Grading the Kansas City Chiefs

In early September, I made my prediction that they Kansas City Chiefs probably wouldn’t win more than 4-6 games.  Well, I was off – they won a surprising 7 games.  Nearly everything else I talked about in that post played out as I discussed.  It is not often I nail something so squarely on the head as I did about the Chiefs in 2011.  Now I am going to pass out my grades for the Chiefs.

COACHING AND FRONT OFFICE

F

I am going to start right at the top and I am going to be harsh.  If this team could win 7 games and be a home win in week 16 against Oakland away from winning the crappiest division in football, think how good this team might have been with even slightly better management.  At the end of the lockout, Scott Pioli sat on his wallet and did almost nothing to address the incredible lack of depth on this team.  I don’t know who made the decision to let Brian Waters go but he was signed by the Patriots and made the Pro Bowl – again.  Obviously he was washed up.  Pioli signed LT Jared Gaither early but released him after Thanksgiving after only playing a few snaps.  The Chargers picked him up and started him almost immediately and I read a quote from Philip Rivers where Rivers said Gaither had solidified their offensive line.  Pioli and Haley deserved F’s for those moves alone. 

Injuries wracked the Chiefs early and often and Kansas City did not have quality back-ups.  Green Bay last season and Houston in 2011 proved you can have numerous players lost for the seasons and still have the depth to win playoff games.  Pioli did not have this team manned with enough quality players.  Haley did his part.  After another lackluster preseason, the Chiefs got stomped early in the first two games and even though he rallied the troops for a 4-game winning streak, his decision making was suspect.  Again, I am not sure whose decision it was to have Tyler Palko as the back-up to Matt Cassel but it was an awful one.  It helped speed along Haley’s exit and rightfully so.

There is plenty of blame to go around as far as the front office and coaching goes and it is hard to list every short coming.  Suffice it to say, they failed utterly in 2011.

QUARTERBACK

D

Matt Cassel was not going to reproduce his 27/7 touchdown to interception ratio of 2010 no matter how many games he played in 2011.  He was at 10/9 when he got hurt in game ten.  His passer rating was nearly 20 points lower as well.  That being said, Tyler Palko made him look like Peyton Manning.  I am not sure how Palko was even on a NFL roster.  He was awful.  Kyle Orton was a bright spot for the front office but Haley really didn’t want to play him, which was another reason to see Haley to the door.  Cassel probably played above his head last season when he got more blocking and his 2011 performance is probably closer to what he can offer year in and year out.  That isn’t very good.  Orton played well enough to at least warrant contract talks for 2012 but I can’t imagine him on the roster with Cassel.

RUNNINGBACK

C

We all knew it was trouble when Jamal Charles went down in game two.  Thomas Jones’ best days are behind him and try as he might, he just couldn’t get rolling on any consistent basis.  Jackie Battle conquered his fumble issues and provided some good work but couldn’t wrestle the job away from Jones, then later, Dexter McCluster.  McCluster was the most effective runner the Chiefs could field but he was by no means a punishing runner.  Le’Ron McClain offered up some toughness and effective blocking at times.  While none of these guys were just terrible, none of them were good enough to claim the job as the main back.  Who received the bulk of the carries seemed to vary from game to game.  I don’t discount their combined effort, just their talent.  They certainly are back-ups and shouldn’t be counted on to shoulder the load for any length of time.

WIDE RECEIVERS AND TIGHT ENDS

WR – B, TE – F

Dwayne Bowe continued to make spectacular, incredible catches and he continued to drop routine balls in key situations.  Bowe could be dominating, physical star in this league if he could maintain his focus all of the time and stop dropping so many passes.  Steve Breaston was solid for most of the season and exhibited good toughness.  Rookie Jonathon Baldwin missed the first five games due to mouthing off to the wrong guy in the locker room in preseason and getting his rear kicked and never really got it going.  He showed a few flashes but dropped his share as well.  He will continue to get better.  The tight ends are not worth the time to list individually and were awful as a group.  Tony Moeaki may have been the biggest single loss of the season.  The wide receivers were probably the strongest part of the offense but still exhibited too much inconsistency.  The tight ends were just terrible.

OFFENSIVE LINE

C-

I have a hard time believing there are many starting tackles worse than Barry Richardson.  He is slow and gets manhandled on a regular basis.  He should be strictly a back-up to fill in when a starter needs a play or two off.  I love Casey Wiegmann and his streak of 11,000 plus straight snaps is as impressive as any record you will see but he is old and very undersized and seemed to get pushed back on a consistent basis.  I was disappointed the Chiefs seemed more interested in keeping Weigmann’s streak in place instead of getting rookie Rodney Hudson some experience.  Brandon Albert seems better fitted to be a right tackle but played fairly well.  We saw growth out of Jon Asamoah.  Ryan Lilja looks to be on the downside of his career.  Major rebuilding needs to be done here but that has been the case for several years now.

DEFENSIVE LINE

D

The Chiefs continue to be blind to the fact that Tyson Jackson was a gigantic mistake and Glenn Dorsey has been a relative bust.  Neither player has made the necessary steps toward being legitimate forces on the d-line.  Both get pushed off the line too often and neither can mount any sort of pass rush.  Free agent acquisition Kelly Gregg played okay against the run but also offered no pressure on passing downs.  I thought the line played much better when back-ups rookie Allen Bailey, Amon Gordon, and Wallace Gilbury were in the game.  The starters may have had a slight advantage against the run but the second team was much better at pressuring the quarterback.  The Chiefs have to find an effective nose tackle and a legitimate starting defensive end if they hope to improve this horrible unit.

LINEBACKERS

A-

Tamba Hali continues to do amazing work getting to the quarterback considering he gets almost no help from his line.  Derrick Johnson continues to get better each year and has become a major force in that defense.  The Chiefs’ defense improved late in the season and it was due mainly to the improvement of rookie Justin Houston.  Houston started very slowly but ended up being a legitimate threat to sack the quarterback late in the season.  His 5.5 sacks really give me hope for the future for this unit.  Jovan Belcher is a steady, if totally unspectacular performer in the middle.  Belcher could be upgraded but compared to the other glaring holes on this team, improving the linebacker corps is not a priority.  It could use some help with depth via free agency but I hope they don’t waste any high draft picks here.

DEFENSIVE BACKS

B+

The Brandons – Carr and Flowers – have really solidified the cornerback position for Kansas City.  They have become shut down corners on both sides and if the Chiefs could find any way to pressure the quarterback, these cornerbacks would become even more valuable.  Back up Javier Arenas has gotten better and is a decent nickel back.  Eric Berry lost a full season of development with his season long injury and I can only hope he returns the same player as before.  Kendrick Lewis at safety improved in 2011 but needs help from Berry to be at his best.  John McGraw would be just fine as a back-up but he gets exposed when he plays a lot.  The rest of the stiffs the Chiefs ran out there on a weekly basis all need to improve or be upgraded mightily.  Still, this group of players is the Chiefs second strongest squad on the team and just need better quality in its depth.

SPECIAL TEAMS

C+

Dustin Colquitt is an underrated punter who never worries about his stats.  He is more than willing to do what he has to do help his team win the field position battle.  His stats aren’t as eye catching as others around the league but there aren’t many I would trade him for.  I am a big fan.  Succop would have pushed this part of the grade to above average it weren’t for the two blocked field goals against the Raiders.  Nothing really stands out to me about the return game so I give an average grade here.

Overall, the team receives a C-.  They won a game or two I wouldn’t have predicted but they also lost a couple of games they shouldn’t have.  At times they were horrible, getting blown out in lopsided fashion.  At other times, their defense played well enough to keep them in games  This off season, the Chiefs need to address both the offensive and defensive lines, in free agency if possible.  I would love for the Chiefs give up some picks to get Robert Griffin III and spend some money in free agency.  With better health and more depth, there is no reason not think the Chiefs can’t win the weak AFC West. 

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