It was always hard to take the 2013 Kansas City Chiefs seriously.
They have a fine head coaching mind at the helm who was in his first season, and one of the best pass rushing tandems between Justin Houston and Tamba Hali. They also employ Jamaal Charles, a running back capable of turning a game around with a single burst who averaged 123.75 total yards per game last year.
What was it then? What was holding back our belief in these Chiefs even when they were undefeated at 9-0? The answer leads to the reason why this year’s team may be about to faceplant.
The doubt started with the gauntlet of quarterbacks who were either backups or just plain terrible that the Chiefs sauntered through. It began with Blaine Gabbert in Week 1, then Ryan Fitzpatrick, Terrelle Pryor, Case Keenum, Jason Campbell, and Jeff Tuel (!!!). So six of Kansas City’s 11 wins a year ago came against quarterbacks who are either second stringers, or should be (seriously Ryan Fitzpatrick, shave).
Then the doubt grew with a heavy reliance on Charles. Putting the ball in the hands of your best player often is always a swell idea. But when that player is a running back and he still leads your team in receptions, receiving yards, and receiving touchdowns, something is missing. Namely, a consistent downfield pass-catching presence, and a quarterback who can get it there.
The Chiefs had an inflated sense of self worth after an exceedingly easy schedule last year, and they still have an utter lack of receiving options beyond Dwayne Bowe after passing on the likes of Kelvin Benjamin and Marqise Lee in last May’s draft. Now they have a new problem too: breaking.
It took only one game for the first significant injury gut punch. Two of them, with Derrick Johnson crumbling along with Mike DeVito during a Week 1 loss to the Tennessee Titans.
DeVito is a fine run-controlling defensive end who finished with 52 tackles last year, the second highest total in his career. His loss hurts, but Johnson’s absence leaves the darkest black hole.
With his sideline-to-sideline speed and instincts in coverage, Johnson checks off the entire inside linebacker shopping list. He can close a gap quickly to control inside runs, which has resulted in his average of 121 tackles over the past four years. He can also patrol the middle of the field effectively in coverage, recording six passes defensed in 2013 with two interceptions.
And now he’s gone. Both DeVito and Johnson suffered identical injuries during the Chiefs’ opening-week loss to Tennessee (a ruptured Achilles), and they will miss the rest of this season. It’s a major blow for a run defense that offered a sense of security to Hali and Houston last year, allowing them to fire off the edge aggressively with inside runs minimized.
The impact of losing Johnson was evident immediately, as the Titans accumulated 162 rushing yards. The clock kept ticking and Alex Smith had to throw a lot and throw deep, and when all of those things happen at once, sadness does too.
Smith threw three interceptions in the loss, two of which came during the second half when passing deep was an obligation. In one game he’s nearly halfway to his interception total for the entire 2013 season (seven), a year when he needed 174 attempts to throw his first three picks (he finished with 35 attempts Sunday).
Deep, high-volume chucking isn’t a setting Smith thrives in. That’s why he fits so well in an Andy Reid west coast scheme that emphasizes quick passes at short-to-intermediate distances, which led to Charles shattering his previous receiving highs. Smith averaged 6.5 yards per attempt last year and only 220.9 per game, and of his 23 touchdown passes, five traveled a combined 13 yards through the air. No really, that happened, and they all landed in Charles’ quite capable hands.
Smith is a fine quarterback in the right system and the right game environment. Now he’s set to struggle with that second part due to a hurting defense, a much tougher schedule with Denver, Miami, New England, and San Francisco due up before a Week 6 bye, and departures along the offensive line (Branden Albert, Geoff Schwartz).
There will be a regression in Kansas City. The real trick for Reid now? Keeping his team from tumbling to faceplant status.
