Maybe the Chiefs’ followers clamoring for a pass rusher at the top of their draft wish list have a valid point.
In the final minutes of Kansas City’s latest disappointment, a 24-17 loss to the Broncos at Invesco Field at Mile High, the Chiefs twice buried Denver in third-and-long situations deep in its own territory.
Of course, it didn’t matter.
Jay Cutler coolly converted both situations, hitting Brandon Marshall on the first and Tony Scheffler on the second.
The Broncos ran out the clock and dropped the Chiefs to 2-11, snapping Kansas City’s one-game winning streak.
There’s a theory in football that the key to playing defense begins and ends with stopping the run. Pretty much no one questions the premise.
On Sunday, I made the mistake of asking Derrick Johnson whether a good pass rush was the key to playing good defense, and the never-before-quoted Alfonso Boone piped up.
“Stopping the run is the key to playing defense,” interrupted Boone, who makes it a point not to speak to reporters.
There are some things you just don’t question if you want to be taken seriously. Well, you know how much I care about being taken seriously.
At the end of Sunday’s game, the Chiefs stopped the run, pinning the Broncos at the 1 and forcing a third- and-10 play with 3 minutes, 46 seconds to play. It appeared Tyler Thigpen and Kansas City’s offense would get one more chance to produce a game-tying (or game-winning) drive.
For some reason, Herm Edwards burned the Chiefs’ final timeout before the third-down play.
Anyway, the Chiefs gave Mike Shanahan and quarterback Jay Cutler time to regroup. Cutler threw a 19-yard dart to Brandon Marshall. Cutler was unhurried on the play.
As you know, the Chiefs have the worst pass rush in the history of professional football. Kansas City does not harass the opposing quarterback.
Some 90 seconds later, the Broncos faced third-and-9 at their 21. Again, an unhurried Cutler laced a dart to a Denver receiver, picking up 11 yards.
If stopping the run is the most important element to playing solid defense, why are pass-rushers the highest-paid defenders?
The truth is, if the Chiefs still had Jared Allen, the Broncos would have run the ball on at least one of those late third-down plays. They would’ve run because they would have feared Allen and a possible hit-and-strip on Cutler.
Obviously, this has to change next season. The Chiefs can’t sell the myth that their pass-rush specialist is currently on the roster developing.
He’s not.
They’re going to have to find him in the draft.
Jason Whitlock is a sports columnist for The Kansas City Star. Contact him at jwhitlock@kcstar.com.
