Kansas City Chiefs 2013 Report Card: Special Teams, Coaching, And Management
By Joel Wagler
Kansas City Chiefs general manager John Dorsey Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports
COACHING
HEAD COACH: Watching Andy Reid‘s offense can be extremely frustrating at times, especially the lack of big play capabilities outside of Jamaal Charles. The lack of a vertical passing game was glaring, and the refusal to throw the ball past the first down marker on third down was unbelievable at times.
This being said, Andy Reid provided steady, unflappable leadership, and looked to have the respect of his players. He was able to get the most out of his team. A winning coach who looks like he knows what he is doing is so much better than some of the Chiefs’ more recent head coaches.
Reid is not perfect. He seems to struggle badly with clock management, and the fact he forgets about the running game at times is irksome, his success rate in this league, including this season, stands on its own.
You can’t argue with a turn around from 2-14 to 11-5.
GRADE: B
OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR: It is difficult to grade Doug Pederson because Reid has so much control over the offense. The fact that the offense improved over the season indicates Pederson was doing something right in practice working with the players.
Also the fact that Alex Smith‘s numbers improved over the season was a nice plus for this team.
GRADE: B-
DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR: If the grade had been issued at the bye week it would have been an easy A. Unfortunately, the Chiefs had to play 8 more games, including the playoffs.
The Chiefs defense was dominating in the first 7 games, but fell apart after the bye. The biggest issue was Bob Sutton didn’t seem to have a Plan B. The aggressive pass rush defense worked so effectively early in the season but Sutton was unable to make any counter adjustments, at all. The pass rushing shriveled up to nothing, and the secondary was unable to survive the longer exposure.
The first half of the season, Sutton earned a sold A but the extreme plummet the Chiefs defense suffered in the second half raises serious doubts about Sutton’s X’s and O’s ability.
GRADE: D
As a unit, the Chiefs staff just seemed more with it, with a bigger understanding of the game. They looked to be more prepared, and the players looked like they had been coached up. The results, taken as a whole were positive. Special teams were awesome, and the offense got better as the season progressed. Only the defense regressed.
OVERALL COACHING GRADE: B-
JOHN DORSEY: After the previous general manager, John Dorsey was a breath of fresh air. It looks like Clark Hunt found the right GM and Head Coach to lead this team forward.
Dorsey also did a better job at improving the team’s overall personnel. Akeem Jordan, Sean McGrath, Marcus Cooper, Quintin Demps, Geoff Schwartz, Mike DeVito,and Husain Abdullah all played major roles this season. Of course, there is Alex Smith, who helped turn the offense around, and did such a great job of protecting the ball.
Junior Hemingway and A.J. Jenkins both look like they maybe able to make positive contributions next season.
The depth was better this season, and hopefully will be even better next year.
GRADE: B+