Kansas City Chiefs Defense: The Weak Link
By Ric Ruiz
Greatest Defense since 2000 Ravens??
With a bona-fide star at nose tackle in Dontari Poe, three Pro Bowl linebackers and two Pro Bowlers in the secondary, the Chiefs’ defense had the makings of something special early in the 2013 season. Despite the anemic offensive put-out for the first nine games, Kansas City’s defense was dominating opposing teams.
Kansas City Chiefs nose tackle Dontari Poe (92) Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports
The team’s pass rush, opportunistic turnover ability, and special teams play were the main reasons for the Chiefs’ perfect 9-0 records, but this all came to a crashing halt versus Denver Broncoes at Mile High.
Things became worse with their second loss the very next week at home against the San Diego Chargers.
In both of these games, the opposing offenses started to spread out the Chiefs’ defense with the usage of numerous crossing routes and bunch formations. The goal was to confuse Kansas City’s secondary, which was continuously slow to react.
Injuries to both Tamba Hali and Justin Houston during the Chargers game further exposed the Chiefs’ weaknesses at the slot cornerback and free safety positions giving future opponents the blue print they would need to beating the Chiefs attacking style defense.
The crossing patterns that attacked the slot corners Brandon Flowers and Dunta Robinson, exposed them as slow and the previously fleet-footed Flowers had seemingly lost a step. In Robinson’s case, he was not only slow but also took bad angles and seemed completely out of sorts from the quality player he had been in the past.
Teams also started attacking the heart of the secondary with deep go routes attacking the slow, unreactive, and who was the biggest cause for the defense’s demise, free safety Kendrick Lewis. The saddest part of all of this is that Kansas City’s offense came to life under the leadership of Alex Smith and the savvy play calling of Andy Reid.
It all seemed like it was for nothing though, as the defense gave up so many big plays that the newly dangerous Kansas City offense just couldn’t keep up.