The Kansas City Chiefs have their best chance in the last 50 years to be Super Bowl champions this season.
However, to hoist the Lombardi Trophy, being a really good team is not enough. Having more good than bad is not enough. Having the best player in the league is not even good enough.
To win it all, a team has to be excellent across the board — not perfect, but excellent. It has to take care of the details and address the gaps every team has. When mistakes are made that are correctable, they cannot continue to happen. That’s what losing teams do, not champions.
So how do the Chiefs get there? How do they get from where they are now to their ultimate goal? What are the big areas they need to fix if they are going to be crowned as champions in February?
Some issues take time and practice to fix; others require key players to get healthy, and still others can be fixed very quickly.
Some issues require player skill to increase; others a better scheme to be implemented; and some require a simple decision, a change of course.
There are many issues we could address, as every team has many areas they need to improve in. But I want to focus on the three most glaring issues the Chiefs absolutely need to fix if they want to be champions.
Let’s begin with the first glaring issue.
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Glaring issue No. 1: Andy Reid’s clock management
Reid is an excellent head coach. He is wonderful at relating to his players, keeps a great locker room environment, and is fun to play for. Even more, he is an offensive guru and innovator, keeping his teams on the leading edge of how the offense is played.
But Reid has an Achilles’ heel that goes all the way back to when he first started in Philadelphia as a head coach 20 years ago: he is terrible at late-game management. His clock management is akin to an 8-year-old playing “Madden” for the first time against a seasoned “Madden” pro. For example:
- Saving all three timeouts until under 30 seconds are left and it’s too late to use them effectively.
- Letting the clock run down to the two-minute warning when down two scores, instead of using timeouts to prolong the game.
- Running the ball and passing to the middle of the field, instead of sticking to the passing game and the sideline.
- Taking a field goal at the end of the half instead of going for a touchdown, because of a failure to preserve a timeout.
These are the sorts of mistakes Reid continues to make. He is not getting better at this. This skill eludes him. The ship has sailed when it comes to Reid and clock management. We as Chiefs fans simply must be thankful for all the aspects of coaching Reid is great at.
It was fascinating seeing the exasperation of Patrick Mahomes twice this season in late-game situations, realizing Reid was not calling a timeout when he should have. As seconds ticked by and Mahomes instead tried to get his offense to the line to spike the ball, he was visibly frustrated that a timeout had not been called.
So if Reid is bad at the crucial skill of clock management, and yet he is unlikely to improve it at this point in his career, how can this issue be fixed? Well, this issue is the easiest to fix by far; it is incredibly simple. Here is what Reid and the Chiefs must do if they want to be champions:
- Someone on the Chiefs’ staff must be designated (or hired) as a clock-management specialist. He must be empowered to make all clock-management decisions. This is an element of coaching Reid must willingly take off his own plate.
- Patrick Mahomes must be empowered to call a timeout when he feels it is best. He understands intuitively how to manage the clock. So he needs to have the power to stop the clock with a timeout when he wants.
If Reid would follow those two steps — if he could be humble enough to admit it is an area in which he does not excel, instead of stubbornly stating the clock was managed correctly after his mistakes — this first glaring issue is fixed.
Let’s move to the second glaring issue.
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Glaring issue No. 2: Inability to stop the run
If you’d asked me during the offseason what excited me most about the switch from Bob Sutton to Steve Spagnuolo at defensive coordinator, I would have said that maybe, finally, the Chiefs can stop the run.
Stopping the run is absolutely crucial to the success of any defense. It always seemed that Sutton simply never coached his guys on how to properly explode through gaps, or shed blocks, or even tackle.
Well, perhaps the more things change, the more they stay the same. After five games with Spagnuolo at the helm, the Chiefs rank 30th in the league in rushing defense. After holding Leonard Fournette to 66 yards rushing in Week 1, the Chiefs have given up 111 to the Raiders, 157 to the Ravens, 168 to the Lions and 159 to the Colts.
I have not studied it closely enough to know whether Spagnuolo is simply staying too conservative instead of attacking the line of scrimmage, or if it is primarily due to other factors like poor tackling. But one thing I know: The run defense must get fixed.
To win in the playoffs, the offensive line and defensive line must be playing at a high level, controlling the line of scrimmage. It is still early this season, so there is time to work with the lines on their technique, their understanding of the scheme and so forth. But we must see improvement in each unit’s ability to control the line if the Chiefs are to have a chance to win it all.
This issue is harder to fix, but what I’d like to see is:
- More aggression on early downs from the defensive play-calling, allowing blitzes from a mixture of linebackers, corners and safeties to try to stop the run and put the opposing offense in more challenging situations.
- Chiefs defenders playing with more passion, aggression and anger on the field. When opposing offenses are in the midst of long drives, with runs gashing the defense, there seems to be no urgency. I want to see our defenders flying to the ball, wanting to make a tackle for a loss — instead of merely a tackle before the first down line.
And now, let’s move to the final glaring issue.
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Glaring issue No. 3: Not protecting Mahomes
Simply put, Mahomes is the franchise. If the Chiefs’ offensive line and the coaching staff do not find ways to better protect him, this season is going nowhere. He has already been injured as a result of pressure multiple times, and the first ankle injury could have easily been a knee when he got crunched in a mass of defensive linemen.
The offensive line has only allowed seven sacks, while the league average is 12. Their pass protection has been adequate, but with the loss of Eric Fisher, it has gotten markedly worse. The coaches must figure out a way to protect Mahomes, even when the starters are not able to play and give him the time he needs.
Reid and the offensive coaches must be willing to take some plays out of the playbook during this time, potentially sacrificing some offensive dynamism, in order to protect Mahomes. What I think would help is:
- Running more 12 and 21 personnel with either two backs or two tight ends on the field, to add an extra player to help block the rush. You would give up one receiver on the route, but if you give Mahomes time he will find an open receiver, even if there is one fewer running a route.
- Calling more quick slants, bubble screens and end arounds to get the ball out of Mahomes’ hands more quickly and decreasing the likelihood of him taking hits.
- Calling more power run plays, particularly with Mahomes under center. This could give the offensive line more confidence in firing off the ball and pushing the defensive line back, and possibly help them get into a rhythm.
I don’t have all the answers, but those are my ideas. All of these issues are fixable, and there is absolutely no reason to panic this early in the season. But there is also no excuse for not addressing the issues, or for proudly refusing to admit the job is not getting done.
Reid must designate a clock-management specialist. The defense must get better at stopping the run. And the offense must keep Mahomes clean. If those three issues are fixed, the Chiefs are the Super Bowl favorites — and it’s not close.
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