General Defense

[onejayhawk]

I am not to the point of tear it down and start over. Clark has been hurt, Reed is a disappointment, Jones has been mixed at best, but these are quality players. 

J

[EMAW_KSU]

1 hour ago, onejayhawk said:

I am not to the point of tear it down and start over. Clark has been hurt, Reed is a disappointment, Jones has been mixed at best, but these are quality players. 

J

Clark was the 53rd rated linemen last year, at best he is highly overpaid for his production.  Reed certainly has been disappointing and Jones I think needs to go back inside.  If we could get it from under Clark’s contract in any way I think we would take it, but sort of the legal stuff I don’t see it.  I don’t see us blowing it up, but something certainly needs to change.

[Chiefer]

14 hours ago, EMAW_KSU said:

Clark was the 53rd rated linemen last year, at best he is highly overpaid for his production.  Reed certainly has been disappointing and Jones I think needs to go back inside.  If we could get it from under Clark’s contract in any way I think we would take it, but sort of the legal stuff I don’t see it.  I don’t see us blowing it up, but something certainly needs to change.

And knowing Reid, itll take a few more embarrassing losses before that change happens 

[HolmesPriest]

Jon Gruden is available to be a defensive coordinator.

[Jakuvious]

19 hours ago, EMAW_KSU said:

Clark was the 53rd rated linemen last year, at best he is highly overpaid for his production.  Reed certainly has been disappointing and Jones I think needs to go back inside.  If we could get it from under Clark’s contract in any way I think we would take it, but sort of the legal stuff I don’t see it.  I don’t see us blowing it up, but something certainly needs to change.

I wouldn't be surprised if we see Jones inside when he returns. At least primarily. He saw more snaps back inside against Philly than he had in prior weeks, and I think with Clark back and Danna playing well, Clark/Nnadi/Jones/Danna is a much better DL than Clark/Nnadi/Reed/Jones.

[onejayhawk]

Until Clark is 100%, we don't have enough warm bodies at DE without Jones. They have not been what we hoped, but Reed and Nnadi can do the heavy lifting at DT for a while longer.

J

[kingseanjohn]

44 minutes ago, onejayhawk said:

Until Clark is 100%, we don't have enough warm bodies at DE without Jones. They have not been what we hoped, but Reed and Nnadi can do the heavy lifting at DT for a while longer.

J

Have they even done any light lifting?

[Kirill]

On 10/11/2021 at 11:14 AM, EMAW_KSU said:

To be clear I’m not saying we shouldn’t swap a 7th for a former first…I’m just saying we can’t continue to let those moves be the reason we totally ignore positions of premium in the draft.  DE is a perfect example, we have an extremely overpaid DE, and a stud DT e are going to play out of position to experiment.  Knowing we’re not likely to keep DE1 and not knowing what DE2 will bring it might have behooved us to make some sort of move…instead we draft late, bring back a sub par performer…and are letting our best DL player play out of position and in reality hitting 2 positions in the process.

Sucks that Odafe Odaweh looks elite so far and we traded out of that pick. But I’d still probably do that trade to get Orlando Brown and Nick Bolton.

[onejayhawk]

2 hours ago, Kirill said:

Sucks that Odafe Odaweh looks elite so far and we traded out of that pick. But I’d still probably do that trade to get Orlando Brown and Nick Bolton.

I would do that trade again. Even one season of Orlando Brown is gold, because it gives us a chance to get Lucas Niang some low pressure experience. If necessary, we can go into next year with Niang at LT and seek to replace RT. Everyone else is back, so one spot is very doable.

3 hours ago, kingseanjohn said:

Have they even done any light lifting?

Hasn't everyone?

J

[EMAW_KSU]

2 hours ago, Kirill said:

Sucks that Odafe Odaweh looks elite so far and we traded out of that pick. But I’d still probably do that trade to get Orlando Brown and Nick Bolton.

There’s always should have picks…DK instead of Hardman is a bad one, look how many teams passed on TJ Watt etc.

[kingseanjohn]

 

[Jakuvious]

1 hour ago, kingseanjohn said:

 

I almost always like Simms's analysis, and no difference here. I don't fully agree on the talent bit, just because again, it's mostly the same talent as the last two year's. It is the talent of an average to slightly above average defense. So they're still playing well below their talent level.

But, I liked the analysis on the Sorensen plays. Matched exactly what I saw live on the deep shot to Diggs. I feel like people have settled into lazy narratives that Dan's struggles against Buffalo were because of a lack of athleticism (he's always had that problem, and never has sucked this bad) or a lack of effort, but 100% it was him abandoning assignments to try to either make a play or cover for someone else. He fell for Diggs faking the corner route even though our CB was right where he needed to be to stop it, and it was 100% not Sorensen's route to cover, and then when Diggs broke back inside it was too late. It wasn't speed or effort, it was either him trying to do too much or him not trusting the other guys to do their job. Was very obvious on the Diggs play, and I like the point that something similar happened on the Knox play, except with Allen scrambling, and Sorensen stepping up as if he needed to make that play. Couldn't tell what happened on that play at the time, so kind of confirms some things to see that both issues were the same. A lot would be fixed by players just doing their jobs. Some of the run defense issues are similar. Guys overpursuing or underpursuing and not hitting the gap they're actually responsible for.

The Hitchens play remains confusing. I'm with them in having no idea what on earth he was doing that play. Part of me honestly wonders if Hitchens actually has a negative impact on the defense, just from an understanding perspective. I swear there were two different plays where he moved a DT out of the gap that the Bills wound up running into. Like, we were aligned to stop the play, he shifted a DT over a gap, and then they ran into the opening Hitch created. On some problematic level I don't think he gets the defense, because he actively created gaps that Buffalo then exploited on multiple occasions.

Did find it interesting that they called out Mathieu. I haven't noticed problems there, but it wouldn't surprise me if I just kind of assume he's doing his job compared to the other guys in the secondary. His first game back involving some big plays probably endeared him to me as well. If both Mathieu and Sorensen have taken steps back this year, that would explain a lot of the issues in coverage, because the safety spot has been a strength the past two years, and has helped cover at times for inconsistent pass rush and CBs that are just good, not great. Regardless of is Mathieu has stepped back, if the D stays this bad with him, I'm honestly not sure you can extend him.

[onejayhawk]

There is divided opinion on Mathieu. He's clearly the leader of the defense but some are saying he has slipped as a player. The most effective DB by far has been Sneed. 

Still, the point that the defense is slow and not athletic is valid. There is some talent that, but it is not showing, while age has crept up on multiple players. 

J

[onejayhawk]

For what it's worth, Nnadi on injuries.
https://chiefswire.usatoday.com/2021/10/14/kansas-city-chiefs-derrick-nnadi-injuries-playing-part-in-rough-start-for-defense/

[onejayhawk]

Video review of the Buffalo game.
https://www.arrowheadpride.com/2021/10/15/22727451/film-review-a-tale-of-two-halves-for-chiefs-defense-against-buffalo

There are some good things in the bad. Spagnuolo has commented that there have been continuity problems with the DL. No ****. Jones is at a new position, Reed is new period, Clark has barely played and Nnadi has not been much better. There is talent here, but it has not shown yet. However, Danna has stepped up his play to fill part of the gap, and the line's health is improving. 

In the secondary, Ward has been missed, but Sneed has been solid and Fenton stepped up in the Buffalo game. If we could generate some pass rush, the secondary isn't too bad. Sorensen has been picked upon, but this is not all on him.