FanPost

Relax About the Run Defense

I know you are reading this thinking "We were just run over by the Raiders. 200 yards is bad enough, but 300?"

I understand that 300 yards is a fair amount of yardage for a QB, and a disgusting number for a team to rush for on its own. But please, calm down. Believe me, I am as angry as any of you about how poorly the Chiefs played. My stepdad went so far as to say that this is the worst game of Chiefs football that he has ever witnessed.

However, when you look at our run defense with rationality instead of non-hopsitality (sorry, I felt like rhyming, deal with it), this game really is not an indication of how our run defense is. I am not saying that the Chiefs have a good run defense by any means so please don't freak out because I am being to optimistic, but what I am saying that to say that by judging from the game against oakland that our run defense sucks just doesn't make sense.

Let us start out with one thing: had our offense not been so dismal, the raiders would not have scored on our defense in the first half. What? But if we are being slaughtered on the ground, doesn't that mean that the offense should be able to move the ball at will on our team? The reason why running backs want above a 4.0 ypc is so that they can get a first down in 3 rushes, avoiding a fourth down. Simple math (please don't be "that guy" who points out that you really only need 3.34, I understand that).

Now, this next part will probably only be comprehended by the fans who ever played on the defensive side of the football, so I expect all offensive and non-football players to disagree with this. But, after the Chiefs defense spent the majority of the game on the field with no rest between (thanks, Werm Ball), the defense will obviously tire out. So, what do you think will happen when you take a guy who just ran in the low 4.3's plays against a defense that just spent more that half of the game on the field already? Yikes! Don't you think that maybe when he hits that hole awith about 90% of his stamina left, our defense will be just a little slow to close in on him?

You might think that this is just a Chief fan opinion, but McFadden is not that good. He was over rated in college because he can throw the ball half-decent (like most NFL athletes can anyways) and because he is so fast. The guy fumbled the ball when he hit his fullbacks heel for heavens sake! He runs like a deer, has poor vision, and cannot protect the football. The only thing he has going for him is that he is fast (Al Davis drafted him after all, right?). Unfortunatly, the last thing our exhausted defense needed at the end of the game was to face a fast running back, just like McFadden. Next week, he will preform poorly and everyone will complain about how bad our run defense really is when in fact, it isn't nearly as bad as it appeared at all.

So please, relax. Take a chill pill. Our run D isn't nearly as bad as it seems. Unfortunatly, we will never see that until our offense becomes respectable.

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of Arrowhead Pride's writers or editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of Arrowhead Pride writers or editors.