Preseason Worries and Some Remedies

Well people, we are just weeks away from the regular season. Congratulations! Football is almost back. Along with football though, comes the stress of how your team performs.It seems that even in the preseason that stress is unavoidable for Chiefs Kingdom, so hopefully this article will ease your nerves a little bit...


Almost there but....
I want to give a small disclaimer here. The preseason only matters in certain aspects. Preseason is about getting player back up to the speed of the game, getting used to new plays and systems, and finding out what your depth and draft picks have to offer. THE WIN LOSS RECORD IS NOT IMPORTANT IN PRESEASON. It is only there to help coaches change things up. Coaches still have to adjust their mindsets too.

Now to the good stuff
Last week I put a poll out on the Kansas City Chiefs Fans Facebook group (I know this isn't all of Chiefs Kingdom, but it is a relatively good sample size. And I feel the majority of fans on Facebook get ignored, and that is sad.) The question I asked was "So, What do you think is the biggest problem so far?" I got an  overwhelming amount of responses (thank you all) and some options I did not even think would be a worry spot. So we are going to go through those things mentioned and hopefully remedy some of those fears.

The Inside Linebackers
Less than one percent of people are worried about the ILBs. This is good considering Hitchens and Ragland have been sitting out and shaking rust off in that Bears game. They are both very capable line backers and will get there job done.

Other choices not listed...
Less than one percent also had this and put their worries in the comments.Injury was a listed one, but the reality of the situation is that a lot of these guys can play, but the staff just does not feel the need to rush the players back in and end up with a Justin Houston situation.

Another response was play calling. Don't get me wrong here, some of the play calls from Reid (gotta love those wide receiver screens) and Sutton (involving lock down cover corner Justin Houston) are very suspect and bad all together. The preseason is also a time for play callers to figure out what plays and schemes their players can execute well and be able to pull off in the regular and possibly post season.

Patrick Mahommes
Less than one percent also voted for Mahommes, but still we will go over it. I know, he is essentially a rookie QB. We haven't had that in so long, we don't know what to do with ourselves. We have seen Mahommes make amazing plays like throwing 63 yards in the air, but the question is: Can he do normal stuff and just not lose? Well Reid believes so. Reid has worked with some of the best QBs in football, from Farve and Vick, to Foles and Smith. If someone with that much experience with Good to Great QBs is even a little excited about Mahommes, then we should be too. Yes, there will be some painful boneheaded mistakes, and yes there might be times you wish we still had Alex Smith, but Mahommes is soaking everything in that he can, and rarely repeats mistakes. In other words, he will be fine.

Sammy Watkins
One Percent of you are worried about Watkins. Just chill on it for a minute.The Watkins Mahommes connection needs some time to develop. While we may have paid a little too much for him, he will still be valuable once he and Mahommes get on the same page. At this point he is still learning the playbook, which everyone knows that Reid's playbook is overwhelming. Once he gets comfortable with it, he will start doing better.

Bob Sutton
Only about two percent thought of Sutton. We all know who Sutton is. I don't need to go into detail for his maddening tendencies. All I have to say is that this is Sutton's "prove it" year. He knows that, and will hopefully will be working his butt off to run a successful defense and keep his job. Enough said.

The Offensive Line
Four percent of people reported this as their worry. As long as they can stay healthy our line will be fine. Erving seems to be doing better at Guard and the rest of the line looks solid. The back ups even don't look terrible.

The Defensive Line
About ten percent of people chose this. I honestly did not see too much wrong with the Dline from what I watched. They need to be a little more stout, but otherwise they look good. Stoutness is always something a player on the line is looking to improve anyway, so it should improve as the season goes on.

KPass Rush
Thirteen percent of people were anxious about this. There is tons of reasons to be excited for this year's pass rush. Houston switched over to the right side, which Dee Ford in the position he was in for that double digit sack season. That should, provided he is healthy, help Houston by creating pressure on the other side. Also second year Tanoh Kpassagnon seems like is starting to put all of his work and abilities together to get a great rush started. This also discludes rookie Breeland Speaks, who is supposedly going to be okay in a pass rush situation.Plus you also have Chris Jones, who hopefully made another jump in his play making ability. All those reason are reasons to be excited about the pass rush going into the season.

Not the Second to Last, Secondary
A whopping 67 percent of you voted for this. I can not say that I blame you. From a regular perspective, this secondary seems like an absolute mess. Keep in mind that Berry is mainly healthy and just hasn't played. Keep in mind Steven Nelson is going to be healthy soon. Obviously the second safety position is up for grabs, mainly between Murray (who does better in a deep safety role similar to Ron Parker's anyway) McQuay and Watts, in the absence and possibly still in the presence of Sorenson. David Amerson and Orlando Scandrick are just stop gaps. That's right. You heard it here first. Its obvious that Amerson should not be a starter and is now, probably your fourth corner. I think that they are here to fill in gaps, so the players like Arrion Springs and Tremon Smith can still learn before they see the field. Those guys have lots of potential and are still young. So why would you let them learn on the field and possibly cause a loss, if they can get everything they need to know from practice? It just makes sense. Eventually during the season Springs or Smith will probably overtake Amerson on the depth chart.


So sit back and relax Chiefs Kingdom. Just enjoy football and the team that you love.