Poor Pass Coverage & Rush Offense Lead to Loss for Kansas City Chiefs
Week 2 of the NFL preseason didn’t go as well for the Kansas City Chiefs as the opener did. A trip to face the St. Louis Rams resulted in a 31-17 defeat as the game got away quickly from the Chiefs. The areas that head coach Romeo Crennel has to be most displeased with are the secondary and the running game.
The Chiefs were only able to get 79 yards on the ground against a defense that’s not likely to be shutting down too many people over the course of the season. If we want to find a positive, it’s that Jamaal Charles got three carries and produced 17 yards, but the failure of anyone else to run doesn’t speak well to the performance of the offensive line.
On the flip side, anything you get out of the running game in August should be seen as a bonus, given the time it takes for an offensive line to come together–particularly when a line has two new starters, like the Chiefs do with tackle Eric Winston and center Rodney Hudson.
But Crennel can’t be quite as cavalier about the play of the secondary. The Rams ran out four different quarterbacks and the local fans of the baseball Cardinals could only wish they could get four arms to throw as consistently as Ram quarterbacks did on Saturday night. Sam Bradford started it off by going 6-for-9 for 102 yards and a pair of early touchdowns. Then Austin Davis, Kellen Clemens and Tom Brandstedter came out and kept the passing game moving efficiently. Collectively, St. Louis quarterbacks went 21/29 for 226 yards and zero interceptions.
The fact Kansas City has concerns about depth and health in the secondary right now add to the issues, along with the fact that Bradford’s two touchdown passes came against the first stringers.
Just like last week’s win over the Arizona Cardinals, we don’t want to overreact. But if we pointed out the positives from Week 1 with enthusiasm, a balanced portrait requires we also point out the negatives from this week. It may just be a glorified practice, but it didn’t relieve any concerns Kansas City fans have about their secondary.
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