NFL Rumors: Chiefs Will Struggle If Dwayne Bowe Doesn't Return

Since 2007, Dwayne Bowe has been the No. 1 receiver for the Kansas City Chiefs and has enjoyed three 1,000-yard seasons to go with his 36 career touchdowns.

A 2010 Pro Bowl and All-Pro selection, Bowe is one of the league's more underrated receivers and yet continues to be the go-to man in Kansas City. Unfortunately, that may come to an end before the 2012 NFL season kicks off.

Back in early March, Bowe was hit with the franchise tag. Roughly two months later, the standout receiver has yet to move forward. According to Jason La Canfora of NFL Network, Bowe isn't expected to sign any time soon:

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Kansas City Chiefs wideout Dwayne Bowe has no plans to sign his franchise tag soon, a source with knowledge of the situation said Thursday.

Bowe, like other franchise players who have yet to sign their tags, is hoping to get a long-term deal, but nothing is imminent.

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This is obviously not good news for Chiefs fans, especially after the receiving corps just got a solid addition in slot man Devon Wylie from Fresno State via the 2012 NFL draft.

Without Bowe, however, Kansas City will struggle and end up with a disappointing season. Here, we take a look at a few reasons why Bowe's potential absence is so costly.

Intermediate Passing Game

When an offense has a No. 1 receiver who can draw double coverage or, at the very least, stretch a defense out to widen the zones, the intermediate passing game becomes increasingly productive.

This, in turn, allows a slot receiver and/or tight end to get mismatches against linebackers and excellent yards after the catch to move the chains. As for the No. 2 receiver, he continues to see single coverage and can occasionally sneak across the deep middle for big-play opportunities.

A quarterback like Matt Cassel has proven the ability to make all NFL throws, scramble, buy time outside of the pocket and have pinpoint marksmanship. But all that gets limited when the rest of the targets get blanketed due to the absence of a true No. 1 receiver.

Cassel has the skill set to spread the field and share the wealth at all the levels of a defense—however, Bowe not lining up out wide allows a defense to play more press coverage, which then forces Cassel to take a bit longer when scanning his progression.

Pass Protection

As just mentioned, Cassel will have to take that little extra time in scanning through his reads to find an open target without Bowe's presence on the outside.

Well, that then plays into Cassel pass protection both in and out of the pocket. Defenses will be blitzing more from the outside while spying with the linebackers in the middle to wall of the crossing routes.

Regardless of how great a quarterback's offensive line can protect, the unit can only limit a defense for so long. Take Kansas City's AFC West rival Denver, for example. The Broncos have a great outside pass rush with Von Miller and Elvis Dumervil, while middle linebackers Wesley Woodyard and D.J. Williams are sound against the run and pass.

Without Bowe on the outside to hit on a fade, streak, quick slant or out route, Cassel will be in the pocket that extra half-second longer. Considering that great pocket protection lasts about three seconds, that time has to extend as the quarterback holds the rock.

So, in the absence of Bowe, if Cassel doesn't want to get sacked, expect a lot of passes to be thrown away.

One-Dimensional Offense

There's a major difference in fielding a one-dimensional offense and an offense that heavily relies on the pass or run. An offense that uses a pass-heavy philosophy still has the ability to be effective on the ground, but only on a when-needed basis.

The same goes for an offense that's run-heavy when needing to throw the rock. A one-dimensional offense, though, is a unit that cannot present a balanced attack. This is Kansas City without Dwayne Bowe, as the Chiefs will remain solid at running with Jamaal Charles and Peyton Hillis in the backfield.

Unfortunately, the ground game won't hit its true potential, as defenses will load the box to stop the run and be much less susceptible to the play-action pass. The Chiefs will see a lot more straight man-coverage situations with a safety rolled down into the box, and at least one linebacker designated to blitz every down.

That then reverts back to Matt Cassel's more vulnerable pass protection and the Chiefs' less threatening intermediate passing game. And when playing more explosive offenses, Kansas City's inability to match pace will cost it a few games.

Regardless of how much Dwayne Bowe can produce in 2012, it's his presence out wide that's most vital to Kansas City fielding a well-balanced and effective attack.

John Rozum on Twitter.