Kansas City Chiefs: 5 Under-the-Radar Reasons for the Awful Start to the Season

The Kansas City Chiefs have gotten off to one of the worst starts in franchise history—there's no arguing that fact. There are some pretty obvious reasons why, too. The Chiefs have lost three Pro Bowl-caliber players to injury and their schedule is much tougher.

So far Kansas City has lost tight end Tony Moeaki, safety Eric Berry and running back Jamaal Charles to season-ending injuries. They have also been without first-round draft pick Jonathan Baldwin, who broke his hand this preseason in a locker-room fight with teammate Thomas Jones. Last week their best cornerback Brandon Flowers went down with an injury, but he's expected to play this week against the Minnesota Vikings.

The Chiefs' schedule has also gotten tougher this year. The Chiefs had arguably the easiest schedule last year in the NFL and this year they have one of the toughest. Last year through Week 3, the combined record of the Chiefs' opponents was 1-8. This year the combined record of the Chiefs' opponents is 8-1.

Those are the obvious reasons for the Chiefs' struggles, and now I'm going to take an in-depth look at some under-the-radar reasons for the Chiefs' 0-3 start.

5. No Pass Rush

The Kansas City Chiefs have absolutely struggled to put pressure on the quarterback this season. Last year, Tamba Hali and Wallace Gilberry had a lot of success in putting pressure on the quarterback and helped lead the Chiefs to 39 sacks, good for 10th in the NFL.

This year, Hali and Gilberry have combined for a total of three sacks. Unfortunately, they are the only two Chiefs who have a sack this year. The three sacks the Chiefs defense has puts it in 30th in the NFL.

The biggest reason for the lack of pressure on opposing quarterbacks is the Chiefs' lack of a defensive line. Glenn Dorsey, Kelly Gregg and Tyson Jackson haven't done anything this year. The three defensive linemen have combined for a total of one tackle for loss. Hopefully rookies Allen Bailey and Jerrell Powe can step up and start playing more because I've basically given up on Jackson and Gregg having any impact on this team.

4. Succop's Kicking Woes

Let's be honest, Ryan Succop struggling to make field goals isn't the reason the Chiefs are 0-3, but it sure isn't helping. Last week the Chiefs lost 20-17 in San Diego and Succop missed a 38-yard field goal in the first half.

Last year, Succop connected on 77 percent of his field-goal attempts, but this year he is only 2-of-5. He appeared to be a pretty good kicker last year, so hopefully he will get out of this slump soon and it won't be something that bothers him the entire season.

3. No Downfield Passing Game

Dwayne Bowe continues to be the Chiefs' only downfield threat.

Rookie Jonathan Baldwin was supposed to come into the offense and add a deep-ball threat, but he's yet to see the field due to an injury suffered during the preseason.

Steve Breaston was signed this offseason and figured to help the passing game, but he has struggled to be a part of the offense. Breaston only has six catches for 88 yards through the first three weeks of the year.

Tony Moeaki was lost for the year during the preseason and he was the biggest receiving threat at tight end.

So far this season, the Chiefs are averaging 7.9 yards per reception. That ranks dead last in the NFL.

Last year they were 16th with 11.6 yards per reception.

In the first half of last week's loss to San Diego, the Chiefs didn't even try to throw the ball deep. Matt Cassel completed a high percentage of his passes, but the longest play was for four yards. You cannot move the chains when you can't get more than four yards a play.

One reason I don't think the Chiefs have even tried to throw the ball deep is due to Cassel's arm strength. Even last year when he had success, I was never impressed with Cassel's ability to throw the deep ball. That's one reason I hope the Chiefs are fortunate enough to draft Stanford's Andrew Luck.

We'll see how the rest of the year plays out once they get Baldwin back and start making Breaston a bigger part of the offense. If Baldwin and Breaston have success, it will limit the amount of double and triple teams that Bowe sees. This could open the field up a little more for the Chiefs offense.

2. Third-Down Struggles

Kansas City has been absolutely brutal on third down this year. The Chiefs are only converting on third down 27.7 percent of the time.

Part of this reason goes back to what I talked about on the last page. They have no downfield threat.

I think the most frustrating thing for Chiefs fans is when its 3rd-and-8 and they throw a five-yard pass. I understand that you're not always going to have time to throw the ball where you want to, but there are times when Cassel isn't even rushed and he still throws a five-or-six-yard pass when they need more than eight yards.

There are occasions when you can blame this on the receivers for not running deep enough routes, but I really don't think the plays they are running are even designed for deeper routes. It appears that they want to throw the ball five yards and hope someone misses the tackle and they can get the first down then.

This tells me they either don't believe the offensive line can protect Cassel long enough to throw the ball downfield or Cassel just doesn't have the ability to do it on a regular basis.

It also helps if you get more then one or two yards on first and second down. No matter how good your quarterback is, it's hard to have success when you're facing 3rd-and-8 on almost every third down.

I think the biggest problem with going three-and-out all the time is that it never gives the defense a break. The Chiefs' time of possession this year is 25:17 to 34:43, which is 31st in the NFL. I blame a lot of this on the Chiefs' lack of ability to convert on third downs.

1. Turnovers

Anytime you talk to football coaches, they will tell you that one of the biggest factors that determines if a team is successful or not is turnovers. It's not just coincidence that the same teams that lead the league in turnover ratio are also the teams that win.

One thing Matt Cassel did successfully last year was protect the football. He only threw seven interceptions all year. This year he has already thrown five.

The Chiefs were plus-nine last year in turnover ratio. That was sixth in the NFL and was one of the reasons they went 10-6. This year they are 30th in the league with a minus-six turnover ratio.

Turnovers really killed Kansas City Week 2 in Detroit. They turned the ball over six times, which kept giving Detroit the ball in Kansas City territory. I don't care how good your defense is: You can't have success when the other team keeps getting extra possessions and keeps starting deep in your territory.