A Process But Little Progress

The Chiefs won twice as many games as a year ago…but just 4.  Todd Haley is credited with saying he could take 22 guys off the street and win 2 games.  He took 53 off college and pro rosters and only won 4.  Simply adding a few wins is improvement, but how much progress was actually made in year one of the process.

Defense

Before the season I predicted if there was a unit on the Chiefs that could show marked improvement it would be the defense.  I figured veteran additions and a new scheme could mean a big difference in a unit that finished 31^st in the league giving up 393 yards per game.  Oops.  The Chiefs defense only improved by 5 yards a game to 30^th in the league.  5 yards?  That’s the equivalent of the other team taking a knee on the final few plays…something Chiefs fans have grown accustomed to in the last several years.

The Chiefs were three yards a game better against the pass…enough to move them from 28^th to 22^nd place in the NFL.  Against the run they gave up 2 yards less per game than a year ago, but still got worse in the rankings from 30^th to 31^st.  Ick.  One bright spot is that the Chiefs more than doubled their sack total from 10 to 22 but were still second from the bottom in that category.

Offense

I didn’t have the same optimism for the offense going into the season.  I thought even with Todd Haley’s track record in Arizona it would be tough for a team with a new quarterback and a patchwork line to make significant strides.  The one rising star on the line…Branden Albert regressed this season.  The highly paid quarterback, Matt Cassell, ended up throwing more interceptions (16 to 12) and less touchdowns (16-18) than the third stringer he replaced. 

The total stats aren’t any better.  The Chiefs gained 5 fewer yards per game than a year ago and dropped from 24^th to 25^th…and for the record they were not taking a knee at the end of many games like their opponents.  The passing game lost 13 yards per game and dropped from 20^th to 25^th in the NFL.  Simple math tells us there was improvement then in the running game.  The emergence of Jamaal Charles led the Chiefs to an improvement of seven whole yards per game.  That moved the Chiefs from 16^th to 11^th.  That’s right!  A unit actually approached being in the top third of the league.

All in all the progress was limited in the first season of the new regime.  Maybe more frightening is at this pace the process will be a long and tedious one.