3. Failure to upgrade receiving corps
Dwayne Bowe continues to be the only reliable receiver that the Chiefs have, and even he had an underwhelming 2013 season. Smith will continue to lean on Donnie Avery as his second option, and that spells trouble for an offense that will not be able to rely on Charles as much. Defenses will be able to exploit the Chiefs’ weakness in the passing game since they will only have to worry about Bowe. There are no significant weapons at tight end either. The best option is Anthony Fasano, who is not going to make defenses shudder.
2. Harder schedule
It’s no secret that the Chiefs had an extremely easy schedule last season. In their 9-0 run, they faced mediocre-at-best quarterbacks such as Michael Vick, an underperforming Eli Manning, Case Keenum, Jeff Tuel and Jason Campbell. The only good quarterback they faced was Tony Romo, but the Chiefs played excellent run defense in that game, allowing only 37 rushing yards.
The Chiefs lost to the Broncos and Chargers twice each, and they failed to beat the Colts too. All of those games were arguably their only true tests. Their record against playoff teams was 1-6, and their lone win against the Eagles was before Nick Foles took over as the starter. This year, they will have to face the Patriots and the entire NFC West in addition to their two annual games against the Broncos and Chargers.
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