Inside linebackers’ play isn’t Chiefs’ only issue on defense, but it’s a big one
Inside linebacker figured to be a defensive strength for the Chiefs as they entered this season.
Reggie Ragland was coming off a solid first year with the Chiefs in 2017. For this season, he was paired with Anthony Hitchens, who played his first four years with the Dallas Cowboys to mostly favorable reviews.
Hitchens was signed to replace the aging Derrick Johnson. Seemingly, the position got younger and was geared to be better against the run. Ragland even declared as much during the preseason: “Don’t worry,” he said. “We’re going to stop that run.”
The Chiefs’ defense hasn’t stopped much of anything this season. Entering another nationally televised Sunday Night Football game, this time against the Cincinnati Bengals at Arrowhead Stadium, the Chiefs rank in the bottom five of many major defensive categories: yards allowed (last), yards per play, points, rushing and passing yards.
Their average of 468.2 yards allowed, not helped by the 500 allowed in a 43-40 loss to the Patriots last weekend, is on an NFL-record pace.
The disappointing play of the Chiefs’ inside linebackers isn’t the only issue on this defense, but it’s perhaps the most obvious one — even if defensive coordinator Bob Sutton stopped short of singling out any one player or a particular position group.
“We like to think we can play better, coach better, do all those things,” Sutton said. “I don’t want to single out anybody for not meeting supposed expectations.”
Earlier in the week, when he was asked about the position, Chiefs coach Andy Reid said, “It’s not just two guys.”
According to Pro Football Focus, Hitchens is the third-lowest-graded linebacker in the NFL. He has been largely ineffective against the pass, and the run-stopping ability just hasn’t been there, either, in spite of the fact that he ranks third in the NFL with 60 tackles.
Ragland is ranked 76th out of 83 inside linebackers on the same list by Pro Football Focus. Both players have at times looked hesitant and late to recognize plays.
Injuries could be a factor. Hitchens was listed on Thursday’s report as a limited practice participant, with a groin injury.
Ragland missed much of training camp with a knee injury, and he and Hitchens played together only once in the preseason.
A year ago, Ragland missed the Chiefs’ first three regular-season games after sitting out his first year as a member of the Buffalo Bills with an ACL injury suffered in training camp. When he got on the field, Ragland steadily improved and was seen as an important part of a defense hungry to improve this season, especially against the run.
“Reggie really is just finally getting back to where he was,” Sutton said. “It’s not much different than he was a year ago, to be honest, when he really didn’t start practicing until the middle of the season.”
Ragland has said he needs to improve and work better with Hitchens. “Rome wasn’t built in a day,” Ragland said after the Chiefs defeated the 49ers earlier this season.
The Chiefs’ 5-1 record has muffled criticism of the defense as a whole, and it should be noted that among their first six opponents are teams led by some of the game’s great quarterbacks: the Patriots’ Tom Brady, the Steelers’ Ben Roethlisberger and the Chargers’ Philip Rivers. The Chiefs face another veteran quarterback on Sunday in the Bengals’ Andy Dalton.
Also, until the Patriots game, when the Chiefs surrendered nine scores on 11 possessions, there were moments when the defense rose to the occasion, came up with a stop or kept an opponent out of the end zone at a critical juncture.
That didn’t happen against the Patriots, who drove 65 yards in the final 3:03 for the game-winning field goal on the game’s final play.
The Bengals haven’t piled up yards this season, but their 29 points per game ranks sixth in the NFL, creating another challenge for a defense and a position group that has had its struggles.
“I would just say to you honestly that everybody has to elevate their game,” Sutton said. “I don’t think you make quantum leaps. You make these small improvements individually and you hope collectively to move this thing in the direction that we’d really like to get it going.”
This story was originally published October 18, 2018 at 5:49 PM.