It's true, a new DC isn't going to fix this. There does have to be a new DC but it will take much more. The Chiefs can't tweak this team into a champion, and they sure can't screw up the best thing to come to the franchise, ever. The Chiefs cannot have a locker room of back biting, second-guessing, or worse sabotage. There has to be bold change and the change has to be bold in ways that protect Reid, and possibly even the GM too. They have to create an environment that will allow for new leaders to emerge defensively. They have to part ways with obvious dead weight, but they have to cut ties with injury prone players and they have to acknowledge draft mistakes too. Don't make the bold changes one at a time and don't wait until training camp to do it. We have to take the financial hit now.

They have to go...

Sutton
Bailey
Kpass
Zombo
Neiman
Ragland
Houston
Berry
Nelson
Scandrick
Murray
Watts
Sorenson

Safeties have to be fast high draft picks and our #1 pick this year

We have to turn over linebackers frequently like Pittsburgh does and they have to be physical guys. We have to cease over paying these guys on long term deals. Clever scheming is more effective than superman types teams take out of games.

Simply cannot have bad tacklers on the team

Ford gets Franchise Tag for 1 year only.

Others who must go
Harris - commits too many penalties and is so risky in the passing game he's a bigger problem than he's an asset.
West
Conley
Morse - Concussion concern and is frankly overrated

That’s bullshit. The play was never designed to go anywhere near Bailey’s gap and Bailey really didn’t get moved that much until the back was already way past him and he was trying to spin out an start to pursue the play. Hitchens job on that play is to slide to the open hole between Houston and Berry and stop the back in the hole. He hesitated, which allowed the OL to get a small piece of him and then he didn’t attack the back in the hole. Instead he caught the back like a calf in a chute and rode him for a few yards.

DC is responsible not only for the placalling, but the players being ready for gameday.


If you have never been responsible for a team, or ran a business, you might not understand this.


Bob Sutton is a ****ing dumpster fire.

Our defensive line fundamentals have gotten worse since Britt Reid took over. Maybe Bob Sutton doesn't want to yell at Andy's kid?

Bailey already had hands on him and was being driven away when the ballcarrier got close.

Baldy is right. These dudes didn't even try to fight out of their respective blocks. Once they got hands on them, it was game over. Pathetic.

Do we need better players? Yes.
Do we need a better DC? Yes.

Someone mentioned how poorly Bailey plays against the run, and I don't agree completely, because Bailey is a physical freak, but he does struggle against the run.

But the entire defensive line struggles against the run. It does not matter which gap our 2 defensive linemen play (I say 2 because that is generally how many are on the field at one time) because on either side they are bookended with a linebacker.

Hey Bob, newsflash: offensive guards and tackles are much bigger than linebackers, and can easily push them back when run blocking, so maybe don't have your linebackers take two steps forward into waiting hands of the guards and tackles.

Scheme is one of the main reasons I think we need a new DC, but I also think we need a new DC because our personnel isn't very good top to bottom. Sutton doesn't understand how to use the players he has, he only knows his scheme.

If you watch the Patriots defensive front against our offensive line, they were using twists and stunts, often delaying for a beat, and they were getting home rushing 4 because they didn't just line up and immediately engage the offensive linemen.

Watch or defensive line and we almost always go one on one with the tackle or guard we lined up against. And our linebackers have apparently been coached to step forward and allow an offensive linemen to grab them.

How does Sutton expect his defense to stop the run, when they immediately allow themselves to get blocked? It's frustrating to watch, and I bet a lot of us wonder why teams even bother to throw the ball against us.

Everyone talks about BB and the way he game plans for opposing offenses, and he tries to take away whatever he thinks the offense's best weapon or strength is. Well, does anyone think Sutton ever makes an actual game plan? I don't think he does, because our defense does the exact same thing over and over again.

If Houston, Ford, and Jones weren't pro bowl level talent, this would have been the worst defense in the history of the NFL. And that's not hyperbole.

We need a DC who can game plan, and who can use the strengths of the available players, while the GM is busy improving the players on the defensive roster.

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It doesn't matter if the play wasn't designed to go to Bailey's gap, he needs to get past the face of Cannon on that play rather than getting blown off his spot and then giving up. If he does that, the back has to shift backwards rather than running to the hole with a full head of steam. Doing that would blow the entire run up. As is, the back got a full head of steam on the sweep. Same thing with Houston.

And if Hitchens runs towards the back with a full head of steam and the back has enough wiggle to make him miss, that six yard gain becomes 20 or more.

Thing is, we don't know their responsibilities (and neither does Baldy Buttwipe).

Right or wrong, they could have been playing that exactly as intended based on their preparation.

Personally, I would prefer a more "attacking" style of defense. But, if you guess wrong, things can go awry. More awry than usual, I mean. Based solely on guesswork, I can easily imagine that Sutton preferred to error on the side of gap responsibility.

In other words, I wouldn't be at all surprised if they played that exactly how they were coached to do it. Doesn't make it smart, but it also doesn't make it wrong.

FAX

Yep...and to improve from worst to middle of the pack is easier than going from middle of the pack to the top.

This defense does not have to be great...or even very good. It just needs to be 15th or so, and able to get a stop in the fourth quarter when needed.

ROFL ROFL ROFL

Agree with LoneWolf 100%. The Hitch in Hitchens came out to play all season long. He waits and catches instead of attacking. He reads that play and attacks the hole developing, he probably pins them for a 1-yard loss or no gain. Instead, he waits 5 yards downfield to catch the back. Every single mother****ing time.

No matter what the D-Line did there, a competent LB takes that play away. The DLine could played it better. Bailey was never making a play there unless he flat out won off the snap. He's too far inside and that play happens fast in real time. The only one that could have potentially peeled was Houston but that was one hell of a good block by Gronk. Offensive players get paid to do just what the Pats did there. They are going to win some. LBs consistently not filling gaps the entire season though, that's inexcusable.

Our defense is SOFT. This has been a trend for Reid/Sutton defenses for a while now. They play on their heels, give massive cushions and don't fly to the ball carrier. They look confused, tentative, and weak. I believe this is a direct result of the culture that Andy and Bob have created.

The next coordinator has to be someone who is willing to kick these guys in the asses. We've been missing a sense of urgency and mean streak on defense for far too long. It's the reason that we continually give up 3rd and longs. The killer instinct just isn't there.

yup, too much money tied up in Berry and Houston and we aren't getting a good return on it. Hitchens was a very bad signing as well, plus we haven't really hit on too many defensive players in the draft other than Chris Jones. It might take a while and some good luck to fix this D, but it should start with better coaches.

Statistically this was on of the worst defenses of all time, so there is not much downside anyway

The only way Bailey is doing anything to affect that play is if he is penetrating the gap at the snap. We don’t know what his or Houston’s responsibility is in this particular defensive call, but based on prior comments from players and coaches, Sutton’s defense relies on everyone having gap responsibility and the LB making tackles as plays are funneled to them.

Houston and Bailey do their job, in my opinion, by holding their gap. Berry does exactly what he is supposed to do by taking on the block with his inside shoulder and turning the play inside. The failure is with Hitchens’ slow reaction and non-aggression towards the hole.