Kanas City Chiefs - Season In Review ('22)
by Crimsion | 2 years ago | 1 Comments
The Kansas City Chiefs entered the 2022 SFL season with expectations as high as any other. Despite losing a key piece in Wide Receiver, Tyreek Hill, the Kingdom still held their team to a very high standard. Fighting through injuries as most teams do, this Chiefs team was just unable to find a rhythm this season, finishing with a record of 8-9, and at the bottom of a tough AFC West division.
The numbers speak for themselves as the Chiefs finished in the middle of the pack in all aspects, both offensively and defensively.
"We didn't have our things in order and that falls on me," said Coach Charles during his end of season press conference. "There are a lot of things we can takeaway from this season and work on, but it starts with me putting these men in the best possible position to win."
Acting as both the head coach and general manager is no easy feat, but is something Jordan Charles was brought in to do. While he did not get the results he expected, the Chiefs can now at least pinpoint some issues they need to work out, as well as some bright spots to continue to build upon.
The Good
Kansas City came into the season with one of the worst defensive units on paper, relying on the likes of Eli Apple to bolster their secondary and a very mediocre linebacker core. Some veteran help was solidified in Jamie Collins Sr, who recorded 89 tackles on the season, 11 for a loss, to go with 1.5 quarterback tackles and a team leading 7 interceptions.
Safety, Justin Reid, made sure the world knew that he would earn every last dollar of his newly signed 4-year deal. The former Houston Texan recorded 91 tackles and 5 interceptions, finishing second and third on the team for those respective categories.
Before the season began, the Chiefs made a move to bolster their defensive line, acquiring Carolina Panther, Brian Burns. One of the fastest edge rushers in the league did give this lackluster defense a breath of fresh air, recording a team high 14.0 quarterback tackles.
While this unit did leave something to be desired, they certainly exceeded expectations, and will look to improve heading into the 2023 SFL season.
The Bad
Offensively this team was once at the top of totem pole, but in their first year post Hill, the Chiefs looked like a whole different beast, one more timid than the last. While they did get some solid contributions from the likes of Travis Kelce, who totaled 82 catches, recording 1,172 yards and 9 touchdowns, it was clear this team was not the same from their Super Bowl runs.
Clyde Edwards-Helaire received a career high 248 rushing attempts, 67 more carries than his previous high of 181 during his rookie season. Though he was efficient with these looks, averaging 6.0 yards per carry and recording 1,480 yards on the ground, this took the ball out of the hands of Patrick Mahomes more often than it should have in Charles' mind.
"Clyde is a talent and we surely want him involved, but with only 38 catches on the season, we could have been more creative in how we got him the ball." said Charles.
Retooling this offensive attack won't be easy, but it's something the Chiefs must do in order to return to their postseason form.
The Ugly
Their struggles on offense were enough to magnify the fact that quarterback, Patrick Mahomes, was not taking care of the ball as he should.
The Texas Tech product had a surprisingly good season on the ground, recording 9 rushing touchdowns, but it could not hide the fact that Mahomes just was not himself this season. Despite his completion percentage looking on par with his career numbers, it was apparent that the former MVP was struggling:
|
Year
|
QB Rating
|
Completion %
|
Pass Attempts
|
Passing Yards
|
Touchdowns
|
Interceptions
|
|
2022
|
97.0
|
67%
|
376
|
4,053
|
32
|
31
|
|
2021
|
98.4
|
66%
|
658
|
4,839
|
37
|
13
|
|
2020
|
108.2
|
66%
|
588
|
4,740
|
38
|
6 |
There can be much that attributed to the lack of production by the Chiefs signal caller, some may refer as the pre-season trade that sent Mecole Hardman to Carolina as the turning point, regardless much more will be put on the shoulders of Mahomes moving forward.
"We just saw two of our divisional opponents compete for a chance at the Super Bowl," said Charles this past Monday. "We can't take that lightly, our work begins now."
