Sports

Are the Chiefs in trouble?

Patrick Esser, Writer | 11/16/2021

With the Chiefs currently sitting at 6-4 and barely holding onto first in their division, some questions have arisen about whether they really are the dynasty we all expected. Patrick Mahomes has looked off this year, but that can also be attributed to his offensive line under producing and lackluster play from his receivers. Now we're going to take an in-depth look at it all.

Starting with the play of Patrick Mahomes the has a lot of people wondering what is happening in Kansas City. He leads the league in interceptions with ten, but he also attributed 27 total touchdowns (25 passing and 2 rushing). Looking at those stats, you may say that he is a little off. Experts have even said he needs to stop freestyling so much. That is pretty tricky considering that is his playstyle. However, there's more to this.

By looking at this from a purely analytical standpoint, Mahomes is off, and he isn't the amazing player as he is perceived as. His ten interceptions are already four more than he threw in 2020 and 5 more than in 2019. Regardless, there is a silver lining.

Five of Mahome's eight interceptions this season have come off of drops from the receivers. Meaning that a receiver drops the pass, the ball gets tipped in the air because of it, and a defender picks it off. Not really the quarterback's fault, if we're being honest. He is also averaging 308 passing yards per game, which is second to only Tom Brady. This also fails to mention the multiple game-winning situations where he put points on the board, just for the defense to sell right after, or when a player fumbles the ball away. The question that has been arising is that is Mahomes to blame for the Chief's early struggles? The verdict: No. The interception numbers are very misleading, and Mahomes is still the best quarterback in the NFL.

The next thing people have mentioned is the offensive line. Nothing is worse than how the line played in the Super Bowl last year, and at the very least, the line is better than that. However, this is not to say they haven't had their struggles. Even though age was a factor for these two, the Chiefs, and especially Patrick Mahomes, miss Mitchell Shwartz and Eric Fisher. The edge protection just hasn't been the same. With two new faces up front, Joe Thuney and Orlando Brown, the Chiefs hoped to take significant strides in the trenches this year. Unfortunately, it seems the strides haven't been taken yet. Mahomes is obviously known as an improviser, but it looks more like running for his life this year rather than "improvising." The pocket is collapsing quickly, and the running lanes just haven't been there as often as a passing offense needs. As everyone knows, you need to have a run game to have a passing game. After all of that, is the offensive line to blame for the Chief's struggles? The verdict: Partially. A team won't just fail due to poor offensive line play, and it's not like they have been awful. Mediocre at best. Just not what was expected for them coming into the season.

The run game is hard to analyze for the Chiefs because they are a very pass-heavy team. Even though they do run the ball, major running success isn't a huge deal for them. Nonetheless, the run game has been great. The team is averaging 4.9 yards per carry, and 154 yards per game, which ranks 10th in the league. With the scheme, they are experiencing huge success in the trenches. Especially with the offensive line under producing, this is a good sign for the Chiefs. Starting with the running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire out in week 6, there were no problems with backup Darrel Willians rushing for 62 yards and two touchdowns. Being said, is the run game a factor in the Chief's struggles? The verdict: Definitely not. In my eyes, they have done much better than anyone could have hoped and shown that this offense isn't just one-dimensional.

Finally, we have the defense. These stats may shock you considering how efficient they were last year. The Chiefs rank 28th in yards allowed per game, 27th in rush yards allowed per game, 25th in passing yards allowed per game, 28th in points allowed per game, 21st in takeaways per game, and dead last in total sacks with just seven. For reference, the leading Browns have 21 sacks through week 6. Even with such a high-powered offense, it's hard to win games when your defense can't get a stop. Teams can not win games when it's always a shootout, which is how it has been so far through 6 weeks. With all of that in mind, is the defense to blame for the Chiefs? The verdict: Absolutely. Being bottom 10 in every major category on defense makes it near impossible for teams to win games.

So what do they have to fix? The two biggest things are the drops and the defensive pressure. The drops are simple, don't drop passes. That results in better offensive production, fewer interceptions, and more confidence passing downfield. Defensively, I have no idea. To give the secondary some credit, they can't cover forever. The d-line has to get to the QB. And it's not like they don't blitz. In 2020, they brought five or more defenders on 39% of plays. A very high number. With similar numbers this year and the same defensive core and coaches, the questions become even more strange about why they can't generate pressure. Whether they need to trade for a big-name player to shake things up, or they need to get more creative with their blitzes, something needs to change and fast.