Mike Williams' second touchdown catch puts the Chargers in control with a win over Chiefs. (0:23).
KANSAS CITY (Mo.) After Sunday's loss to the Los Angeles Chargers, the Kansas City Chiefs quickly pointed out that it was almost impossible to win an NFL match if you turn the ball over four more times like the Chiefs.
True, but Kansas City has not been consistently bad with the ball since Patrick Mahomes took over as quarterback. Sunday's turnover issues are an easy fix.
It will be more difficult to fix the larger problem, which is a leaky defense. After a strong start to Sunday's game, the Chiefs allowed the Chargers five of their last seven possessions to score, including all three in quarter four. The Chargers scored 4 of 5 touchdowns in red zone. This made them the Chiefs' opponents in this category, which is 12 of 13.
Chiefs are now at 1-2, and the AFC West is in last place for the first time since 2015.
The Chiefs allow almost 32 points per match. They were last in the league for total defense and rush defense, and it took them a while to get there defensively. They may need to take time to get out.
These are the factors that have contributed to Chiefs' struggles in defense.
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They have opted to invest a lot of their resources in their offense over the past few years. Chiefs have mainly invested in offensive players since rebuilding their defense after the 2018 season. Clyde Edwards Helaire, their first round draft pick last season was a running back. Their first-round draft pick was traded for Orlando Brown, an offensive tackle. Joe Thuney, a guard, was their big-money signing. The Chiefs acquired six offensive linemen through a trade, draft and free agency, and the defense remained mostly intact.
This resulted in a unit with only two former first-round draft picks. DeAndre Baker and Mike Hughes, cornerbacks, were once low-ranking first-round draft picks for other teams. They were discarded by these clubs for very little to no return.
It doesn't seem as good as it used to. The deal for Frank Clark, a big contract, is no longer as attractive. Clark was a key player in the Chiefs' win of Super Bowl LIV two year ago. He also helped them return to the Super Bowl last season, but this year they have received very little from Clark. Clark was injured in his hamstrings and missed much of training camp. Clark has not played in any of the three games this year, including Sunday against the Chargers.
Even when he has been in the line-up, the Chiefs' pass rush has failed to perform well. At 26.2%, they were last in the league for pass rush wins. Clark was acquired by the Chiefs to partner with Chris Jones in pass rush. Jones hasn’t been as effective in the past two weeks. Jones did however have two sacks during the season-opening victory over the Cleveland Browns.
The Chiefs' recent high draft picks on defensive players have not resulted in much help. The Chiefs traded up in 2018 to make Breeland Speaks, a defensive end, their top draft pick for the second round. After two unsuccessful seasons, he was released. Dorian O'Daniel was drafted in the third round by the Chiefs as a linebacker. He's now almost exclusively a special-teams player.
In 2019, the Chiefs drafted Juan Thornhill as a safety and Khalen Saunders as a defensive lineman in the third round. Both are backups. Willie Gay, a linebacker, was drafted in the second round of last year. However, he was mostly a backup rookie player and has not played this season due to injury.
The offense is under pressure. They scored 33 points in the opener against Browns, and 35 against Ravens last week. Despite four turnovers, the Chiefs scored 24 points against Chargers.
It might be hard for the Chiefs, however, to score enough points to overcome their defense. Opponents are trying to limit Chiefs' big plays. Two high safety plays on 82% of their plays saw them fail, which is far more than the league's average of 64%.
In the second half, the Chiefs struggled to navigate that against the Ravens (two turnovers) and against the Chargers (four).
