Opinion update at the bye week...

[Gaz]

Okay, we have that critical first win under our belt.

The Defense continues to improve and held Lewis to 73 yards on his home field.

The Offense showed that diverse attack that tore up the NFL last season.

The Special Teams…well, I’ll have to get back to you on that…

What is the current weakest point on the team. And, has this changed since pre-season?

xoxo~
Gaz
Aware of his critical need shifting from WR to LB to ST coverage.

[KCHawg]

Special teams - coverage just sucks!

[nmt1]

Defense is still weak, IMO. They are getting better but a talent infusion is called for. They are several players away from being really good. I think improving the defensive talent will help ST's. Better athletes and depth on defense = better ST's.
Offense just needs to get in sync but could use a big play threat at WR.

[HolmeZz]

Special Teams has been our weakest point. I'm not that worried about our receivers anymore. They've done a fine job holding onto the ball and it's not the most crucial part of our success.

Our linebackers are a weak spot, but I think they've still outplayed expectations, IMO. Because of that, I can't hold anything against them.

The special teams has been bad. We've been awful on punt and kick return coverage. If we can fix that it'll help our defense out greatly. It's hard to expect alot from the defense when the other teams keeps getting the ball at the 40. Also, I'd like to see more out of Dante. We aren't getting the great returns we're now accustomed to.

[jcroft]

To me, it's LBs, then ST coverage, then CBs.

WR is still a weakness, but I beleive as long as Priest, Trent, and Tony G. are rolling, we can overcome that one fairly easily. The others are a bigger deal because we can't so easily "make up for them".

[nmt1]

Offensive penalties are killing us too. They get in down and long situations that are hard to overcome, though they did a good job Monday night. Got to address the penalty problem on all sides of the ball. Stop shooting ourselves in the foot.

[Tinlar]

Critical first win, I'll show signs of happiness when we are 500

The defense didn't hold Lewis, not even a little. The offense kept him off the field and made the defense stats look promising at best.

The Offense sparked, but it takes consistency to turn a spark into a fire and no one game, no matter how well played, can tell the tale of consistency.

The Special Teams ... Yeah, until we get our punter back the Jury is still out on that. Our Punt returns have been good. Our kickoffs lacking. Our 3 pointers have been satisfying. Our punts laughable, but this isn't our punter anymore only an echo of pains from the past.

Our current weakest point on our team is our medical staff, they look tired and exhausted but its undersandable considering how overworked they have been this year.

[Gaz]

When I look for the “critical need,” I try and figure out which segment of the game would immediately improve our chances to win. There is certainly a ripple effect and many segments overlap.

For example, better ST coverage means worse field position for The Enemy, which means a longer field for the Defense to defend.

Or better WRs means fewer punts, which means less time for the D on the field.

Or a better punter, which means fewer line drive punts. However, since DV has already addressed the Baker Vs Cheek issue, this is a moot point.

I see the most “bang for the buck” in ST coverage units giving the D a longer field to defend. I cannot quibble with anyone picking LBs [that would be my second choice], but I personally think a longer field can make our LBs [and the entire Defense] a little bit better.

xoxo~
Gaz
Not quite as concerned about WR as he was a couple weeks ago.

[Gaz]

Originally Posted by Tinlar

...The defense didn't hold Lewis, not even a little. The offense kept him off the field and made the defense stats look promising at best...

Feh.

The Defense held Lewis to 73 yards. That is an accomplishment by any measure.

xoxo~
Gaz
Giving credit where it is due.

[Mark M]

The defense appears to be coming around, but only time will tell.

Right now, it's easily the ST coverage unit. And the issue is one that may plague KC the whole year.

Their best gunner, Bo, is out for the year. Biesel, who was just a freaking animal, is now the starting MLB, so it's too risky to play him there. And LJ -- a guy with the speed to be effective -- is too big a baby to play STs consistently.

The only way they are going to fix it is with attitude. They need someone to go "Bennie Thompson" and become a ST monster. Perhaps Sapp, maybe Caver, perhaps even Blaylock (who seems to be mixing it up a lot on STs lately).

MM
~~

[shakesthecat]

While I can see some improvement overall, the defense, and more specifically the LB's still have a long ways to go.

Collectively, the starters are prolly the worst group in the league.

[Hammock Parties]

The defense didn't stop Lewis? That's news to me. Sure he averaged 5 yards a carry, but it's not like he was getting 5 yards every time they handed him the ball in the first half. Most of the time it was 2 yards or less.

Lewis got 20 yards on his first carry, and like 40 on one drive in the third quarter (when we weren't stopping the run on first down).

[jAZ]

Wow! I'm kinda suprised that it's nearly unanimous that special teams coverage is the biggest problem given all those plump choices.

[KC Jones]

Tough call for me between CB and Coverage units.

I went with CB. We've had some RBs bust some big runs, but on most downs we do a pretty good job. As a matter of fact we often get teams in 3rd and long situations. What happens then? They make an easy completion against our secondary. Furthermore many of the really big runs have been at McCleon's side of the field.

As crappy as our LBs are, with the play up front they stuff the run enough to force teams to pass. We can't seem to stop anybody from completing a pass unless their a shitty QB like Boller. Manning and Brady will eat us alive (again).

The worst thing though - is that there are plenty of weak spots on this team.

[Chiefnj]

If Kennison isn't going to be healthy the Chiefs still need a WR. Assuming Kennison will be healthy after the bye then corner is the most pressing need. McLeon isn't getting the job done and Bartee and Battle have been unable to step up and challenge him; it's rather sad.

Once Cheek comes back the punts will get some more hang time and coverage will be less of an issue.

Further prediction, the Chiefs beat Jax. People get carried away about the defense only to be thrown into a suicidal depression after the Colts and Falcons games.