Who Can We Win a Super Bowl With? (A lengthy post that breaks down the roster and organization)

[sven233]

Who Can We Win With?  (A long breakdown of our roster and organization as it stands today)

 

We came up short, again.  Why?  Was it the coaching?  Was it the players?  Was it the refs?  The answer to all of those questions in one way or another is yes.  So, the question then becomes the same as it is every year we come up short and waste yet another year of perhaps the best QB’s career that we may possibly ever have.  What can we do to get over the hump and get that “One Before I Die?”

 

So, I thought it would be good to delve into each of these questions individually and see where we stand, what we can improve on, and see who in the team/organization we can win with. 

 

Before we get into the team itself, I want to address the elephant in the room and the one thing that we really have no control over.  The refs, and the league.  Whether people want to admit it or not, it has become increasingly obvious that the refs are affecting the games more than any of us would like.  Bad calls.  Terrible spots.  Phantom penalties.  The list goes on and on and they all, in the end, do seem to favor the Chiefs, especially in big moments.  It’s one thing for fans of an opposing team to see these things and point them out.  Usually, it’s because we are trying to justify a tough, close loss or whatever.  It’s an entirely different thing, though, to see the entire national media start to see it and point it out and to see the actual proof and numbers that back up that bias.  It is happening whether people want to admit it or not and it has become increasingly obvious as this Chiefs run has gone along. 

 

Here’s the thing…….IT STINKS.  Of course it does.  Are the refs entirely to blame for our loss?  No.  Of course not.  Could one make an argument saying this?  Well, considering the first downs that were taken away from us in the crucial moments of that game, yes……the refs could have absolutely played a factor in us not winning that game.  That said, I am choosing to ignore the refs impact on the game.  Why?  Because going into the game I repeatedly said that we were going to see every questionable call or decision go against us in the crucial moments.  We knew that going in.  Is it fair?  Of course not.  But it is what it is.  I said the best thing we could do to take the refs out of the game was to be so good, that we can leave no doubt and not even give the refs a chance to impact the game.  We did not do this.  We were not good enough to leave no doubt.  Did we get bad spots?  Absolutely.  But we should have executed better and made sure we got a full yard when needing a foot.  We didn’t do that.  When the game’s on the line and our “star” TE has a chance to catch a fairly easy ball that any NFL player should catch with absolutely nobody around him on the biggest play of the game, he didn’t.  We left doubt and we were the ones that left the gate wide open for the refs to have the impact they did.  That’s on us. 

 

So, how do we get to the point where we are good enough to leave no doubt?  It starts with examining the team and seeing who we have, who we should bring back, and who we should let go.  In this breakdown I am going to be talking about the starting positions only.  Depth is depth and we will always want as much as we can get, but this breakdown is about which starters are good enough to win a Super Bowl with.

 

COACHING

 

Are we good enough with the head coach and the assistant coaches we have to win the Super Bowl?  This is a tough question, and it may not be as cut and dry as it will be with the individual players.  I will say this.  I am not the biggest McDermott fan in the world.  I really do question whether he will ever be able to win a coaching match-up against the other great coaches in this league, especially Andy Reid.  He has shown that he is a good coach.  He seems to be respected by his players and, at times, has had the occasional great game plan to win a tough game.  But, in the biggest games, he always seems to come up short.  How many times do we have to come out in the Playoffs and immediately spot the opponent 7-10 points before we settle in?  If we determine that he's not good enough to win with, though, who replaces him at this point in the offseason?  It’s like QB purgatory but with coaches.

 

So, here’s where I’m at with this.  Yes, we can win with McDermott.  HOWEVER, it is truly time for him and the other defensive coaches to sit down and be honest with themselves and realize that the scheme they have been running since arriving is not getting it done and we need a completely different and fresh approach in terms of the scheme.  I trust that these guys in the building are smart enough to sit down and study the best defenses in the league and see what they are doing and then create a hybrid scheme that is better suited to slowing down the better offenses in the league.  I’m willing to roll with McDermott and his staff through next season…..except for one guy.  Matthew Smiley.  How that guy still has a job is beyond me.  Our special tams is a disaster and they give up at least one bad play a game that hurts this team.  Find a new ST coordinator.

 

OFFENSE

 

QB

 

Allen

 

Of course he’s good enough.  For my money, he’s the best in the world and if he gets a great scheme and some actual weapons, he will be as great as he always is for a long time.

 

RB

 

Cook

Davis

Johnson

 

This may have been the best overall RB room we have had in many year.  Yes, we can win with these guys.

 

WR

 

WR1 - ?

WR2 - ?

Shakir

Coleman

Hollins

Samuel

 

Shakir is one of the best slots in the league.  We can absolutely win with him.  Coleman, while just a rookie, has shown me nothing to make me believe that my pre-draft grade on him was wrong.  I had him as a late 3rd round pick at best.  He has unique size that can help in certain situations, but I have serious doubts about him being anything more than a WR4 at best in this league.  If he proves me wrong, great, but I have never seen it and I don’t think we ever will.  Hollins was great for us this year and the perfect WR5 to have on this team.  We can win with that guy.  Samuel was battling all sorts of injuries this season and I am not sure we ever saw his best, but as a WR6, he is just fine.  Where we are not good enough is at the top of the depth chart.  We need 2 WRs with some explosiveness to their games.  We have no speed and no WRs aside from Shakir that create constant separation.  We need 2 guys that can win off the line and also be threats to take the top off the defense.  It’s not easy finding one of these guys, let alone 2.  But that is the task we face.

 

OFFENSIVE LINE

 

This is an easy one and I am just going to group them all together.  Yes, this group is good enough to win a Super Bowl with.  This is perhaps the best collective OL we have had in years.  They didn’t have their best performance on Sunday, but that was poor coaching and game plan, not for lack of talent.  We’re good here for a few years to come.

 

TE

 

Kincaid

Knox

Whoever

 

This position hurt us this season more than helped us on many occasions.  With the investments that have been made in terms of contracts and draft capital, we have every right to expect and want more out of these guys than we got this season.  However, as underwhelming as these guys were this season, I still believe in these guys.  It may be false hope, but I am still very high on Kincaid’s potential.  I liked him coming out of the draft a lot and I believe that he can create mismatches that we can take advantage of.  There are a couple things that need happen, though.  First, Kincaid…..PUT THE WORK IN THIS OFFSEASON to become the player we thought you would be this season, next season.  The one thing I worry about this guy with is his work ethic.  Does the guy want it enough or is he too reliant on his natural physical ability?  I want to believe that what happened this season will serve as fuel to be better next season.  Also, I am going to put a little of this on the coaching staff as well as there were too many times this season where I thought his skill set wasn’t being used properly.  In college, he was dominant up the seams and on deep crossers.  This season, especially early, all he was doing was catching screens and short stop routes.  That is not why you draft a guy like him.  Hopefully the coaches use him more of how he was used in college next season.  That said, the game ended the other night with him running a deep over and dropping a pretty easy ball that would have kept our hopes alive.  Make the play dude.  I still believe we can with you.  As for Knox, we all know what he is.  While we all wish his contract wasn’t what it is, there is nothing we can do about that.  But he is a solid player and we can absolutely win with him.

 

DEFENSE

 

DEFENSIVE LINE/ EDGE

 

Groot

Oliver

 

This is probably the biggest question mark on this team right now.  And that really hurts to have to say that because of the significant investments that have been made into this group over the years.  To me, we have only a couple of guys that we can count on winning with and some might even argue that neither of these guys are good enough either.  But you can’t have superstars at every position, so when you have guys that can make plays, you have to rely on them.  I believe you can win the Super Bowl with Groot and Oliver playing key roles in this defense.  And while I like some of the younger talent, it will be on them to make their mark.  But I am not going into next season relying on them.  So, what does this mean?  It means I think we are severely undermanned on the line.  It has been true for a while now, but we are in desperate need of a true dominant 1-tech.  We have been run on and run over for far too long and it starts up front because we have been undersized for what seems like forever.  And that is on the scheme and Beane.  Their reliance on fast, quick, and undersized lineman has not worked and it’s time for a philosophy change and that starts by getting a dominant anchor in the middle of the defensive line to stop the run.  And that brings us of course to pass rush.  Groot flashes.  Oliver, when motivated, is good.  But there are too many times we just can’t create any pass rush at all and it is maddening.  With Von aging and probably moving on, that is just another void to have to fill.  This is perhaps Beane’s biggest offseason challenge.  How are you going to get to the QB?  Is it a big trade or 2?  Are there free agents out there that can help?  It’s going to be a challenge for sure.

 

LB

 

Bernard

Milano

Williams

 

I think these guys are a good enough group to win with.  HOWEVER, we have no depth.  And with these guys being injury prone, that is not enough.  Healthy?  We’re fine.  But we are in desperate need of quality depth.

 

CB

 

Benford…….Maybe??????

Johnson

 

Wow…..how things can change in a hurry,  Going into the year, we were pretty confident that this would be a strength for our team.  But, as the season ends, there are more questions than answers.  Douglas was not the player we thought was going to be for us this season.   He’s getting older and is going to want more money than he’s worth.  Time to get younger and better there.  What we weren’t counting on was Benford and his concussion issues to close the season.  He was great for us this season and looked to be a guy we would be able to rely on for years to come.  Then, he gets 2 concussions in 2 weeks and the way he looked on that cart leaving the field, I think it is definitely at least plausible that he might never be the same player again.  Even if he gets healthy and comes back, we’re talking about a head injury here.  One more shot, and that could literally be it for the once promising corner.  Again, if he is healthy, he’s good enough to win with, but can we rely on that being the case.  I don’t know.  And with no quality depth behind him, the boundary CB position is not good.

 

S

 

Rapp…….Maybe?

 

This seems to be a trend in our secondary.  Health is a major concern.  He had an overall solid year when he played, but we know he is a reckless player and will always battle injuries.  Hamlin, while a nice story, is not a starter in this league.  And while Bishop got some important reps this season, and shows some promise, is he someone I am ready to bank on being good enough to win the Super Bowl with?  Not yet. 

 

ST

 

Just find a kicker and punter you want to roll with that won't kill you.

 

 

So, there you have it.  That is my assessment of where we are in terms of the starters on this team and who I am definitely comfortable enough with to say we can win the Super Bowl with.  There are a ton for holes, particularly on defense that need to be addressed.  I mean, if you stretched things a little bit, maybe we can plug a couple of the holes with current talent on the team, but in my opinion, we have some work to do this offseason.  Hopefully some of the young depth guys can turn into some answers to help, but Beane and the front office have a lot to do over the next few months to put us in a better position talent wise heading into next season.