‘We’ve got to fix a few things there’ — Andy Reid says what needs to be said about Chiefs’ big problem in Week 1 loss to Chargers
The Kansas City Chiefs know they’ve got to address some issues in the secondary after the Week 1 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers.
The Kansas City Chiefs know they have some work to do after the Week 1 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers.
Plenty went wrong for the team in the Week 1 loss in Brazil, but one of the most significant problems came when defending the pass. The team’s collective coverage grade of 41.2 was the second-worst in the league in Week 1, according to Pro Football Focus. The folks at PFF aren’t the end-all, be-all, but that grade passes the eye test, too. The Chiefs allowed 25 receptions on 34 targets for 318 yards and three touchdowns on Friday, with just two forced incompletions.
Speaking to media members on Monday, Chiefs HC Andy Reid confirmed the team knows they’ve got plenty to work on, but especially as it relates to the pass defense.
“Listen, there are things that we’ve got to work on,” Reid said. “Spags (Defensive Coordinator Steve Spagnuolo) has got a great grasp of it, and the players, they know. So, we’ve got to fix a few things there, yeah.”
It’s not just on the coaches, either; it’s on the players to rise to the challenge and accept that some mistakes were made in Week 1.
The Chiefs had a leaky secondary in Week 1 against the Chargers, and it’s not all about the pass rush
During the Week 1 game against the Chargers, I pointed out on X (formerly Twitter) that the pass defense had some issues that needed to be addressed. Of the over 100 comments I received, a surprising majority mentioned the pass rush. Sure, they’ve got some pass rush problems to figure out as well, but the Chiefs’ coverage issues against the Chargers were not entirely related to an anemic pass rush. There was a distinct lack of execution.
Travis Kelce’s collision with Xavier Worthy wasn’t the only collision the team had on Friday. They had multiple players colliding in the defensive secondary, leading to players running wide open at various points throughout the game. They also had numerous miscommunications and lapses where players simply didn’t seem to understand their assignments on a given coverage call. ESPN’s Benjamin Solak broke a few of these plays down, but they’re littered throughout the Week 1 tape for Kansas City.
So, what are the Chiefs to do about the constant miscommunications and struggles in pass defense? Steve Spagnuolo’s defense historically takes a few weeks to settle in at the start of the season, even when you’ve got the most seasoned veterans out there. It’s unrealistic to expect perfection out of a unit in Week 1 that has several new pieces playing in it. At the same time, the performance has to be better than it was a day ago. It simply wasn’t up to the standard this team has set for itself. If that means running fewer exotic coverage looks on the back end until things get settled, so be it.
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