to want to be a Chief and becoming a Chief would be cost efficient in terms of monies or value traded. Such was not the case or Brett Veach would have cut a deal.
Indeed, it was a Retool
The Chiefs are 7-1. They likely will be 9-1 when they head to Mexico City. The discussion about re-tooling may have been correct as noted by several authors here on ArrowheadOne, but the retool was just that which is what the Chiefs have shown by their performance. Before the season started, I predicted the Chiefs would be 11-5 and stated I wanted to pick 12-4, but felt pretty sure that it would be 11-5 at least. I can now see 14-2. or 13-3 without blinking an eye. Or what the heck, with the Wizard in the lower reaches of the Kingdom, how about 15-1?
During all the conjecture, I stated this was not a rebuild, but a retool, which is exactly what occurred. Ladner Morse felt it would take 2 years to get the retool done and wrote an article about it last spring. It certainly appears to be the case but the weaknesses of not accomplishing it all has not fazed the club, coaches, or the mix of players… only the fans and pundits. I am looking around at all the other teams that were thought to need to retool and now are in sell-off mode to position for the 2019 draft and entering a ‘Rebuild’ off-season that was not what was expected.
While I do think it is a 2 year project, the Chiefs came so far in just one off-season and the change at Quarterback led the way.
So, What Did Happen?
Brett Veach, with Andy Reid’s assistance, and that of the coaching staff, made a decision by default based on the following factors.
The net was to add a big zero to the list of moves made by the franchise before the trade deadline and…
sometimes Zeros are a very powerful number.
1. In the Secondary, S- Eric Berry will return and make that group instantly better. I have to believe this. [a]
2. OLB Justin Houston Will return to the lineup, soon. [a]
3. S Daniel Sorensen will return to play, soon. [a]
2. The Secondary itself is middle of the road in basic performance. [b]
3. Yards between the 20’s do not equal a win/loss. [c]
4. The Chiefs offense is powerful enough to stifle any threat by most NFL teams. [d]
5. The defense itself is still “gelling.” –> Consistency, Cohesiveness, Continuity. Those are my Three Big ‘C’s”. At this point, we can count on three of the above items counting toward building a defense that comes to it’s fruition over the next few games. There are a lot of “New Guys” involved with the defense [e]
a. Injuries occur each season on each team. The Chiefs have weathered a storm since Sorensen and Berry were on the injury list and some good choices made by Brett Veach in the process.
b. True, the Secondary has weaknesses, but have, as a group, shown glimpses of being sound in the ability to turn back the aerial game. That was especially evident vs. the Bengals, even with Berry and Sorensen not available.
c. When it has counted, the Chiefs may be fortunate. In closely contested games, sans the Patriot Game, the defense was able to stiffen enough to prevent a score or hold the opponent to 3 points when it counted.
Three other games of note: despite yardage, the Chiefs won 3 fiercely contested, physical games, 2 with the Broncos and one with the Jaguars. All teams involved were severely tested, bruised and contused and players went to the IR. However, the Chiefs prevailed with player-depth, determination, and toughness. I like this about the Chiefs Roster all the way round.
d. We have seen what this offense can do and only once was the scoring held under thirty by a proud and tough Broncos team, on the road.
e. The defense has new players, rookies playing major roles, so this is still a work in progress.
Whatever one might say about the 2018 Chiefs is that they have something they have lacked in the Reid era. It’s that magical thing that is so difficult to attain. It may be that I am enamored but I can’t see that the end result will be “Love In the Ruins.”
I wonder if Brett Veach has a wizard in the confines of Arrowhead Stadium, using his powers on behalf of the Red ‘n Gold.
David Bell – ArrowheadOne
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