Chiefs Game One: Harsh Take. Try Harder.
The Kansas City Chiefs executed the greatest comeback in franchise history. That’s a tremendously good thing and also a very bad thing. I always expected the Chargers game to be a challenge. San Diego has an electric passing offense and Chiefs have a young secondary. What I did not expect, was for the Chiefs to get steamrolled for half a football game, put no pressure on Rivers and get gashed in the run game. The secondary had their hands full, but they played their hearts out. Phillip Gaines and Steven Nelson both had pretty good games. Marcus Peters struggled against Keenan Allen, but so does everyone. If the guy were made of anything other than balsa wood and smoked glass he’d probably be the best WR in the league. I can live with sub-par results so long as players are trying their hardest. It might not be fair, but I’m gonna say it, the following are some guys on this team who — I believe — straight up need to try harder.
Dontari Poe and Jaye Howard
Poe played 55 snaps, Howard played 48, Nate Williams played 8. Williams had two tackles, Poe had one and Howard had zero. When an area of the defense that’s supposed to be a strength struggles, you take notice. On re-watching the game, both Poe and Howard were consistently losing in the run game. Neither was able to contribute much in the way of providing a pass rush either. Putting it bluntly, right now, the Chiefs are not underpaying Howard, and Poe would be easy to re-sign if he continues at this level of play. Good news is, we know they are capable of more, they just need to try harder. If their struggles continue, the Chiefs may need to add a coach to help Britt Reid.
Albert Wilson
Guess who Pro Football Focus (PFF) rated the worst slot WR in the NFL week one? Sorry Willie, but when you don’t catch the ball, or run consistent routes, you don’t play WR. I saw Wilson slacking off in preseason, didn’t like it, but some veterans are that way but, I assumed he would show up in real games. He certainly didn’t on Sunday. Wilson may have been the 2nd best WR on the team when K.C. had Bowe and Avery, but right now even DAT seems like a better option unless, you know, Wilson decides to try harder.
Derrick Johnson
This one stings, it really does, but Johnson missed three tackles in the game on Sunday. We can’t afford that from the leader of our defense. In his defense, the D-line was letting a lot of blockers get to the second level, but an all time great like DJ needs to find a way to deal with that.
Dee Ford and Most of the Defense
On the play pictured at the beginning of the article, the D-line got blown up. Both ILBs were blocked, S Ron Parker tried to make a tackle, but couldn’t and then Gaines tried and failed. Finally, Frank Zombo tracked Gordon down. Ford just stood there and watched Parker trying to make the tackle. Ford didn’t start to run again until he realized Parker had missed it. This problem wasn’t his alone. The entire defense often failed to rally tackle. It’s like they just expected the first guy to make the solo tackle, and then, had a collective “Oh crap” moment when he didn’t. If you want to be the best defense in the league, or even a good one, you can’t wait and see, you have to attack and, yes, try harder. Ford did have some bright spots including a game-saving sack and improved gap discipline.
Andy Reid
Reid was once renowned for his unpredictability. Not so much anymore. If a fan knows it’s going to be a jet sweep or a bubble screen, you bet your sweet bippy that the opposing coordinator knows too. Reid has two offensive coordinators and, what is rumored to be, a huge playbook. He needs to swallow his pride and tear some of the plays the Chiefs have over-used out of the book. Also, for once, I would love to see Chiefs throw the ball actually INTO the end-zone. Not close to it, not 5 yards behind the line of scrimmage but… in the freaking end zone. Reid and Smith managed to put together a great offense in the second half, but in a game where the Chiefs were down early, Reid needs to make those adjustments sooner and try harder to get a better game plan installed in the first place.
The Guy Who Scouts ILBs
Justin March has great potential, but he’s built more like a Buck (weakside LB) than a Sam (strong-side LB). Kansas City has drafted two ILBs who fit the physical profile of the Sam position. One is on the practice squad (Ramik Wilson) and the other is long gone (Nico Johnson). Both were 4th round picks and both were projected to go in lower rounds. GM John Dorsey desperately needs to find a real Sam, but Josh Mauga went on IR and Sam Barrington is still learning the playbook, while also dealing with a hamstring strain. K.C. is going to keep having winning seasons with Andy Reid, he’s a good coach. That means that they’ll be drafting lower and we can already see the cap issues coming. They can’t afford to spend big money in free agency or miss consistently on draft picks, even if it’s only at one position.
Who got a bad rap? Who did I miss? Is it even fair to question a player or coach’s level of effort? Let me know what you think in the comments.