After reading a lot of Chiefs mock draft posts listing what players the Chiefs need to draft as well as the Cassel, O-Line, D-Line, CB, S, LB, WR, TE, etc. bashing lately I decided to look at the top teams in the league right now and see how they got there and where they rank in terms of offense and defense this season.  The top 5 teams are:

1.(tie) Saints and Colts 12-0

3. Vikings 10-2

4 (tie) Chargers and Bengals 9-3

Saints offense: 1st in total yds, 1st in offense total  points, Defense: 18th in yds allowed, 17th in most pts allowed

Colts offense: 4th in total yds, 4th in offense total points, Defense: 17th in yds allowed, 30th in most pts allowed

Vikings offense: 5th in total yds, 2nd in offense total points, Defense: 9th in yds allowed, 22nd in most pts allowed

Chargers offense: 2th in total yds, 3rd in offense total points,Defense: 12th in yds allowed, 18th in most pts allowed

Bengals offense:18th in total yds, 16th in offense total points, Defense: 4th in yds allowed, 32nd in most pts allowed

***Chiefs: offense: 30th in total yds, 28th in offense scoring...Defense: 31st in yds allowed, 3rd in most pts allowed

General observations:  

1) The top 5 teams all have top QBs.  Brees (FA signing), Manning (1st overall pick), Vikings Favre (FA-HOF QB), Chargers Rivers (top 5-7 pick), Bengals Palmer (1st pick overall)  

2) 4 of the top 5 teams are the highest scoring offense teams in the league.  Only the Bengals offense isn't ranked in the top 5, (they are #16) but their D has given up the fewest points in the league.

3) How the teams were built.  Both the Colts and Saints built a top flight offense and then started building a defense.  The Vikings were built on defense first, then after drafting A. Peterson were a run-first team but drafted Harvin and signed Favre in the off-season and now have the 2nd highest scoring offense.  The Chargers are probably the most balanced team here, good QB, RB, TE, WR, and middle of the road D.  The Bengals were a high scoring team a few years back and still have Palmer at QB at Chad O. at WR.  but they've drafted really well the past few years and have a good D now.

The Chiefs have a lot of holes to fill and probably can't add playmakers at every position that needs an upgrade this off-season but I'd like to hear how people would build this team into a contender.  .Offense first?  Defense first?  Or add to both sides of the ball at the same time and have a balanced team?  Personally, looking at the two undefeated teams (Colts and Saints) my personal preference would be to build a high scoring offense first. (Granted, a NT and a safety are necessities this offseason) but if you have an offense that can move the ball and score points it keeps your defense off the field, puts more pressure on the other team to score, and puts the other team in passing downs trying to keep up.  A team that wins based on defense and an offense that can't score points will always keep the other team in the game.  Build an offense around Cassel by improving the O-line and adding another big-play receiver and another RB to complement Charles and Cassel should be decent (as shown in NE last year) and if he isn't the answer atleast the other pieces will be in place in the next year or two so that another QB can come in and put up points right away. I think if the defense wasn't always on the field with all the 3 and outs by the offense they'd look better as well.