The subplot is among the most interesting in the NFL this year, even as it's overshadowed by the league's funnest and most spectacular show. It will ultimately be one of the most consequential storylines in recent Kansas City sports history and we're only beginning to see it form.
This is about the Chiefs' attempt to field a defense good enough to be dragged to the Super Bowl by Patrick Mahomes' generational gifts, and we'll get to that soon, but first a series of facts to set the scene.
1. The Chiefs could use a cornerback, even with Morris Claiborne set to come off his suspension next week.
2. The Chiefs will be calling on any cornerback made available through trade, whether it's Jalen Ramsey or Patrick Peterson or anyone else.
3. In the last month the Chiefs have traded a cornerback (Mark Fields), cut a cornerback (Tremon Smith, who is now with the Packers) and lost a cornerback off their practice squad (Torry McTyer, picked up by the Dolphins).
The point: Everything is relative. The Chiefs need cornerbacks, but so does virtually everyone else. Some need them even worse.
This is important to keep in mind. The standard is not perfection, or even to be among the league's best. Mahomes and the offense are so effective that even a league-average defense would probably be good enough for a parade.
Some encouraging notes: Pro Football Focus rates Kendall Fuller and Charvarius Ward among the best 31 cornerbacks in both coverage and tackling. The Chiefs rank ninth overall in coverage, and only two interior linemen have pressured the quarterback more often than Chris Jones. The Chiefs are league average or better in points allowed, turnovers forced, yards per pass attempt against and Football Outsiders' pass defense metric.
Some discouraging notes: The Chiefs are simply awful against the run. Their 6.2 yards per carry allowed is 15% worse than anyone else's. Only five teams have committed more penalties, and only seven have allowed more first downs. After leading the league in sacks last year, the Chiefs are currently tied for 16th and rank 25th in hits.
The Chiefs appear improved from a year ago both in terms of statistics (14th and 24th in points and yards, respectively, after ranking 24th and 31st last year) and the eye test (their coverage against the Ravens was as good as any game in recent memory).
So the group remains something of a Rorschach test, but as we approach the season's quarter pole the picture should begin to come into focus.
"There's growth there, there's progress," said defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo. "We're still trying to figure out what it is we do best, and who fits where. There's still a little bit of that going on."
A trip through the locker room revealed a common theme.
From Tyrann Mathieu: "We do some great things within the game. We just have to start faster and finish way better."
Anthony Hitchens: "We've shown good quarters, or good halves, but we haven't put a full game together.
Alex Okafor: "We've definitely started the evolution. It shows in glimpses on film. We have really good halves or really good quarters, and then those spots where we took off the gas a little bit."
Told that was strikingly similar to the diagnosis from his teammates, Okafor responded simply: "That's what the film shows. Everybody can see it, man. That's what the film shows."
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