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!!

I was sitting at work last night looking at Yahoo sports/ Pro Football weekly's NFL preview magazine for 2009.  after looking at the broken down stats on the chiefs last season, its clear what the chiefs have to correct in order to be able to really suprise some teams this year.

looking at the offense first:

2008 averages per game:

Net Yards- 308.6 (4939 total)  3rd in AFC West

Rushing (plays)- 23.6 (375 total) 4th in AFC West

Rushing (yards)- 113.1 (1810 total) 3rd in  AFC West

Passing yards- 195.5 (3129 total) 4th in AFC West

sacks(allowed) - 2.3 (37 total) 3rd in AFC West

Int. thrown- 1 (16 total) 3rd in AFC West

Fumbles lost- .5 (8 total) 1st in AFC West

yards penalized- 40.3 (739 yards total) 1st in AFC West

punts- 5 (82 total) 3rd in AFC West

  what do the chiefs need to do?

 1)     The Chiefs need to find a way to run the ball more in games.  running the ball keeps the clock moving which will help to keep the defense off the field and not be exhausted in the fourth quarter.  when you run the ball only 375 times in a season, after L.J. ran for 416 in a season is just  pathetic (my opinion).     L.J was sidlined four games last year, but here is why they needed to run the ball none the less

Larry Johnson - 193 rush yards, 874 yards, 4.5 avg., 65yard run(longest run), 5TD's

Kolby Smith- 35 rushes, 100 yards, 2.9 avg., 19yard run(longest),1TD

Jammal Charles- 67 rushes, 357 yards, 5.3 avg., 30 yard run(longest) 0TD's

Tyler Thigpen- 62 rushes, 386yards, 6.2 avg., 32yard run (longest) 3 TD's

  with L.J in the game and J.C in a change of pace, the chiefs were able to move the ball.  the problem is that Herm Edwards/ Chan Gailey wouldnt run the ball. now i know you have to pass more when playing from behind, however, you cant abandon the run when your in the lead or even close to taking the lead. for example in week 7 vs. NYJ, we were in the lead in that game but lost 28-24. the chiefs only ran the ball 20 times!  how in the hell can you confuse an opposing defense with only 20 running plays in a game? point is that Todd haley and his staff need to run the ball a little more that Herm and his staff did last year.

2) With Tony Gonzalez being taded to ATL, the chiefs need to have someone step up as a #2 reciever.  D-Bowe did drop crucial passes last year, however,  his stats still werent that bad.  the problem is the drop pff behind him.  with T.G gone Bradley, Webb, and Engram need to show up in games or D-Bowe will be irrevelant.  here is a comparison with D-Bowe and the Drop off of production after him.

Bowe- 86 catches, 1,022 yards, 11.9 avg. 36 yard(longest catch) 7TD's

Bradley- 30 catches, 380 yards, 12.7 avg., 56 yard(longest catch) 3TD's

if bradley can stay healthy this year, he will be the #2 reciever.  Engram will play slot (chifs version of Wes Welker for cassel).  recievers need to step up, if they do and cassel can distribute the ball to all recievers both  Bowe and Bradley could have a great year.

   in my next post i will break down the defense.  let me know what you think.

After Reading NJChiefsFan's post about the Raiders being the second best team in the AFC West, and after reading all of your comments i decided to so some research. what i found is actually a bit of a suprise. 

take this for instance-  Chiefs and New England stats here (from ESPN.com).

Chiefs-

What i found interesint in these stats when you compare the is the sack totals.  Matt Cassel was actually sacked more that Tyler Thigpen.  you may be thinking so what? NE still had a better line.  that may be the case, however NE had a better run game last year and a strong run game helps out any offensive line.

more after the jump.

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