Dee Ford adds speed to an already good Chiefs pass rush. (John Rieger-USA TODAY Sports)
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. — Over the first nine games of the 2013 season, the Kansas City Chiefs’ defense was the catalyst behind what became the league’s best record. In the team’s final eight games (including the playoffs), the defense appeared helpless to stop opposing quarterbacks from reaching the end zone.
The postmortem on the defense came down to this: they weren’t as good as they looked early and not as bad as they played late. One of the biggest differences in the outcomes was the quality of quarterbacks they faced from first half to second half. Early on, they saw passers like Blaine Gabbert, Jeff Tuel, Case Keenum and Terrelle Pryor. In the closing eight games, six were against Peyton Manning, Philip Rivers and Andrew Luck. The Chiefs went 0-6 in those games.
It all came down to the second half of the first-round game in the playoffs against the Colts when they couldn’t hold a 28-point lead with 28 minutes to play. They appeared helpless in their attempts to slow down Luck and the Indy offense.
The page has been turned, and training camp brings the heavy work of trying to stabilize and improve the defense. That’s the task that’s fallen to coordinator Bob Sutton and the rest of the defensive coaching staff.
“There is a ton of work to do and that’s what this camp is for,” Sutton said. “We have to take advantage of every rep we get. The way Andy (Reid) has it set up we get a lot of reps, so it’s a very valuable tool for us.”
Personnel changes have forced adjustments, as four starters from last season are gone: left defensive end Tyson Jackson, middle linebacker Akeem Jordan, left cornerback Brandon Flowers and free safety Kendrick Lewis. Added to the roster for 2014 were defensive end Vance Walker and middle linebacker Joe Mays, along with draft picks like outside linebacker Dee Ford and cornerback Phillip Gaines, the club’s top two selections.
With the demotion of last year’s starter at right cornerback Sean Smith, three of the four secondary spots have changed since the end of the season.
“I have been pleased,” Sutton said of his defensive backs. “We haven’t had many mistakes. At this time of the year you develop your technique. That is really what’s important now, building the base of the correct hand placement, footwork and all those things.”
The most veteran Chiefs defender is inside linebacker Derrick Johnson, and in his 10th training camp he understands the challenges of adapting to new players in front and behind him.
“The NFL is about change,” Johnson said. “You have a lot of young guys and competition brings out the best in them. By the time that fourth preseason game comes I’m sure they (coaches) will have a lot of tape to evaluate and they’ll get the right guys in there.”
Allen Bailey at left defensive end and Husain Abdullah at free safety have been given the first opportunities to fill those positions. One thing both players present for the defense is more speed, something that was lacking last season. A pair of waiver claims from last year in Marcus Cooper and Ron Parker are holding the starting cornerback jobs.
There are changes on the Chiefs offense as well, with concerns about the offensive line and tight ends. But it’s the defense that ranks as the No. 1 item on the concern list for the 2014 season. That’s especially true at the start; in the first six games they face quarterbacks like Manning, Tom Brady, Colin Kaepernick, and Rivers, with later meetings against Manning and Rivers, along with games against Russell Wilson and Ben Roethlisberger.
All that creates a lot of ground for the Chiefs defense to cover before the club’s regular-season opener against Tennessee.
“We can’t waste a day,” said Johnson.
