Kansas City Chiefs: Defense Will Continue To Get Better

The Kansas City Chiefs defense has seen a massive overhaul in defensive players this offseason. Given time, the defense will continue to improve.

The Kansas City Chiefs spent the 2018 offseason rebuilding their defensive side of the ball. Longtime Chiefs like Tamba Hali and Derrick Johnson were released along with key players like Marcus Peters. While the Chiefs made plenty of moves this offseason, it might take some time for that side of the ball to get acclimated with each other, but we are seeing improvements.

If you look at the box score from the Chiefs Week 1 game against the Los Angeles Chargers, you might be thinking I’m crazy. Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers put up 424 yards, three touchdowns, and only one interception. That stat alone would make one believe that the defense was horrendous for the entire game.

The box score never tells the entire game. Until the fourth quarter, Philip Rivers and the Chargers offense were only able to put up twelve points. Kansas City had a big enough lead going into the fourth quarter leading the Chargers 31-12, which led to the defense playing prevent for an entire quarter.

Rivers made play after play down the middle of the field because Kansas City allowed him to. Some plays should have been made in which the Chargers playmakers dropped passes. That is something to be considered, but let’s not forget that there are mistakes in every game.

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The secondary is still one to be concerned about. Even in the earlier parts of the game, players like Keenan Allen and Mike Williams got the best of the cornerback group. That was to be expected. We all knew that the Chiefs secondary is the weakness of this organization in the 2018 season. Especially without their All-Pro safety Eric Berry.

What looked better was the front seven. Anthony Hitchens and Reggie Ragland played in only their second game this season as they both missed most of the preseason and parts of training camp. Both linebackers are working to get back in shape to play a full game. That was another thing to be expected.

Even while struggling at times, Hitchens made some impactful plays for the defensive unit. Collecting a combined 15 tackles, Hitchens made his presence known in the run game closing holes and making tackles. Two of those tackles were for a loss. However, he did have a couple missed tackles just like the rest of the defense did.

Even with an improved Chargers interior offensive line, defensive end Chris Jones still caused pressure on Sunday. While he only had three tackles, one for a loss, on the box score, that doesn’t show you the number of times that he forced Philip Rivers to move as he made his way to him.

Outside linebacker Dee Ford even had a good performance forcing Rivers to get rid of the ball quickly on Sunday. While having the only sack for the Chiefs defense, Ford brought consistent pressure on Rivers which is something that the young linebacker has been criticized for over the last four seasons. If Ford can continue to deliver consistent pressure every week, this front seven could be extremely dangerous.

The run defense was a major emphasis on this offseason, and the group showed some hope in the game against the Chargers only allowing one of the NFL’s top running backs to 64 yards on the day. If the front of the defense can continue to get quick pressure on quarterbacks, it will go a long way helping the secondary.

Once again, we cannot look at the box score and take that to heart on how the defense played. If the offense hadn’t been so explosive throughout the first three-quarters of the game, we likely would have seen more competitive defensive play. Instead, Kansas City spent the last full quarter of the game allowing Rivers to make plays over the middle to keep the clock running and from making big plays.

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There are still reasons for concern when regarding the defense, but overall, I felt that the unit looked improved from the preseason. I think it will take at least a few weeks till we really know what we have on defense as the group gets their rhythm down and back into shape, but I’m feeling a little better from what we saw against the Chargers in the first three quarters. Here’s to hoping that improvement continues in Week 2 against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

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