Thoughts on the season that was

[matthewschiefs]

This was not the season that was expected.

Going into the year I predicted 7-9 wins. And they hit the high end of that in the 9-7 season.

What was unexpected was the reason that this team was 9-7.

The Defense was MUCH better then anyone even dreamed at the start of the season. It looked like it was going to be a horrible defense and the early loss of DJ made it look even worse. But unlike years past this D didn't fold their tents and went home. They sucked it up and stepped it up. They were the last team to allow a rushing Td. They didn't allow a 300 yard passer all year. There is still some work that needs to be done. But this defense looks like it is going to be strong. It's a young D that will continue to grow. That alone and getting DJ back will be of some help. Anther CB I think it's time to let Sanders Commings go he just can't stay on the field. The number 1 goal of the defense has to be finding a way to keep Justin Houston. That is a must. Hopefully they can lock him up for a long time.

Offense was a big time let down. The O line was a disaster at times the WRs were junk a lot of the times. There were a lot of missed chances with either a poor throw or a dropped pass or a fumble after a catch. It was dysfunctional to say the least. I've been very vocal that this teams approach has to change. We can't just keep thinking that Bowe and below average WRs will get the job done. We can't keep throwing an O line out there that will get a QB murdered. WE NEED AN OFFENSE. The talent at the key positions has to get better.

Coaching. Bob Sutton took a ton of heat at the end of last season. This year he did a hell of a job on the defensive side of the ball. For a defense that lost one of it's best players to do what they did you have to give mad props to Bob Sutton . Andy Reid IMO was up and down. His pass happy offense was a factor in the struggles of the offense. But I go back to the MNF game he coached circles around the modern day Vince Lombardi. The bottom line is for taking over a 2 win team he has won 20 games in the last 2 years. The 4 years before the team won 23 games. So it's hard to be very upset with Reid. The pass happy playbook is just going to be something we have to live for. And it might look better if we get the talent that is more suited to run that offense. Upgrading the offensive talent is the biggest MUST this team has.

GO CHIEFS

[bishop_74]

Bob... Sanders? 😉

[matthewschiefs]

Bob... Sanders?

Sutton lol dont no why I had Sanders in my head

now fixed

[slc chief]

Bob... Sanders? 😉I thought he retired from the Colts last year

[slc chief]

I thought he retired from the Colts last yearAll joking aside yes please beef up the o-line this has to be addressed

[ctchiefsfan]

This was not the season that was expected.

Going into the year I predicted 7-9 wins. And they hit the high end of that in the 9-7 season.

What was unexpected was the reason that this team was 9-7.

The Defense was MUCH better then anyone even dreamed at the start of the season. It looked like it was going to be a horrible defense and the early loss of DJ made it look even worse. But unlike years past this D didn't fold their tents and went home. They sucked it up and stepped it up. They were the last team to allow a rushing Td. They didn't allow a 300 yard passer all year. There is still some work that needs to be done. But this defense looks like it is going to be strong. It's a young D that will continue to grow. That alone and getting DJ back will be of some help. Anther CB I think it's time to let Sanders Commings go he just can't stay on the field. The number 1 goal of the defense has to be finding a way to keep Justin Houston. That is a must. Hopefully they can lock him up for a long time.

Offense was a big time let down. The O line was a disaster at times the WRs were junk a lot of the times. There were a lot of missed chances with either a poor throw or a dropped pass or a fumble after a catch. It was dysfunctional to say the least. I've been very vocal that this teams approach has to change. We can't just keep thinking that Bowe and below average WRs will get the job done. We can't keep throwing an O line out there that will get a QB murdered. WE NEED AN OFFENSE. The talent at the key positions has to get better.

Coaching. Bob Sutton took a ton of heat at the end of last season. This year he did a hell of a job on the defensive side of the ball. For a defense that lost one of it's best players to do what they did you have to give mad props to Bob Sutton . Andy Reid IMO was up and down. His pass happy offense was a factor in the struggles of the offense. But I go back to the MNF game he coached circles around the modern day Vince Lombardi. The bottom line is for taking over a 2 win team he has won 20 games in the last 2 years. The 4 years before the team won 23 games. So it's hard to be very upset with Reid. The pass happy playbook is just going to be something we have to live for. And it might look better if we get the talent that is more suited to run that offense. Upgrading the offensive talent is the biggest MUST this team has.

GO CHIEFS

WOW!!! EXCELLENT POST. Really hit the nail on the head.

We need to make damned sure Sutton is locked in for several years. He did good last year with his crazy gambling defense, but this year they were just plain damned good and TOUGH.

Andy Reid is Andy Reid. He's a damned good coach. Certainly one of the 3-4 best we've had. But he does have his flaws. I think we will mostly forget his flaws if he and Dorsey come up with a couple of REALLY GOOD WRs in the draft or via Free Agency. And we REALLY need O-line help. We are going to have something like 10 or 11 draft picks this year. If we use them wisely either for the draft or trades we will have a team that is a legitimate Super Bowl contender.

This was a tough year. A frikken roller coaster. But the end result was 2 winning seasons in a row for the first time in damned near forever. I can't complain about that.

[mdchiefsfan74]

Defense impressed me and surprised me. Key injuries ended up being bumps in the road rather than road blocks. They never gave up 30 points the whole season and that was going against Manning twice and Tom Brady once. Very impressive. The offense could use some work. I like Reid as a coach but not an OC. There were many times that we were too conservative with the ball. I'm not quite sure if Smith can throw down the field or not. Never had many attempts. I'll take the good with the bad when it comes Alex. It's an upgrade from Cassel and a step in the right direction. We need a #1WR. Bowe is decent but not a #1 on any team.

[doobs_05]

I predicted 6-10, better than expected. How the season played out though, it was a failure. first 10 games 7-3 (key loss, Tennesse), last 6 games 2-4 (late collapse, again. Key loss, Oakland.) Yes the defense stepped up in the points allowed(never went over 29 points on us and didn't allow a 300 yard passing game), but that run defense was terrible. I don't know if teams just threw enough to let the run game do its job. Play calling was awful and clock management needs to get better (thanks for the warning in advance philly fans). Beef up o-line (how many more years we giving fisher?) Need the passing game to get going and need to throw the ball down field more so that defense don't stack the box and wait for the run or 5 or less yard throws. Alex needs to step it up, don't hold the ball, let bowe (if he's here next year) make plays by making him go up for it.

[doobs_05]

Also, 2006 was the last time we had a winning record in the AFC West ( a few 3-3)

[N TX Dave]

The last time we had two winning seasons in a row was 2005 (10-6) and 2006 (9-7) so not that long ago but still long enough.

[matthewschiefs]

I predicted 6-10, better than expected. How the season played out though, it was a failure. first 10 games 7-3 (key loss, Tennesse), last 6 games 2-4 (late collapse, again. Key loss, Oakland.) Yes the defense stepped up in the points allowed(never went over 29 points on us and didn't allow a 300 yard passing game), but that run defense was terrible. I don't know if teams just threw enough to let the run game do its job. Play calling was awful and clock management needs to get better (thanks for the warning in advance philly fans). Beef up o-line (how many more years we giving fisher?) Need the passing game to get going and need to throw the ball down field more so that defense don't stack the box and wait for the run or 5 or less yard throws. Alex needs to step it up, don't hold the ball, let bowe (if he's here next year) make plays by making him go up for it.

I don't know if I would call the season a complete failure even with the late collapse.
They still manged to do things they haven't done in a LONG time and that is a step (even if it is a small one) in the right direction.

Even in the defenses troubles they did make progress and BIG progress from last year. Even with losing one of there top players for pretty much the whole year.

They have some building blocks that no one thought were there at the start of the season to build on for this team. Who is still very young. We have been set up with a lot of draft picks.

Though this would feel much better if we started 2-4 and finished 7-3