Chiefs' Defense Fails to Stand Firm Again

by Chris Thorman on Dec 8, 2008 6:45 AM CST in 2008 Campaign Comment 23 comments

The Kansas City Chiefs put up their worst offensive effort in the Tyler Thigpen era (Week 8 forward) in points, yards and they had the fewest offensive plays of the last seven weeks.

All around, a weak, dismal effort against a divisional rival. Let's see what went wrong.

Forced the ball down our throats

The Denver Broncos had the ball for nearly 37 minutes and 20 of those minutes were in the second half.

The Chiefs only had three drives in the second half and one in the fourth quarter. We had 109 yards total in the second half.

The Broncos owned the third quarter, holding the ball for 11 minutes and scoring a field goal. It should have been two field goals in the third quarter but Denver's kicker missed a 48 yard kick. The third quarter ended with the Broncos beginning another 12 play drive that would result in a 6 yard Cutler to Marshall touchdown pass.

Bottom line, the Broncos controlled every aspect of the second half of this game. The Chiefs never got going until the end of the game when they were stuffed on the goal line. That fourth quarter drive is the one bright spot in the second half for the Chiefs and we didn't even score.

Checking in on the worst pass rush ever

No sacks this past weekend. What? You really thought the Chiefs were going to get to Jay Cutler? Yeah, me neither.

Abandoning the run

Between Larry Johnson, Tyler Thigpen and Jackie Battle, the Chiefs ran the ball 18 total times and 11 of those attempts were in the first half by Larry Johnson. The running game was really only effective when Thigpen scrambled or ran the QB draw.

On the Chiefs' final push to tie the game in the fourth quarter, here's how that final drive broke down:

12 plays, 10 passing and 2 rushing
2 hand offs to running backs
3 Thigpen runs/scrambles for 21 yards
Every pass was intended for either Dwayne Bowe or Tony Gonzalez

The Chiefs barely tested the run in the second half and they weren't even losing until a few minutes into the fourth quarter.

Would an increased load in the running game have made a difference? Likely not. The Chiefs got few chances in the second half to win this game on the offensive side of the ball. It wasn't necessarily about the offense- it was about the defense.

The Chiefs' defense is wholly unreliable

Against the Jets and the Bucs, if the Chiefs had made a defensive stop at the appropriate time, we win both of those games. Yesterday, if the Chiefs' defense is able to hold a Denver team pinned at it's own 1 yard line to only one first down, we have a great shot at winning.

But, this defense didn't do any of those things. It hasn't been reliable all year long. Everyone, everyone knows our defense is going to fold. Herm knew it yesterday. With the game tied in the fourth quarter, the Chiefs had the ball on the five yard line with almost five minutes left.

Did "conservative" Herm kick the field goal? Nope. Even he knew our defense couldn't hold the Broncos and unfortunately, we found out a few minutes later he was right.

When your defense is so bad it causes Herm Edwards to not be conservative, you know you've got a stinker.

Teams would be crazy not to run it all day against us

Both teams heading in to this game were at the bottom of the league in run defense. One team took advantage of that weakness. Another did not.

With the help of a 7th round draft pick who eventually had to leave the game due to injury, the Broncos racked up 139 yards rushing on 30 attempts. The funny thing about that? When the Broncos had the ball with the game winding down needing to kill time, what do they do? They pass the ball. In fact, on the Broncos' final drive, they ran one end around and that was it for rushing plays. It's almost as if they were throwing that in the Chiefs' face after the Maurice Leggett pick 6 in the first half.

It's the defense, stupid

The Chiefs have three if not four wins if their defense is even below average. But it isn't. It's terrible. And the defense doesn't even have any bright spots on its resume.

Gotta clear the defensive coaching staff. Gotta get new linebackers. Gotta get a pass rusher. Gotta do something this off season.

Too much Bowe and Gonzalez

Sounds weird, right? 12 of Tyler Thigpen's 17 completions were to either Bowe or Gonzalez. It was the smothering of Tony Gonzalez on that 4th and goal play that prompted Thigpen to tuck and run.

Yes, Tony Gonzalez is awesome. Yes, we should throw it to him as much as possible. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't spread the ball around.

The Chiefs got a bit one dimensional in the passing game towards the end of the game and I don't think it overly hurt them but it didn't help either.

Other notes

The Broncos only punted once.

The Chiefs' defense gave up over 400 yards of offense. Again.

Besides the pick 6, Jay Cutler was amazing. 32/40 for 286 yards and two touchdowns. No sacks either.

C Rudy Niswanger left with an apparent knee injury. Oddly enough, he went down with a knee injury in Week 13 last year too.

As much as I hate to say it, Brandon Marshall is a fantastic receiver. Three of his eleven catches were 3rd conversions for first downs. One of his touchdown catches was on 3rd and goal from the 12 yard line. Cutler and Marshall are a deadly combination.

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The spread

The this offense works….You live and die by the passing game. We have to find a way to get Thigpen up to speed so he can take some snaps under center. Until we can run the ball, we are going to have a hard time holding leads. Drew Brees ran the spread in college and doesn’t have a hard time under center.

It seems that in the spread that I see in college, you have to make quick decisions and get rid of the ball. With Thigpens arm, maybe he can be a Kurt Warner type player. Drop back and get rid of it. He has shown the ability to play in the league, but he has to be able to play half if not more of the game under center. We can call it the spread all you want……It is the same as the fun n gun or the run and shoot. It will be a fad that doesn’t go far due to the fact that you can’t run the ball out of the shotgun the majority of the time.

I hope Thigpen is able to learn Chan’s offense this year because he has possibilities.

Indecision is the key to flexibility

by cmpotter on Dec 8, 2008 6:59 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

Couldn't disagree more.

The spread ain’t a fad. It’s been around college football for a decade-or-two, and its origins go back to the first half of the 19th century. It is a legitimate long-term solution, no matter what anyone wants out of an offense. Sure, you grew up watching most teams take the ball from under center, but that doesn’t mean we still have to today.

And especially in our running game we’ve set up, with Larry still running downhill and Mike Cox in there to block, we have a decent-enough running game.

Innovation is OK. Especially when it fits your personnel…

by rockchalk on Dec 8, 2008 9:01 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

The option has been around in college for a long time as well.

There is nothing wrong with taking the ball from the shotgun, but not exclusively. How many losses for 5 yards do we need to prove this. On second down we run and lose 5, as we have done quite a bit since we started running this. Now we are in third and long and pretty much killed the drive. You have to be able to run the ball in the NFL.

The teams that run this offense in the NFL don’t run exclusively. They don’t always run it out of the gun either. It can work but come on. The Steelers and the Pats use it but they still run the ball and mix it up. For the Chiefs sake I hope you are right. I really think they will keep it but not run it all the time. That is what I am hoping for.

Indecision is the key to flexibility

by cmpotter on Dec 8, 2008 12:31 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

+1

by TheQ on Dec 8, 2008 8:29 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

I Agree With A Few Others Who Commented Here

That the loss of Mark Bradley really hurts Thigpen’s chances. With a viable third receiving option, Thigpen spreads the ball around, gets yardage and scores…when Bradley’s gone and Thigpen has to rely on uber-scrubs like Darling and Webb to fill Bradley’s shoes, then he has to lock in on Bowe and Gonzalez for most of the game.

The Chiefs should win 5 to 6 games this year and no less than 4 for this season to be considered progress in any way. If he can't win at least 9 games next season, Herm's a joke.

by UCrawford on Dec 8, 2008 7:47 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

And Franklin, who whiffed the big one.

/Awaiting the MU Homers to inform me how wrong I am.

-cw

"If there’s a god he’s laughing at us and our football team." - Ben Folds

by webby37 on Dec 8, 2008 8:30 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

He's A Rookie Receiver

He shouldn’t be counted on for much. But you’re right…he doesn’t help solve any problems right now.

The Chiefs should win 5 to 6 games this year and no less than 4 for this season to be considered progress in any way. If he can't win at least 9 games next season, Herm's a joke.

by UCrawford on Dec 8, 2008 9:53 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

With young players on defense, it's gonna happen

we have young players at key positions who for the most part are playing better than I expected (I am referring to our secondary).

Carr did a good job on Marshall on many of the plays, and even on the final 3rd down conversion that killed us, he had good coverage, Marshall just made a great catch.

With the exception of DJ, our linebacker acquisition has not been addressed/has been mishandled…our LB corp is the biggest weakness on this defense (probably the biggest weakness on the whole team) and MUST be addressed in the draft and/or free agency.

by PVChiefsfan on Dec 8, 2008 7:51 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

Except That The Linebacking Situation Was Addressed This Offseason

When the Chiefs signed DeMorrio Williams. And last year with Napoleon Harris. And the year before that with Donnie Edwards.

At some point we have to admit that we can plug all the defensive talent we want into the linebacking corps but it won’t change a thing if they’re not being coached well.

The Chiefs should win 5 to 6 games this year and no less than 4 for this season to be considered progress in any way. If he can't win at least 9 games next season, Herm's a joke.

by UCrawford on Dec 8, 2008 7:55 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Except I wrote "has not been addressed/has been mishandled"

by PVChiefsfan on Dec 8, 2008 8:11 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Point Taken

I noticed the slash, I was just trying to emphasize that it’s been more about mishandling than neglect.

The Chiefs should win 5 to 6 games this year and no less than 4 for this season to be considered progress in any way. If he can't win at least 9 games next season, Herm's a joke.

by UCrawford on Dec 8, 2008 9:54 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Not so fast

I agree we need to do something about our LB corps (still want us to draft Laurinitis) but I think our defense’s biggest weakness is our sad-sack front four. They can’t stop the run or create pressure on the QB. What good are they? The truly sad thing is we have been trying to address both the LB corp and the front four for a long time. Many of our young players are on the D line and show no signs of being any good in the future (with the possible exception of Dorsey).

by Chiefs4Life on Dec 8, 2008 10:36 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

My Biggest Concern About Dorsey

Is that he follows the same progression as many of our other first day picks for defense…so-so rookie season (and I think his qualifies as decent) followed by decline or stagnation every following year like we’ve witnessed with Hali, Tyler, McBride, and Johnson.

The Chiefs should win 5 to 6 games this year and no less than 4 for this season to be considered progress in any way. If he can't win at least 9 games next season, Herm's a joke.

by UCrawford on Dec 8, 2008 11:48 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Which is why

I said “possible exception”. Our failure to develop defensive players is worrying and depressing. And we can’t just pass it all off on Vermeil being offensive-minded anymore. There is something terribly wrong with our system on that side of the ball.

by Chiefs4Life on Dec 8, 2008 1:32 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Agreed

And despite some peoples’ complaints about Vermeil being a horrible drain on the defense with keeping Greg Robinson around, all of those players I listed were first day draft picks while Gunther Cunningham’s been the defensive coordinator.

So I question whether it’s really a case of Herm undercutting Gunther by forcing the Cover-2 on him or whether Gunther’s just a rotten teacher who can’t motivate in any other way but screaming. Almost all of the front seven players we’ve brought in during Gunther’s second tour here have failed to live up to expectations, and that’s supposed to be his area of speciality, so I tend to think that Gunther’s as much to blame for the defense as Herm.

The Chiefs should win 5 to 6 games this year and no less than 4 for this season to be considered progress in any way. If he can't win at least 9 games next season, Herm's a joke.

by UCrawford on Dec 8, 2008 1:58 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Valid points.

It might be time to try something (someone) new on the defensive side. Any suggestions? Could we possibly pry the D coordinator away from Tennessee? Or is there a college D coordinator that wants to take a stab at the big league?

by Chiefs4Life on Dec 8, 2008 2:34 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

No Idea

Guess we’ll find out after the season. Although I wouldn’t exactly be unhappy if Gunther got canned this week, I also realize that with him pulling double duty we’d need to find someone to fill two jobs (defensive coordinator, linebacker coach) if he left…and four or more jobs if we filled the vacancies internally. At this time in the season, there’s really no point.

The Chiefs should win 5 to 6 games this year and no less than 4 for this season to be considered progress in any way. If he can't win at least 9 games next season, Herm's a joke.

by UCrawford on Dec 8, 2008 2:51 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

I disagree to a point

Having Allen on that line would have changed everything. His presence on the line demands (extra ?) attention and the additional pressure he brings forces the Q.B. to get rid of the ball sooner making our secondary AND Gunther look /be a lot better. Losing him isn’t on Gunther.

Don’t get me wrong – I’m happy with the picks we received and I understand the reasoning for trading him – but the fact is, not having him on our line has impacted their overall effectiveness immeasurably.

by HankerChief on Dec 8, 2008 8:57 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

You're Right...Losing Jared Allen Is Not On Gunther

But when his defense collapses because of the loss of one player that is on Gunther. So is having the linebacking corps fall apart after he took over as linebackers coach.

Players leave in football…good coaches and coordinators adjust (e.g. 2007 and 2008 New York Giants). But Gunther’s defense fell apart. And if we’re going to blame the collapse of the defense on Jared Allen’s departure then that would also mean that Gunther deserves a lot less credit for the performance of his defense with Jared Allen playing.

The Chiefs should win 5 to 6 games this year and no less than 4 for this season to be considered progress in any way. If he can't win at least 9 games next season, Herm's a joke.

by UCrawford on Dec 8, 2008 9:19 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

So what was the biggest difference

in this game and the game at Arrowhead earlier? (other than the obvious score) What did we not do? Please be specific, not just “we didn’t play defense”. I did not get to watch either game.

We need a future defensive leader, his name is James Laurinaitis and he can be selected in round 1 of the upcoming Draft.

"But what do I know, I’m like an empty room with a large ECHO"

by Lanier63 on Dec 8, 2008 8:45 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

We were unable to convert on 3rd downs for the offense in the entire 2nd half...

…and the defense wasn’t able to stop the 3rd downs. It was a good game if you don’t take into consideration the fact that the AFC West teams are all doing poorly this year.
I could argue that Detroit also was close to pullling one out against the Vikings….but we all know how good Detroit is playing this year :)
My argument in that case is that the game showed me more about how poor the Vikings are then how good Detroit is…..you could draw the same parallel between the Chiefs and Bronco’s.
The Bronco’s might be at the top of the AFC, but they won’t be a factor in the post-season just like the Vikings.

You compare teams to their opponent and how they do in December. I’ll even throw the Jets (being mediocre) into the mix considering their loss to the 49ers.

To recap….we lost to a mediocre team with poor 3rd down play on offense in the second half as well as not stopping the Bronco’s on 3rd down (on defense).

Bill Parcell’s: "You are what your record says you are."

The Chiefs need to be playoff contenders in 2009 for me to consider improvement. Clark wanted it in 2008...I'll give them an additional year.

by THE_TRUTH on Dec 8, 2008 8:55 AM CST reply actions 0 recs