Then the Chiefs have alot of work to do.  its no secret that the chiefs were ranked at the bottom on defense, however, what may be suprising is just how bad the chiefs were statistically.  while the chiefs were competitive in alot of games it is clear to see why those games got away and we ended the season with a 2-14 record. 


Chiefs 2008 Defensive stats

Opponents yards/game- 393.2 (AFC West rank- 4th/ NFL rank- 31st)

Opponents rush yards/game- 158.2 (AFC West rank- 3rd/ NFL rank- 30th)

                    Average gain- 5.0 (AFC West rank- 3rd(tie)/ NFL rank- 31)

Opponents pass yards/game- 234.3 (AFC West rank- 3rd/ NFL rank- 28th)

                     Pass completion %- 66.7 (AFC West rank- 2nd/ NFL rank- 28th)

1st down %- 34.4 (AFC West rank- 4th/ NFL rank- 31st)

3rd done %- 47.4 (AFC West rank- 4th/ NFL rank 31st(tie))

Sacks-10 (AFC West rank- 4th/ NFL rank 32nd)

Pretty depressing huh?  Two major problems are two obvious ones that we have been talking about since the end of the season. 1) pass rush and 2) rushing yards/game.  K.C. needs to find a way to stop the run, especially in the AFC West. With  L.T, Darren McFadden/Michael Bush, and Knoshawn Moreno all on rival teams in the divison, Kansas city will have their hands full but it shouldnt be anything they cant handle. Hopefully this is where a 3/4 or 4/3 under should help to free up linebackers to stuff the holes and make the tackles.

Kansas City had 10 sacks total as a team last year.

Hali- 3.0

Babin-2.0 

Johnson- 1.5

Boone/Dorsey/Edwards- 1.0

Thomas- 0.5

in the offseason we really didnt do much in the way of a pass rusher.  but what is interesting is that the two linbackers that came to the chiefs in Vrabel and Thomas together had 5.0 sacks on the season.  those two alone would have held half of the sack total for the chiefs, which means that the linebacker spot will definately bring more pressure this year( say good bye to the tampa two).

Another thing that needs to be corrected is the Red Zone defense. (NFL rank 19)

67 possessions, 36 touchdowns allowed, 20 field goals allowed, .836 scoring %,  .545 TD %

compare this to Pitsburgh who ranked #1.

42 possessions, 14 touchdowns allowed, 19 field goals allowed, .786 scoring %, .333  TD %

Kansas city's Red Zone defense wasnt that bad considering, however, when looking at teams that have consistantly makde the playoffs this needs to improve.  especially the Touchdown percentage.  allowing a touchdown over half the time any team is in the red zone has to be unnacceptable.  i know what you might be thinking, comparing K.C. to the better defenses in the leauge is unfair, however, it gives good indication to what needs to improve. 

  There is a brght spot for the chiefs defense.  the secondary for the chiefs are young and have alot of talent. the secondary boosted the team in the next category i will bring up

Interceptions

Page- 4

Flowers- 2

Carr- 2

Surtain-1

Leggett- 1

Johnson- 1

McGraw- 1

Pollard- 1

the one stat that was actually in favor of the chiefs last year was the turnover ratio.  the chiefs were +5  for the season.  thats not as good as miami at +17 but is shows what the chiefs secondary can accomplish in the years to come when Flowers/Carr have matured and Gained experience.  last year was a great start for them, but things cam only go up.

      Several things happened last year that could have contributed to the defense being so bad last year.  from injuries and pulling people off the street to fill the holes to coaches not changing gameplan at half time.  but after hearing the stories this offseason i think that one major reason is the conditioning.  if guys arent conditioning all the time then they get tired. and when they get tired they  dont concentrate on the game which leads to missing plays or becoming injured.  With Todd Haley getting the whole team in shape and losing weight, the defense can be prepared for anything that comes their way.   EXPECT the chiefs to be a MUCH better defense in 2009!  

GO CHIEFS!!