3 Things the Kansas City Chiefs need to address in 2022

2. Chiefs must develop more consistency on defense

Talk about ups and downs? During the team’s 3-4 start, Steve Spagnuolo’s defensive unit was dreadful. Of course, this was a group that struggled during his first season as coordinator in 2019. After a sluggish 10-game stretch to open that year, the defense settled in and was a big reason the Chiefs went on to defeat the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl LIV.

That momentum carried into 2020. But the Kansas City defense slumped late in the year. Andy Reid’s team still managed to each Super Bowl LV but the club struggled against the Browns and Bills in the playoffs. And Tom Brady and the Buccaneers picked Spagnuolo’s unit apart in a 31-9 victory on Super Sunday.

But after the team’s aforementioned seven-game struggle to start 2021, the Chiefs buckled down and the defense was a big reason for the team’s midseason eight-game winning streak. But Spagnuolo’s unit couldn’t sustain it and there was another late slump that carried into the postseason.

All told, Cincinnati Bengals’ quarterback Joe Burrow had his way with the Chiefs and Zac Taylor’s club beat them twice. In winning efforts, the Chargers’ Justin Herbert and Buffalo’s Josh Allen lit up Kansas City as well late in the year. The franchise needs to find some answers here.