Derrick Johnsons Injury Could Destabilize Chiefs, Send Team into Ugly Tailspin: The biggest loss for the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday at Arrowhead Stadium wasn’t the 26-10 trouncing at the hands of the Tennessee Titans. While losing badly at home is a rough way to start the season, it’s simply one game of 16—the actual loss has little or no impact going forward. Losing inside linebacker Derrick Johnson to a season-ending Achilles injury in the process is a much bigger loss, one that threatens to destabilize a defense that carried the team for most of the 2013 regular season. Defensive end Mike DeVito also ruptured his Achilles, so the Chiefs will have one less quality player to help them survive without their defensive captain. If the defense can’t carry the team, it puts more pressure on an offense that lacks playmakers other than running back Jamaal Charles. The Chiefs fell behind Sunday and quarterback Alex Smith was ineffective even with a healthy Charles at his disposal. Charles touched the ball a total of 11 times and gained just 34 yards and Smith threw three interceptions in the losing effort. The Chiefs had six possessions in the second half but managed to score just once. On five of the six drives, the Chiefs managed no more than five plays. Outside of a 10-play drive in the fourth quarter with the outcome decided, the Chiefs never moved the ball past Tennessee’s 49-yard line in the second half. When Johnson was injured, the Chiefs were down by just four points. Thereafter, the Chiefs would surrender 19 more points, including 16 in the second half. The defense allowed the Titans to march 80 yards on nine plays for a touchdown on the first drive of the third quarter for a 17-3 lead. Last season, the Chiefs only allowed more than 26 points at home twice, but it was against two of the better offenses in the entire league in the Denver Broncos and San Diego Chargers. The Titans aren’t even in the same ballpark unless Jake Locker magically morphs into an elite quarterback in 2014. The Titans won the game by running the ball, and without Johnson and DeVito there was very little resistance. Running backs Shonn Greene, rookie Bishop Sankey, former Chief Dexter McCluster and veteran Leon Washington combined for 148 yards on the ground on 32 carries for a sparkling 4.6 yards per carry. For years Johnson has been good against the run, but what makes him so valuable as an inside linebacker is his ability to cover. According to Pro Football Focus (subscription required), no inside or middle linebacker was better in coverage than Johnson was last season. Not only can Johnson do it all, but he also has missed just a handful of games in his nine-year NFL career. Over the last four seasons, Johnson has played every significant game for the Chiefs and accumulated at least 95 solo tackles each year in the process. The Chiefs don’t have a good replacement for Johnson, are already thin at inside linebacker as the team put Joe Mays on injured reserve with the return designation and cut 2013 fourth-round pick Nico Johnson last week. The primary candidate to start in Johnson’s absence is James-Michael Johnson, who played just a handful of snaps for the Chiefs at the end of last season. It’s possible the Chiefs could bring in a veteran street free agent because they don’t have many options, but their options are limited. The Chiefs have some options on the roster that can fill in, but none are going to give them the kind of scheme flexibility they had with Johnson. Josh Mauga is a journeyman, but he drew the start in the place of Mays and is more of a thumper than a cover guy. The only other linebacker on the roster with any potential at the position would be veteran outside linebacker Frank Zombo. Without Johnson and DeVito, defenses will likely try to run the ball to limit the impact of outside linebackers Justin Houston and Tamba Hali and throw passes that force Kansas City’s linebackers into coverage. If the defense struggles like it did Sunday, the offense has to pick up the slack. The Chiefs can start by getting Charles more than 11 touches. Although he gained only 34 yards Sunday, Charles only needs one or two big plays to turn a bad performance into a good one. Smith’s job is to get Charles the ball, especially when he’s missing his second-best offensive player in receiver Dwayne Bowe (suspended). Smith’s performance Sunday only proved how much he needs the talent around him to perform. With Charles used minimally and Bowe out, Smith completed just 54.3 percent of his passes for 202 yards and took four sacks for 24 yards. Smith averaged just 4.6 yards per passing play. Completing just over half your attempts for less than five yards isn’t going to get the job done against any team in the league, but there were a few bright spots. Getting tight end Travis Kelce more involved wouldn’t be a bad idea. Although his blocking still needs work, one of Kelce’s three receptions was the longest play of the day for the Chiefs—a 27-yard reception in the second quarter that set up a field-goal attempt. Rookie kicker Cairo Santos missed the 48-yard attempt after Kelce’s big reception that would have put the Chiefs up 6-0, and the Titans capitalized on the field position with an 11-play drive for the touchdown. The Chiefs can’t afford to leave any points on the field as they did versus the Titans, and that will be even more important without Johnson anchoring the defense. The secondary was already a concern for the Chiefs on defense, but they now have problems at inside linebacker and potentially defensive end. In the span of just 60 minutes of football, Kansas City’s defense has become a question mark that threatens to send the entire team into a tailspin. There is little time to make adjustments as the Chiefs head to Denver to take on the high-powered Broncos next week. Last season, the Chiefs went to Denver and held the highest scoring offense in history to 27 points but scored just 17 on their suspect defense. If the Chiefs are going to survive without Johnson, they need the offense to step up in a big way. Smith, Charles and Bowe have all received generous contracts in the last two years, and it’s time for them to carry the team. Read more NFL news on BleacherReport #Football #NFL #AFCWest #KansasCityChiefs
Posted on: Mon, 08 Sep 2014 01:09:45 +0000
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